"PEOPLE ARE STRANGE" AND THE MUSICAL PROWESS OF RAY MANZAREK

 

The B-side of the Doors' second album, September 1967's "Strange Days", opens with the song "People Are Strange," a composition written mainly by Jim Morrison and arranged with the decisive contribution of guitarist Robby Krieger. Although most of the credit goes to Morrison, who wrote the main melody and the lyrics, Ray Manzarek's instrumental skills also stand out.

He plays two different types of instruments: the electric organ and the modified piano, frequently called “Tack piano”. The former was usually played by the keyboardist, while the latter is introduced on this LP: in addition to "People Are Strange", it also appears on "Moonlight Drive" and "My Eyes Have Seen You". Moreover, the clavinet and harpsichord, two other keyboards played with expertise and creativity by Manzarek, also appear on other tracks of the album.

On "People Are Strange," however, we find a combination of expressive taste and technique that was anything but common for 1967. In fact, there was no other band in either the United States or England in which one musician could so smoothly and effectively play different types of keyboards in such diverse musical contexts.

In this case, we are not just talking about the technical aspect and musical skills. Other musicians in those years were very well prepared in this respect. Among them, staying in the sphere of keyboards and 1967, we’d like to mention John Paul Jones and Nicky Hopkins.

However, Ray Manzarek had a broader vision and was able to put technique at the service of inventiveness, sound details, and overall imagination, in the arrangement of the above-mentioned album tracks. The result was at once evocative and timely, also capable of evoking deep and exciting images and feelings.

On the other hand, at that time there were a few other artists who used keyboards of various kinds in unusual and experimental ways. However, they did not have the instrumental mastery that Manzarek demonstrated. Two examples are John Lennon and Brian Jones, who in 1967 already inserted various keyboards in the songs they played in. They achieved surprising results, but unlike Manzarek they were not able to fully exploit the technical secrets of the organ and piano.

In the example we want to highlight, "People Are Strange," the electric organ and modified piano interact naturally, complementing each other in a very pleasant and distinctive sound. In this song, the two keyboards are in constant dialog, defining the sounds that make it so distinctive and fascinating.

They are at the same time the backbone of the composition, the factor that distinguishes its unmistakable musicality and the means with which certain passages are embellished.

The overdubs and meticulous studio work that characterized "Strange Days" allowed Manzarek to vividly enrich the musical arrangement of the song. The combination of technique and creativity, ideas and instrumental mastery, is the trademark of Ray Manzarek and his inimitable way of playing. This has been true throughout the Doors’ career, but "People Are Strange" is one of the best examples where the musician summons these musical features.