Rick & the Ravens was an American surf rock
Performances
The band performed on weekends for college crowds, mostly from UCLA Film School, at a bar called the Turkey Joint West on Santa Monica Boulevard, a British pub operated by the Santa Monica Soccer and Social Club, since 1974 known as Ye Olde King's Head. Their concert setlist consisted of their own original songs, padded with covered versions of blues standards such as "I'm Your Doctor, I Know What You Need" by Muddy Waters, "Louie Louie" by Richard Berry, Barrett Strong's "Money", and Willie Dixon's "Hoochie Coochie Man."
In an interview conducted by Rainer Moddemann, Manzarek stated the first song Jim Morrison performed with Rick & the Ravens was Richard Berry's "Louie Louie". Morrison was not officially part of the band at that time; Manzarek simply invited his former college colleague on stage, much to everyone's surprise. Morrison was reportedly not prepared for this, his first public performance, and sang himself hoarse. Morrison and Manzarek had met previously and found they shared a lot of musical and artistic interests. Later Manzarek asked Morrison to join the band and he accepted.
The 1965 World Pacific Demo
On September 2, 1965 the band entered World Pacific Studios in Los Angeles and recorded six songs that would eventually become Doors songs: "Moonlight Drive", "My Eyes Have Seen You", "Hello, I Love You", "Go Insane" (known simply as "Insane" on the acetate), "End of the Night", and "Summer's Almost Gone". The recording session was a relatively quick affair, only lasting three hours in total. Singer Morrison was reportedly delighted to hear his voice on a record for the first time. The demo was released in its entirety on The Doors: Box Set in 1997. The tracks on the box set were mastered from Rick Manczarek's original acetate which was one of only five made.
Transformation to the Doors
The 1965 Rick & the Ravens demo features Jim Morrison on vocals, Ray Manczarek on piano and background vocals, John Densmore on drums, Rick Manczarek on guitar, Jim Manczarek on harmonica, and Patricia "Pat" Hansen (née Sullivan, from Patty and the Esquires, the band she had with Chuck Oakes whom she later married) on bass guitar. The only future Doors member who was not featured on the demo is guitarist Robby Krieger.
Both Jim and Rick Manczarek were disappointed by the response the demo received after attempting to promote it, and they, along with Sullivan, were additionally not impressed with Morrison's songs. Subsequently, Rick and Jim Manczarek quit the band, stating they felt it was "going nowhere fast".
At Morrison's suggestion, the band changed its name to the Doors a month after they had recorded the demo. Robby Krieger joined on guitar in October 1965, having earlier performed with Densmore in the Psychedelic Rangers.