Seattle 1970 Preformance and Vox Super Continental

[MojoRisinRay]

Hello all,

The new guy to the forum...the detail freak, has come up with another question about equipment. Imagine that! Please let me know if I'm boring anyone.

I've had this question at the back of my mind for quite some time now...hopefully you guys and Vince can help me with it. If it's been covered I apologize, just post the link. I'm trying to get up to date on all the posts.

Has anybody else noticed a keyboard issue that Ray had in Seattle, June 5th 1970. I have a full copy of this show and I must admit, it really makes more sense in a timeline than the abridged versions I had before. Here is the setup:

After When the Music's Over, Jim has a 5+ minute rap, which the crowd doesn't seem to be into, which slowly breaks into Mystery Train...very slowly, as it should. About 3:30m into the song it is obvious that Ray is having some sort of G-101 organ problems. He hasn't been able to play it at all without it breaking up. This goes on till about 5:45m when there is a noticable unplugging and re-connecting of a live cord on stage. At 7:00m There is what can only be described as a Shrill Vox Noise...like all drawbars on, ouch. Then about 7:45 there is what appears to be a quick Vox organ soundcheck. Which ends up with Ray not finding his usual settings, they don't sound right.

Now here's my take on this.
...somewhere, someone (Vince?) searched the Seattle Coliseum and found another organ, a Vox...SuperContinental! Ray puts his regular settings on it, which don't work since the Super has 1 more drawbar than the regular Continental.

Mystery Train gains steam again, and the Doors get through a great version of the song. The whole time, with whatever went on Manzarek kept playing the Fender Rhodes Bass bu-bah-bum-bah of Mystery Train.

This show went on to give us the well known live versions of both Mystery train and Someday Soon. The organ sound on both of these songs and the rest of this concert seperate them from any other Doors shows. The sound can only be described and different, shrill, reedy, and bordering on displeasing.

I had always wondered why these song sounded so different from the rest of the live recordings. Like, what show did Ray not use a Gibson/Kalamazoo or Vox Continental organ on? (yeah I know, 1 show in 1967, Devonshire Meadows Raceway, with a Farfisa Compact Duo and Black/Silver rhodes bass...but I assume that stuff was on loan with Johns Rogers kit, and Robbies White 63 SG Custom) It was a sound so shrill and distinctive...I had to have it, but what was it. Then I was fooling around with the settings on my Super Continental and Bam! There it was, First 4 white drawbars almost all out and last white drawbar on 4 or so. Which on a dark stage and unfamiliar organ must look the same as first 3 drawbars almost all out and last drawbar on 4 or so on a regular Continental.

I realize that the above stuff is more of an answer than a question. So here's the question, after all this does anybody have the story about what actually happened that night?

[vince]

After Ray switched to the Gibson, the Vox was not used on the road again. It was unrelaible and temperamental. Ray liked his Gobson sound.

I did not switch organs in any performance. I do not recall any problems in that performance.

It is likely you are listening to a bootleg of the show and I would look to the quality of the recording rather than flaws in the organ.

[vince]

After Ray switched to the Gibson, the Vox was not used on the road again. It was unrelaible and temperamental. Ray liked his Gobson sound.

I did not switch organs in any performance. I do not recall any problems in that performance.

It is likely you are listening to a bootleg of the show and I would look to the quality of the recording rather than flaws in the organ.

[jim4371]

After Ray switched to the Gibson, the Vox was not used on the road again. It was unrelaible and temperamental. Ray liked his Gobson sound.

Ray used the Continental at PBS in April and at the Aquarius in July of 1969.
Probably more that I'm unaware of.
Are you sure you didn't have it with as a backup?

[vince]

We did not carry the vox organ, which did not work reliably evenin studio, on the road. There was no travel case, no case number, no listing on the carnet.

I did notlike it because it was not reliable. Ray did not like it because it did not have the preset selectable sounds and he liked the warmer sound of the Kalamazoo.

I do not recall using it at the Aquarius. Do you have photos of it on stage?

Ray was using the Kalamazoo when I first say them in Hampton Beach Casino. He had a fling with the RMI organ in 1968. I forced it on him and he finally demanded that his beloved Kalamazoo be restored to service.

I can soo no reason why we should bring a temperamental and unreliable instrument on the road - especially without a travel case. There is no excuse for responsible equipment people to put an instrument prone to failure on stage and expect a performer to be secure and confident that the performance will proceed without incident.

I don't know what to tell you other than what I know. I was in charge of the equipment. I bought it, repaired it, set it up, tuned it, tested it and transported it. I wrote the carnet, numbered the cases and boxes and weighed them all. There was no Vox organ except for the one stored in the back room at the office.

Even when Ray made the transition from the Doors, he had a custom made Hammond B-3. That was put into service in August of 1971

I don't know what to tell you but that is the information I have.

[MojoRisinRay]

Here's a pic of the Aquarius 07-21-69. Ray is playing a Vox Continental.




Both of these shows as well as the rehearsal were recorder and released as an offical Doors Release on Bright Midnight. Pics from this session were also used as the pics for The Doors Absolutely Live album cover and inside photos. He also used a different...American Continental V301H(wooden keys, single brace screw on the rear) on the Critique performance.