With the recent passing of The Doors’ keyboard player Ray Manzarek, it made me think about The Doors and their continuing popularity. Most of it has to do with the incredible music that they created. But this is a particularly interesting year because of the fascination with lead singer Jim Morrison, who would have turned seventy (70!!!) had he lived. So these are some of my recent favorite Doors’ impersonations:
First up, is the incredible “reincarnation” of Jimmy Fallon as Morrison. Chris Martin of Coldplay told him that he, “had the gig if he wanted it!”:
Next up is a pretty good impersonation, not surprisingly, by Weird Al from his most recent “Alapalooza” album! It’s called “Craigslist.” Ray Manzarek played keyboards on it:
Ironically, I ran across this video that Weird Al posted of Ray in the studio working on “Craigslist.’ This is what Weird Al had to say about the experience:
“I had the extreme honor of working with Mr. Ray Manzarek at Jerry Harrison’s Sausalito Sound recording studio in 2009. He played keyboards on my song “Craigslist,” which is a pastiche of The Doors, which of course is the seminal rock group that Ray himself had founded. The Sausalito session was one of the absolute high points of my life — Ray was amazing. This video documents him learning to play “Craigslist” in the studio. R.I.P. Ray.”
And finally, let’s watch the authentic band, on their first Ed Sullivan appearance–the way that most people remember seeing the band for the first time performing “Light My Fire:
So long Ray. You will be missed, but your spiritual beauty will go on forever!
