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For Ray Manzarek, keyboardist and co-founder of legendary rock band the Doors, the decision to reunite with guitarist Robby Krieger nearly a decade ago after almost 30 years apart was a simple one.
"Well, it was so long since I'd played 'Light My Fire' or 'Riders on the Storm' with Robby Krieger that it was like, 'My Gosh, we haven't played together in years, so let's do it again,' and it was as simple as that,'' Manzarek recalled.
"And we played a VH1 special called 'Storytellers' in which we played with other lead singers and that was so much fun and people said, 'Why don't you guys get back together and go on the road?' and we said, 'Yeah, we'll get a chance to play all the tunes again, what fun,' improvise on 'Riders on Storm,' playing with Robby couldn't be more fun, so the motivating factor was the sheer joy of playing music together.''
Manzarek and Krieger, who since 2002 toured as the Doors of the 21st Century and later as Riders on the Storm, will return to New Jersey on Friday (June 11), to play Starland Ballroom in Sayreville billed as Ray Manzarek and Robby Krieger of the Doors.
Along with the poetic lyrics of late frontman Jim Morrison, much of the Doors' landmark sound came from the band's blending of traditional rock 'n' roll, blues, jazz and other experimentation. According to Manzarek, that sonic alchemy was the result of the interplay between himself and Krieger.
"Robby was a flamenco guitar player, still is, as a matter of fact he plays a great flamenco solo when we play live,'' he said. "When the Ray Manzarek-Robby Krieger Band plays together, we feature Robby every night with a great flamenco solo and then we go into 'Spanish Caravan' electrified, it sounds great. So he's that, he's a slide guitar player, kind of a country/blues guy, so that's all there.
"Plus, he's now become a real speed guitarist, so you'll never say that Robby Krieger plays so great such slow notes - he doesn't play slow anymore, he plays fast, burning, smoking, just absolutely burning. And then you combine that with my classical and jazz and whatnot training and blues stuff and that all comes together to become the Doors' music.''
Holding down vocal duties for Manzarek and Krieger this time around is Miljenko Matijevic, singer of the hard rock band SteelHeart, who Manzarek said has "a dark, brooding sensibility about him, dark and dangerous and ominous and brings a darkness to the Doors.''
In recent years, Brett Scallions of Fuel and Ian Astbury of the Cult have fronted the band. According to Manzarek, if you're going to take the job "you have to have a great deal of self-confidence and as we say in California you have to have cajones, that's the Spanish word for testicles, and you've got to have a lot of strength and a lot of confidence. If you don't have that, you ain't never gonna sing the Doors' songs.
"As far as I'm concerned, it's each guy doing his own individual thing, I love that. Nobody's trying to copy Jim Morrison, it's just that you can't help but be like Jim Morrison when you're singing 'Riders on the Storm,' so Morrison is always there with us in spirit. You can see Jim, especially in Mili, you can see Jim in him.''
Later this month also will see the June 29 DVD and Blu-ray release of the new Johnny Depp-narrated documentary "When You're Strange: A Film About the Doors.'' According to Manzarek, it was important to provide viewers with the true story of the band. "Otherwise, you'd think Oliver Stone's (1991 film 'The Doors') is the true story,'' Manzarek said. "Everybody loves the Oliver Stone movie, Jim is so crazy and wild and he's got the reputation now as being insane, insanely wild, and I wanted the people to see the real Doors.''
"Certainly John (Densmore, the drummer of the Doors) and Robby and I said, 'Let's do the real deal. We've got all this footage that we shot, let's put it all together.' And we got together with a TV producer, Dick Wolf, and a great director (Tom DiCillo) and made the true story, the Doors' story, the Doors in the '60s. What's really exciting about it is you get to see all the stuff that was going on in the '60s and the Doors in relation to what was happening back then, it was a wild time.''
Asked how it feels to still be playing live and finding new nuances in Doors classics such as 1967's "Light My Fire'' more than 40 years after they were first created, Manzarek said, "It's just like the jazz musicians. I mean, the song is the song, and then you improvise within the song, like Miles Davis playing a song called 'Milestones,' he must have played that 1,000 times.
"And people say, 'You've been playing 'Light My Fire' for 40 years.' Well, I haven't been working with Robby except for the last maybe 10 years now, so there was a period between 1973 and about 10, 12 years ago when I did not play 'Light My Fire' but anyway, everyone says, 'You've been playing it for 40 years, don't you get bored?' and my answer to that is, "Do you get bored with sex?' No! ... And if you're bored with sex, get off the planet!''
Ray Manzarek and Robby Krieger of the Doors, with Wiser Time‚ 7:30 p.m. Friday, June 11‚ Starland Ballroom, 570 Jernee Mill Road, Sayreville‚ $125 seating and meet-and-greet ticket, other tickets $35 in advance, $38 day of the show. For more information, call (732) 238-5500 or visit http://starlandballroom.com.
