- Ray Manzarek -- vocals, keyboards, bass (1973)

  backing musicians (1973)

- Larry Carlton -- lead guitar
- Mailto Correa -- congas, percussion 

- Steve Foreman -- percussion 
- Milton Holland -- percussion 

- Jerry Scheff -- bass 

- Tony Williams -- drums, percussion 

  backing musicians (1974)

- Paul Davis -- percussion 

- Mark Fennelly -- guitar 

- Steve Foreman -- percussion 
- John Klemmer -- sax 

- Gary Mallaber -- drums, percussion 

- Mark Pines -- guitar 

- George Segal -- banjo 
- Joe Walsh -- guitar 

  backing musicians (1983)

- Larry Anderson -- drums

- Ted Hall -- lead guitar

- Doug Hodges -- bass

- Adam Holzman -- synthesizers

- Jack Kriple -- sax

- Michael Riesman -- synrthesizers

- The Doors

- Michael McClure and Ray Manzarek
- Nite City

- Darryl Read and Ray Manzarek
- Rick and the Ravens

Genre: rock

Rating: *** (3 stars)

Title:  The Golden Scarab

Company: Mercury

Catalog: SRM-1-703

Country/State: Chicago, Illinois

Year: 1973

Grade (cover/record): VG / VG+

Comments: minor ring wear; cut out hole top right corner; includes original lyric insert

Available: 2

Catalog ID: 5568

Price: $10.00

The Doors, The Doors, The Doors ...  yeah some three and a half decades after The Doors called it quits (ignoring the ill advised post Jim Morrison reunions), that's what keyboardist Ray Manzarek remains best known for.  Following the band's 1972 decision to call it quits Manzarek set off in pursuit of what's proven to be a sporadic solo career.   He's released some interesting work (only a small portion of it discussed here) and for the most part he's carried The Doors legacy with considerable dignity.

Signed by Mercury, Manzarek's 1975 debut "The Golden Scarab" found him sounding considerably more relaxed than on the final two post-Morrison Doors albums ("Full Circle'' and '"Other Voices"). With longtime Doors producer Bruce Botnick handling the boards and with support from Doors sessions bassist Jerry Scheff, guitarist Larry Carlton and drummer Tony Williams (the latter two aptly displaying some of their classy jazz moves throughout the album),  the collection highlighted Manzarek's passable voice on a musically diverse set which curiously downplayed his unique organ runs.  Apparently intended as a concept piece (there were brief narrative pieces between the songs), at least to my simplistic ears the plotline was vague, though it seemed to have something to do with Egyptology - witness material like the pseudo-funky title track, 'Solar Boat' and the instrumental 'The Moorish Idol'.  Bouncing between tuneful, straightforward rock and more experimental endeavors like 'Oh, Thou Precious Nectar Filled Form (or) a Little Fart', it wasn't the year's most consistent release, nor was it likely to change your life one way or the other, but still had it's share of minor pleasures.  Carlton turned in several noteworthy guitar solos including a killer performance on 'Solar Boat. Other highlights included the bossa nova styled 'He Can't Come Today' and the three songs that came the closest to recalling The Doors' rock catalog - 'Downbound Train', the bluesy 'Purpose of Existence Is?, and 'Choose Up and Choose Off''.  For some reason Manzarek's voice sounded way better on these three rockers ... 

- Coming as somewhat of a surprise, 'He Can't Come Tomorrow' opened up with some catchy Latin-styled percussion and a bouncy, almost funky groove.  Yeah, Manzarek's voice sounded a bit stiff and stilted and the spoken word segments interrupted the flow, but you could almost overlook it once the song got going.   rating: *** stars

- Opening up with a spoken word segment, 'Solar Boat' sported a breezy, surprisingly commercial melody, along with some of those cheesy '70s synthesizers that I find irresistible.  The song also featured some of the album's goofiest lyrics complete with references to William Blake and Freud.   rating: ** stars   

- There are so many crappy Chuck Berry covers out there that many of us have simply gotten to the point where we go out of our way to avoid them,  That was certainly my initial impression when I saw Berry's 'Downbound Train' was included.  Thing is Manzarek's hyper-speed cover was actually quite good.  The combination of his double time barrel house piano, some screaming Larry Carlton lead guitar and one of his better vocals made for one of the album's better performances.   rating: *** stars

- Who would have imagine Manzarek getting down and funky, but that's exactly what he did on 'Golden Scarab'.  Sure, the Egyptology lyric was a waste ("Amenhote - Akhenarten - Nafertiti - Tutanhkamun - All of life is sunlight, Osiris is the night ..."), but the bouncy Moog (Stevie Wonder would surely have approved) coupled with Carlton's guitar made for quite a groovy effort ...  Steve Martin should have covered this one.   rating: **** stars

- Manzarek's always displayed an affection for jazz and it finally broke loose on side two's 'Purpose of Existence Is?'.    Complete with extended organ solo, this one's always struck me as a bad Doors imitation ...  rating; ** stars

