Ray Manzarek
Electric Piano Solo on
L.A. Woman

About

Ray Manzarek's electric piano solo is the second of three improvisations on this recording, arriving after Krieger's guitar solo and before the song's famous breakdown section. Entering around the 2:38 mark, Manzarek solos over the same driving A-major groove at 170 BPM, his jazz-influenced melodic sensibility bringing a different tonal character to the improvisation. His lines weave through the harmony with a fluidity rooted in his classical training and deep affinity for blues piano, his electric piano timbre adding a distinctive brightness against the band's darker textures.

Ray Manzarek was 31 to 32 years old at the time.