Rick & the Ravens

The band initially consisted of Rick Manczarek on guitar, Jim Manczarek on organ and harmonica, Patrick Stonier on saxophone, Roland Biscaluz on bass and Vince Thomas on drums. The drummer and bass player were initially not permanent members, but asked to join whenever a gig was upcoming. The moniker "Rick" in the band name was Ray Manczarek's brother Rick Manczarek.

In 1962 Ray Manczarek, having moved to Los Angeles from Chicago, joined on vocals and occasional piano. At that time, the Manczareks wrote their name with an additional letter ‘c’; but, Ray changed the spelling to “Manzarek” upon joining the Doors.

The band performed on weekends for college crowds, mostly from UCLA Film School, at a bar called the Turkey Joint West on Santa Monica Boulevard,[1] a British pub operated by the Santa Monica Soccer and Social Club,[2] since 1974 known as Ye Olde King's Head.[3] Their set-list consisted of their own originals, padded with standards such as "I'm Your Doctor, I Know What You Need," "Louie, Louie," Barrett Strong's "Money" and Willie Dixon's "Hoochie Coochie Man."

In an interview conducted by Rainer Moddemann, Manzarek stated the first song Jim Morrison performed with Rick & the Ravens was Richard Berry's "Louie Louie". Morrison was not officially part of the band at that time; Manzarek simply invited his former college colleague on stage, much to everyone's surprise. Morrison was reportedly not prepared for this, his first public performance, and sang himself hoarse.[4] Morrison and Manzarek had met previously and found they shared a lot of musical and artistic interests. Later Manzarek asked Morrison to join the band and he accepted.

On September 2, 1965 the band entered World Pacific Studios in Los Angeles and recorded six songs that would eventually become Doors songs: "Moonlight Drive", "My Eyes Have Seen You", "Hello, I Love You", "Go Insane" (known simply as "Insane" on the acetate), "End of the Night", and "Summer's Almost Gone". The recording session was a relatively quick affair, only lasting three hours in total.[5] Singer Morrison was reportedly delighted to hear his voice on a record for the first time. The demo was released in its entirety on The Doors: Box Set in 1997. The tracks on the box set were mastered from Rick Manzarek's original acetate which was one of only five made.

The 1965 Rick & the Ravens demo features Jim Morrison on vocals, Ray Manzarek on piano and background vocals, John Densmore on drums, Rick Manzarek on guitar, Jim Manzarek on harmonica, and Patricia "Pat" Hansen (née Sullivan, from Patty and the Esquires, the band she had with Chuck Oakes whom she later married[6]) on bass guitar. The only future Doors member not in the band and not featured on the demo is guitarist Robby Krieger.[7]

Both Jim and Rick Manzarek were disappointed by the response the demo received after attempting to promote it, and they, along with Sullivan, were additionally not impressed with Morrison's songs.[8] Subsequently, Rick and Jim Manzarek quit the band, stating they felt it was "going nowhere fast".[9]

At Morrison's suggestion,[10] the band changed its name to the Doors a month after they had recorded the demo. Robby Krieger joined on guitar in October 1965, having earlier performed with Densmore in the Psychedelic Rangers.[11] The Doors were initially a quintet, but when Manzarek decided to handle the bass duties with the newly introduced Fender Rhodes Piano Bass, Pat Sullivan was dropped from the line-up in December 1965, ultimately ending up with the "classic" Doors line-up of Morrison, Manzarek, Krieger, and Densmore.

All songs from the Rick & the Ravens demo appear, in re-recorded and sometimes amended form, on later Doors releases. "End of the Night" appeared on the Doors' 1967 self-titled debut album, "Moonlight Drive" and "My Eyes Have Seen You" appeared on the band's second album Strange Days, and "Hello, I Love You" and "Summer's Almost Gone" appeared on 1968's Waiting for the Sun, both included as a result of Morrison's struggles with alcoholism and lack of new songs at that time. The verse section of "Go Insane" became part of the "Celebration of the Lizard" suite under the title "A Little Game"; a live version of "Celebration of the Lizard" was released on 1970s Absolutely Live, with a rough studio attempt featuring on 2003's Legacy: The Absolute Best.

• Jim Manczarek – organ, harmonica (1961-1965)
• Patrick Stonier – saxophone (1961-1965)
• Roland Biscaluz – bass (1961-1965)
• Vince Thomas – drums (1961-1965)
• Ray Manzarek – piano, vocals (1962-1965) (died 2013)
• Jim Morrison – vocals (1965) (died 1971)
• John Densmore – drums (1965)
• Patricia Sullivan – bass (1965)

The singles were meant as promotional material only. They were never in wide circulation, nor were they even meant to be published outside the promotional circuits. On the "Soul Train / Geraldine" single, the artist is labeled "Ray Daniels feat. Rick & the Ravens", with "Ray Daniels" double billed. The last singles were initially meant as vehicles to promote Ray Manczarek (billed as "Ray Daniels") as lead artist, with the Ravens merely a backing band. Promotional material presented the artist as "Rick & the Ravens featuring the Voice of Ray Daniels". These plans were discarded when Morrison joined the line-up.

• Rick And The Ravens at AllMusic