Ray Manzarek - The Golden Scarab 1974

More than Full Circle and Other Voices, The Golden Scarab is the best embodiment of the Doors by one of the three surviving members, and it is amazing it wasn't a huge underground smash. With mentions of moonlight drives, tightrope rides, and titles of past Doors tunes in "The Solar Boat," drummer Tony Williams, guitarist Larry Carlton, bassist Jerry Scheff, and producer Bruce Botnick generate an eerie sound behind the singer, creating a title track as mysterious and fun as anything by Morrison and company. With intense rhythms and tons of creativity, Ray Manzarek brings us on a musical journey as unique as The Phantom's Divine Comedy, and if Robbie Krieger brought the commercial element to the Doors' gravy train, it is clear here that the eldest of the quartet had more a hand in the development of the Doors persona than he may have been given credit for. One can't fault Krieger and John Densmore for stretching out with Butts Band, but there is a certain responsibility hit artists should have to their audience. The Bright Midnight releases finally address those concerns, but decades before the opening of the Doors tape vaults, that sound from L.A. Woman was most obvious on "The Purpose of Existence Is?" on this solo effort. Yes, Ray Manzarek veers off into his jazz leanings; given the players on this, how could he not? But he gives enough of a taste of past glories to make The Golden Scarab accessible, spoon feeding his musical styles to those who couldn't get enough of the music he was associated with. It's dramatic and cohesive, making more sense than Jim Morrison much of the time, with more controlled insanity. It is amazing that such a fine work as The Golden Scarab escaped the masses, and shameful that classic hits stations don't add this to their incessant repertoire. Had Jim Morrison lived, this is the path the music of the Doors should have taken. Smooth and demanding of repeated spins. AMG
 

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Ray Manzarek - The Whole Thing Started With Rock & Roll Now It's out of Control 1974

Ray Manzarek's 1974 follow-up to his excellent The Golden Scarab (A Rhythm Myth) from the same year finds producer Bob Brown stepping into Bruce Botnick's shoes. Over 40 minutes of music from the Doors' keyboard player expands the excellent concepts initiated by the Doors' Other Voices and Full Circle albums, with the thread continuing on the aforementioned The Golden Scarab. The title track was composed by Manzarek, manager Danny Sugarman, and journeyman guitarist Dick Wagner, fresh from his stint in the Lou Reed's Rock & Roll Animal Band and right before he would co-author hits by Alice Cooper. Flo & Eddie provide backing vocals on the two-minute-and-33-second title song, the shortest on the disc. "I Wake up Screaming" resembles music from An American Prayer, and indeed, it's a poem by James Douglas Morrison featuring an early performance by poetess Patti Smith. With so much depth and intrigue here, Polygram Records deciding to take three tracks from this album and tag them on the end of a 1994 re-release of The Golden Scarab deprived Manzarek and Doors fans of the full scope of this work. The complete sessions from both projects in one package would be appropriate. "Bicentennial Blues" could be an outtake from Other Voices and features Manzarek at his most Doorsy, especially when the long keyboard solo in this nearly eight-minute track gets the tonal quality and riffs from "Light My Fire." Had the three Doors continued their musical journey together, this important music may have found a wider audience -- it definitely grooves. Where Larry Carlton performs on The Golden Scarab (A Rhythm Myth), Eagles/James Gang guitarist Joe Walsh shows up here, as do Steve Forman -- percussion player with Marty Balin among many others -- and Paul Davis. It's an interesting musical mix, with Manzarek indulging in all sorts of keyboard instruments and synthesizers. He's flanked by enough equipment on the back cover to stock a music store, but refrains from drenching the disc in those sounds, as Gary Wright would with 1976's Dream Weaver. Rock meets jazz here on "Perfumed Garden" and other tracks, providing a unique glimpse of one of rock & roll's most enduring characters. "The Gambler" moves with authority, while the quirky instrumental "Whirling Dervish," co-written with Paul Davis, keeps the momentum and is chock-full of the creative sparks Manzarek always provides. "Begin the World Again" is thought-provoking and entertaining, as is this entire disc. AMG.listen here