- The instrumental 'The Moorish Idol' found Manzarek and company dipping their collective toes into Mahavishnu Orchestra jazz-rock fusion territory.  There were tons of cheesy synthesizers to make some folks happy ... rating; *** stars

- Probably the album's most conventional rocker, 'Choose Up and Choose Off' had a catchy rock melody and some suitably socially relevant lyrics.  Again, they had a very '70s ring to them, but you couldn't argue with sentiments.    rating: *** stars

- Truthfully the song title ('Oh, Thou Precious Nectar Filled Form (or) a Little Fart') might have benefited from a bit of judicious editing ('Precious Nektar' might have been good enough).  That said, sporting a nice little soul-flavored guitar lick, Manzarek's laidback, breezy delivery and homespun philosophies were enough to make you smile ...   rating: **** stars  

Mercury also tapped the album for a pair of singles: 

- 1974's 'Solar Boat' b/w ''  (Mercury catalog number 73477)

- 1974's 'Downbound Train' b/w 'Choose Up and Choose Off ' (Mercury catalog number 73601)

This was a set that's grown on me over the years and may be the best post-Doors release by any of the band members.  Nice Goldfinger-styled makeup there guy ...   make me itchy just looking at it.

"The Golden Scarab" track listing:

(side 1)
1.) He Can't Come Tomorrow   (Ray Manzerek) - 4:35
2.) Solar Boat   (Ray Manzerek) - 5:15
3.) Downbound Train   (Chuck Berry) - 5:27
4.) Golden Scarab   (Ray Manzerek) - 6:42

(side 2)
1.) Purpose of Existence Is?   (Ray Manzerek) - 6:42
2.) The Moorish Idol (instrumental)  (Ray Manzerek) - 5:40
3.) Choose Up and Choose Off   (Ray Manzerek) - 4:42
4.) Oh, Thou Precious Nectar Filled Form (or) a Little Fart   (Ray Manzerek) - 4:58

Manzarek has a nice website at:

http://www.raymanzarek.us/

Genre: rock

Rating: *** (3 stars)

Title:  The Whole Thing Started With Rock & Roll Now It's Out of Control

Company: Mercury

Catalog: SRM-1-1014

Country/State: Chicago, Illinois

Year: 1974

Grade (cover/record): VG / VG

Comments: --

Available: 2

Catalog ID: 5567

Price: $20.00

Sporting one of the year's clumsier titles,1974's "The Whole Thing Started With Rock & Roll Now It's Out of Control" found Ray Manzarek teaming up with producer Bob Brown and an eclectic cast of supporting musicians that ranged from Patti Smith, to Lou Reed sidekick/guitarist Dick Wagner, and even Joe Walsh.  As on his earlier solo album Manzarek proved an okay singer.  He didn't have a great deal of range and on material like the title track exhibited a tendency to bellow his way through a song.   It didn't matter all that much on up tempo tracks where he was surrounded by orchestration and female backing singers, but was much more noticable on slower numbers.  Unlike his debut album, this time around Manzarek abandoned the concept album approach instead going for a more mainstream collection.  Musically the album was quite varied with Manzarek and company taking stabs at a bunch of genres.  The results were seldom less than professional, but by the same token there simply wasn't a great deal to get real excited about.

- One of the most commercial tracks on the album, the title track reflected Manzarek's longstanding affection for boogie woogie rock.  It certainly wasn't particularly original, but so what ...  rating: *** stars

- 'The Gambler' had the set's best melody and Manzarek's best vocal performance, making it a personal favorite.   rating: *** stars

- Showcasing John Klemmer on sax, 'Whirling Dervish' was a mildly entertaining jazz-rock fusion instrumental that even incorporated a bit of what sounded like Klezmer music at the end.    rating: ** stars

- Kicked along by a female backing chorus and some cheesy synthesizers 'Begin the World Again' started out as a surprisingly funky (!) song, before mutating into a Doors-influenced number.   rating: *** stars

- Perhaps the strangest track was 'I Wake Up Screaming'.  The song started out as a pretty good rocker showcasing lyrics penned by Jim Morrison,  Manzarek and Danny Sugarman writing the music.  About midway through pre-fame beat poetess Patti Smith kicked in a heavily processed spoken word segment.  The track ended with a 'Riders On the Storm' rainstorm sound effect.   rating: *** stars

- 'Art Deco Fandango' sounded like it was inspired by a drunken pub crawl in New Orleans.  Complete throwaway.   rating: * star

- My favorite track, 'Bicentennial Blues (Love It or Leave It)' showcased a nifty rocker that sported both Santana-styled moves, before kicking into a reggae influenced midsection and then going back to the Latin influence and fading out with a lengthy Doors-styled keyboard section (there was also a nice little nod to his earlier Doors contributions).   rating: **** stars

- 'Perfumed Garden' closed the album with another mid-tempo commercial number that was destroyed by dorky lyrics and a needless Donna Summer-styled segment of male and female orgasmic groaning.  Definitely unsexy !   rating: ** stars

