The ur-Doors were a frat rock outfit called Rick& The Ravens. The band included two brothers, originally from Chicago, who had moved to Redondo Beach. They were Rick and Jim Manzcarek (Ray later dropped the c from his surname) on organ and guitar. They were often joined by their older brother, who called himself Screaming Ray Daniels when he played the piano and sang with them. He was a graduate film student at UCLA who already had a degree in economics. The band played frat houses, student pubs, bar mitzvahs, and beach parties. Their set was designed to get people dancing and they covered anything with a beat.
Rick& The Ravens recorded three singles which, if not for the fact that the band morphed into one of the most popular rock and roll acts of all time, would be fodder for the folks who compile compilation albums of West Coast garage music. The singles aren’t terrible, just not terribly promising. They were all recorded in the first half of 1965.
‘Soul Train’/ ’Geraldine’ (Aura Records 4511)
Soul Train is a rewrite of Gary US Bonds’ 1960 single, ‘New Orleans’. Ray does pretty well as a growling lead singer and if you could squint with your ears, you might be able to find a scrap of his more familiar organ work in The Doors. It’s a pretty good approximation of Gary US Bonds’ frat rock style but not remarkable or unique in any sense. ‘Geraldine’ is more of the same. You can imagine jugs of beer and a lot of slightly sozzled students on the dancefloor. The single is nicely arranged and, by the standards of the time, well-produced.
‘Henrietta’/ ’Just For You’ (Aura Records 4506)
The party continues with Henrietta. Ray’s singing is better on this one and it might be the pick of the bunch. It’s a Lucille-style shouter that doesn’t turn any new ground but has enough fire to keep you listening. The flip side is similar fare.
‘Big Bucket T’/ ’Rampage’ (Posae Records 101)
Big Bucket T is driven by a honking sax and Ray’s blues piano lines. The car in question is described in detail and there are some automotive sound effects. Again, nothing wrong with it but Rick& The Ravens weren’t going to wrestle pop music back from the UK invaders in 1965. The B-side, ‘Rampage’ is an agreeable instrumental with crowd noises to give it a live sound.
Rick& The Ravens’ main gig was a bar on Santa Monica Blvd called the Turkey Joint West, where the crowd was mostly made up of Ray’s film school buddies. One night, a drunken student kept hollering out for ‘Louie Louie’. The band was starting to find it annoying, but Ray knew the drunk and invited him up to sing the song. Jim Morrison made his rock and roll debut that night.
Later, in the summer of 1965, after they had both graduated from UCLA, Ray and Jim happened to run into each other on Venice Beach. This meeting is one of the most famous stories in rock and roll. Ray Manzarek is probably responsible for the more mythic proportions of the tale as it stands, but it remains one of those moments like Keith and Mick on the train or John a
