His keyboard riffs are some of the most recognizable in popular music, even 40 years after The Doors recorded their last album.

“Time flies when you’re living life,” Ray Manzarek tells CBS13’s Ben Sosenko on a visit to Manzarek’s Northern California home. “Time flies when you’re having fun, when you’re living life.”

The Doors were created in the early 1960s when two film students at UCLA crossed paths — Manzarek and Jim Morrison.

“He was into rock ‘n’ roll. I was into rock ‘n’ roll,” Manzarek explains.

And just like that, The Doors were born.

Interview With Ray Manzarek – Part 1



Interview With Ray Manzarek – Part 2



Over the course of the next six years, The Doors went on to worldwide fame. They were the first American band to record eight straight gold LPs and have sold more than 100 million albums worldwide.

“Our little babies have won the World Series or the Super Bowl. So you’re very proud of them,” Manzarek says the records’ successes.

But the future of a band so bright darkened in 1971 when Morrison died of a drug overdose.

“Unfortunately, to become iconic you have to die,” Manzarek says.

It’s been 40 years since the band recorded “L.A. Woman,” their final studio album. When the producer was gathering the tracks for an anniversary re-issue of the album, a discovery was made. A new song.

“We all heard it and said holy cow! That’s a brand new song,” Manzarek says. “It came out of no where, it came out of the blue, like we didn’t know it was there, we didn’t know it existed.”

And his emotion when hearing it?

“Yeah! Always joy and cheer. I was very excited.”

Manzarek says once or twice a year, he has a dream. The band is back, Jim Morrison and all, and they’re all working on a new song.

Well, that dream has come true for Manzarek and the huge number of Doors fans around the world.

“Let’s let them hear Jim one more time, something they never heard before,” he says.

The new song “She Smells So Nice” will be released on Jan. 24 on the re-issue of “L.A. Woman.”

As for Manzarek, he has no plans of slowing down.

“It’s far from over,” he says.