Give Manzarek credit for avoiding keyboard overkill (something lots of his competitors weren't able to do), and for loosening up and being willing to explore different genres, even if they didn't always work out.  Elsewhere Mercury tapped the album for a single in the form of:

- 1975's 'The Whole Thing Started With Rock & Roll Now It's Out of Control' b/w 'The Whole Thing Started With Rock & Roll Now It's Out of Control' (Mercury catalog number 73664)

"The Whole Thing Started With Rock & Roll Now It's Out of Control" track listing:

(side 1)
1.) The Whole Thing Started With Rock & Roll Now It's Out of Control   (Ray Manzarek - Danny Sugarman - Dick Wagner) - 2:33

2.) The Gambler   (Ray Manzarek - Danny Sugarman) - 5:25

3.) Whirling Dervish (instrumental)  (Ray Manzarek - Paul Davis) - 5:24

4.) Begin the World Again   (Ray Manzarek) - 6:39

(side 2)
1.) I Wake Up Screaming   (Ray Manzarek - Danny Sugarman - Jim Morrison) -  3:34

2.) Art Deco Fandango   (Ray Manzarek) - 3:02

3.) Bicentennial Blues (Love It or Leave It)   (Ray Manzarek) - 7:58

4.) Perfumed Garden   (Ray Manzarek) - 5:56

Genre: classical

Rating: *** (3 stars)

Title:  Carmina Burana

Company: A&M

Catalog: SP-4945

Country/State: Chicago, Illinois

Year: 1983

Grade (cover/record): VG+ / VG+

Comments: includes lyric insert

Available: 1

Catalog ID: 149

Price: $20.00

Ray Manzarek's first solo album in almost a decade found him going off in a totally unexpected direction.  Produced by Phillip Glass and arranged by Manzarek, 1983's "Carmina Burana" was inspired by a 13th century manuscript composed of 254 'bawdy' poems and texts.  Largely written in Latin (a couple of pieces were in German), the collection came to light in 1803 when it was found in the library of a Bavarian Benedictine monastery.   In 1936 German composer Carl Orff set 24 of the poems to music, gaining widespread attention - you're almost certain to have heard 'O Fourtuna' in at least one film, or television soundtrack.  

With backing from The Phillip Glass Ensemble, Manzarek's re-workings gave the songs an updated, electronic edge, while remaining marginally true to the material's original medieval and church music auras.  Yeah, tracks like 'The Wounds of Fate'' and 'In the Tavern (In Taberna)' boasted synthesizers, syndrums and other '80s production effects that haven't aged all that well, but at least to my ears the main focus remained on the backing choruses wailing away in Latin.  Elsewhere the instrumental 'A Young Girl (Stetit Puella)' was quite pretty in an adult contemporary mode, while a couple of tracks ('Come My Beauty (Veni Vini Venias)') had what was almost a disco-tinged arrangement.  Still, the overall feel was a bit like finding yourself submerged in a Mike Oldfield soundtrack (think along the lines of The Exorcist), or listening to a bunch of increasingly drunken Russians saluting the motherland ('If the Whole World Was Mine (Were Diu Went)').   There's not a shred of Doors-styled blues rock to be found here, but the project was simply so strange as to be fascinating in its own bizarre way.  Classical music for rock and roll fans, or maybe rock and roll for classical music fans ...  Regardless it's probably not something you're going to play at your next house party, but I'll readily admit to having it on my iPod.       

So once, again if you're buying this expecting to hear some Doors-styled blues-rock -- um, you might want to think twice before purchasing ...

"Carmina Burana" track listing:

(side 1)
1.) Destiny: Ruler of the World   (Carl Orff)

    i.) The Wheel of Fortune  (O Fortuna) - 3:06

    ii.) The Wounds of Fate  (Fortune Piango) - 3:44

2.) Springtime   (Carl Orff)

   i.) The Face of Spring  (Veris Leta Facies) - 4:16

   ii.) Sunrise (Omnia Sol Temoeat) - 2:14

   iii.) Welcome (Ecce Gratum) - 2:46

   iv.) The Dance (Tanz) - 2:35

   v.) Sweetest Boy (Dulcissime) - 0:34

   vi.) If the Whole World Was Mine (Were Diu Went) - 0:50

(side 2)
1.) In the Tavern   (Carl Orff)

    i.) Boiling Rage (Estuans Interius) - 3:14

    ii.) The Roasted Swan (Olim Lacus) - 2:11

    iii,) In the Tavern (In Taberna) - 2:33

2.) The Court of Love

    i.) Love Flies Everywhere (Amor Volat) - 2:08

    ii.) A Young Girl (Stetit Puella) - 2:54

    iii.) Come My Beauty (Veni Vini Venias) - 2:36

    iv.) The Lovers (Blanzflor et Helena) - 1:16

3.) Destiny: Ruler of the World   (Carl Orff)

    i.) The Wheel of Fortune (O Fortuna) - 3:09