Ray Manzarek
Electric Piano Solo on
Crawling King Snake

About

Ray Manzarek's electric piano solo is the second of two improvisations on this recording, following Krieger's guitar solo. Taking one chorus of the 12-bar blues form in E at 80 BPM, Manzarek enters around the 2:59 mark and brings a different textural quality to the blues framework. His electric piano solo contrasts with Krieger's guitar by emphasizing jazzy melodic lines and rhythmic interplay, his classical training informing his approach to the traditional blues structure while maintaining the song's heavy, hypnotic groove.

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