Gisteren verloor de wereld Ray Manzeric, de toetsenist van de legendarische Doors. Maar wist je ook dat Elvis een grote rol speelde voor the Doors, en dat Jerry Scheff dankzij zijn werk voor Elvis, uiteindelijk deel uit zou maken van de studiogroep die de LP "LA Woman" maakte? Jim Morrison had Elvis live in concert gezien, en wou daarom per sé Jery Scheff in de studio naast hem. Dit is Jerry's herinnering aan zijn overleden vriend: "I got the news of Ray's death late last night right here on facebook. I did a lot of thinking. It is ironic that Jim Morrison saw an Elvis concert, and because of that he asked for me to be the bass player on the Doors next album, “LA Woman”.

During the time I spent with the band it was obvious that Ray was in charge of setting the mood in their music. He was a painter of emotions. The lightness or darkness of his playing had an uncanny way of mirroring the lyrics, the story, and the song, without becoming hackneyed or trite. He was a lover of jazz, and that influence, combined with his understanding of how to use it in context with the Doors music, was probably one of his greatest talents.

For the song “Riders on the Storm” Ray came up with a eight note bass line that is still one of my favorites. For years, when someone complimented me on that part I have had to say, “Oh no, I came up with all the other bass parts in the song but ray wrote that” Or how about, “I was going to write that but ray beat me to it. Ray got a kick out of telling people that I thought that 'that' bass part was difficult, but I think he confused that with another bass part in the song “LA Woman.” It comes in under the “I see your hair is burning” section. Seven notes repeated at a fast tempo.I remember commenting to Ray about that part. It was a great part so I persevered.

I wasn't close to Ray except in a musical way. I went on to play on his first solo album, “Golden Scarab”. The last time I saw him, I went to Glasgow to a concert that he and Robbie Krieger were doing. I ate dinner with them back stage. Ray sat at another table by himself so I didn't get to talk to him at all. It seemed to me that he had something on his mind. During the concert I sat in and played the song LA Woman with them. I didn't get a chance to say goodbye."