[MonsieurFish]

As MonsieurFish's 7th round pick, I am pleased to select, in the Keyboard/Piano Player category, from The Doors, one of the greatest bands of all times: Ray Manzarek

Raymond Daniel Manzarek, Jr. or Manczarek (b. February 12, 1939, Illinois) is an American musician, singer, producer, movie director, writer, co-founder, and keyboardist of The Doors from 1965 to 1973, and the Doors of the 21st century (renamed Riders on the Storm) since 2001.

Ray Manzarek is of Polish descent, born and raised on the South Side of Chicago, as were his parents. Growing up, he took private piano lessons from Bruno Michelotti and others. He went to Everett Elementary School on S. Bell St. and attended St. Rita High School in Chicago. He majored in economics at DePaul University. [1]
In 1962-65, he studied in the Department of Cinematography at UCLA, where he met another film student named Jim Morrison. Forty days after finishing film school, thinking they had gone their separate ways, they met by chance. Morrison said he had written some songs, and Manzarek expressed an interest in hearing them, whereupon Morrison sang a rough version of "Moonlight Drive."
In January 1966, The Doors became the house band at a club on the Sunset Strip called The London Fog. According to Manzarek, "Nobody ever came in the place...an occasional sailor or two on leave, a few drunks. All in all it was a very depressing experience, but it gave us time to really get the music together." The same day The Doors were fired from The London Fog, they were hired to be the house band of the Whisky a Go Go. Their first performance at the Whisky was with the group Them[2].
The Doors' first recording contract was with Columbia Records. After a few months of inactivity, they learned they were on Columbia's drop list. At that point they asked to be released from their contract. After a few months of live gigs, Jac Holzman "rediscovered" the Doors and signed them to Elektra Records.
Manzarek's playing with The Doors made him one of the most influential rock keyboardists ever, raising the level of virtuosity a keyboardist is expected to have. The Doors lacked a bassist, so Manzarek usually played the bass parts on a Fender Rhodes piano Bass. His signature sound is that of the Vox Continental organ, an instrument used by many other psychedelic rock bands of the era. He later used a Gibson G-101 Kalamazoo (which looks like a Farfisa) because the Italian Continental keys "sticked" and remained "down" without pushing it.
Manzarek occasionally sang for The Doors, with a voice more bluesy than rock, including the live recordings of "Close To You," "Who Do You Love," and "Tightrope Ride." He also sang on the last two Doors albums, recorded after Morrison's death, Other Voices and Full Circle.
On August 4th, 2007, Manzarek hosted a program on BBC Radio 2 about the 40th anniversary of the recording of "Light My Fire" and the group's musical and "spiritual" influences.

Jim Morrison Tribute: (love this song, Ray is such a pimp)