Ray Manzarek of The Doors Tells the Musical Story of How ‘Riders on the Storm’ Came to Be

Shortly before his death in 2013, the great Ray Manzarek of The Doors sat in front of his beloved keyboard and told the fascinating musical story of how the iconic “Riders on the Storm” came to be. The song came together rather quickly, although the bass line was a little tricky for bassist Jerry Scheff at first.

Jerry Scheff says ‘what’s the bass line?’ I said it’s simple, E-minor A major. He said man that’s impossible. I said what for you? That’s not impossible. Look at this, it’s like nothing to it and he said uh uh, that’s that’s on the piano Ray …Watch this on the bass guitar and I don’t know what the hell he did. He had to go through machinations like turning his wrist virtually upside down inside out trying to play it. I said I’m sorry man but it sounds so good and it’s so easy.

The official video for Riders on the Storm: