The Golden Scarab

The Golden Scarab is the debut studio album by former Doors member Ray Manzarek as a solo artist. It was recorded in 1973 and released in 1974 on the Mercury label, one year after the Doors breakup (at that time a trio formed of the surviving members of the band: Manzarek himself, Robby Krieger, and John Densmore).

Reception

Joe Viglione of AllMusic gave The Golden Scarab a rating of three out of five stars. He considered it to be the "best embodiment of the Doors by one of the three surviving members", concluding:

In contrast, Uncut magazine wrote a scathing review, ridiculing, "It sucks... Even Jim at his dumbest, stinkiest drunk would have pissed himself laughing."

Track listing

All tracks composed by Ray Manzarek except where indicated:

CD bonus tracks

1. "Whirling Dervish" (Manzarek, Paul Davis) *
2. "I Wake Up Screaming" (Manzarek, Danny Sugerman) *
3. "Bicentennial Blues (Love It or Leave It)" *

• Bonus tracks taken from Manzarek's 1974 LP The Whole Thing Started with Rock & Roll Now It's Out of Control.

Personnel

• Ray Manzarek – lead vocals, keyboards, piano, organ, synthesizer, kalimba
• Larry Carlton – guitar
• Tony Williams – drums
• Oscar Brashear – trumpet
• Mayuto Correa – wood block, bongos, congas
• Milt Holland – pandeiro, cabasa, quica, African cowbell
• Jerry Scheff – bass
• Ernie Watts – tenor saxophone
• George Bohanon – trombone
• Steve Forman – tuned cowbells, whistles, guiro, tuned wood blocks
• Patti Smith – vocals on "I Wake Up Screaming"

References