The Doors in a 1966 Elektra Records publicity photo; Manzarek is in shades third from left

Ray Manzarek, the Doors keyboardist who brought both a light jazz touch and some seriously heavy piano-pounding to one of the most influential American bands of the late '60s and early '70s, passed away earlier Monday, according to CBS News. He was 74.

By most accounts, including the one in Oliver Stone's 1991 biopic The Doors (though Manzarek was no fan of the movie, to say the least), it was Manzarek who was most responsible for the band's formation, convincing his fellow former UCLA student Jim Morrison to channel his poet/shaman/lizard-king talents into rock and roll.

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Photo by Craig Hlavaty

Wanda Jackson performing at SXSW 2010

Age gets us all eventually. I'm only in my early twenties and already I'm having to do stupid things like eating healthier, quitting the smokes, and watching my blood pressure. So it really shouldn't come as any surprise that musicians start to slow down in their old age, especially if they've been plugging away at writing and recording since the 1960s.

Today, however, we'll look at five that started off in the era of free love and still produce records today that don't suck. In fact, these five are still producing amazing and relevant records that captivate audiences of all ages.

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Photo by Marco Torres

Iggy and the Stooges, headliners of this year's Free Press Summer Fest, recently released their first new record under their current moniker since 1973. Titled Ready to Die, it's also the group's first record with guitarist James Williamson since then, following the death of guitarist Ron Asheton a few years ago.

Their previous record, Raw Power, is widely regarded as one of the greatest rock records ever recorded and the foundation for much of punk rock. How does Ready to Die stack up? That requires a little bit more thought and a lot more background.

In many ways, time has been both kind and unkind to the Stooges and their legacy. Their last record with Asheton, 2007's The Weirdness, was released as simply "The Stooges" and widely ridiculed as an embarrassment to their legacy. On the other hand, their reputation as one of the most important (and awesome) rock bands of all time has only grown since their intial breakup in 1974 and they continue to be one of many fans' favorite bands, regardless of their recent records.

Seems a contradiction, right? What gives?

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The next time someone who's too "cool" to "get" the Beatles asks what makes them so important, ask that person what's so great about his or her nose. First, if you're lucky, you'll be treated to an entertaining look of befuddlement. Then, when you're done being amused by that, avoid launching into a diatribe about the Beatles' production values or how they introduced Eastern instruments or drug culture to rock music, blah blah blah.

Just explain that Beatles songs are like noses: there's a lot of 'em. Some are longer than others, some are hairier. We favor some over others, but, they're all essentially built from the same mold. They were created from a classic design to pass down usefully from one generation to the next, and the next after that.

John Lennon and Paul McCartney focused on universal themes and wrote lyrics that are largely bereft of the sorts of cultural references that doom a song to a specific time and place. How good at this were they? They wrote a song called "Birthday" that will never stop being sung as long as people keep being born and living for at least some years.

All that said, not every Beatles tune is the perfect proboscis. They were tough to sniff out (I know...I'm sorry), but here are four that are starting to lose their relevance, if only in even the slightest of ways.

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Did you know last week was Foreigner singer Lou Gramm's birthday? Well, it was on May 2, when he turned 63. So what better way to (belatedly) honor him than to look back at some of the strangest places Gramm has managed to promote his musical career?

Yes, Foreigner is a ubiquitous band. The use of their music ranges far and wide, and that's why they've shown up in all sorts of place in pop culture that you'd never expect them to. One day you're just watching Gilmore Girls, and bam! There's Foreigner.

It's strange because it doesn't seem like Foreigner is anyone's favorite band, but they're just so lovable you can't help but stick them awkwardly into a mother-daughter bonding moment. Here are five other movies or TV series you wouldn't necessarily expect to stumble across Foreigner, but there they are all the same.

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eaglesband.com

Who looks happy here? The Eagles near their breakup: Glenn Frey, Don Felder, Don Henley, Joe Walsh, and Timothy B. Schmit.

History of the Eagles
Jigsaw Productions, 3-DVD, $34.99

Originally shown as a two-part special on Showtime earlier this year, History of the Eagles arrives for home consumption in a variety of formats. The most user (and wallet)-friendly is this 3-DVD version that also includes a bonus disc of highlights from a 1977 concert on the Hotel California tour.

Disc 1 chronicles the story of the band from the members' early groups to their stint backing Linda Ronstadt to their instant and massive success until an acrimonious 1980 breakup due to a deadly mixture of cocaine (which Glenn Frey notes "brought out the worst in everybody"), egos and fatigue.

And while it's admirable that screen time is also given to former band members Bernie Leadon, Randy Meisner, and Don Felder -- none of whom left under good circumstances -- this nest has clearly always been run by Don Henley and Glenn Frey in a not-always-benevolent dictatorship.

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A screencap from Frank Ocean's "Pyramids" video

Pop and R&B superstar Frank Ocean has recently opened up to MTV News that he's been on a Beatles and Beach Boys binge when seeking inspiration for his upcoming second full-length record. While it's not exactly surprising to hear of a young artist gorging himself on Beatles classics for ideas, it is a bit stranger coming from someone so rooted in R&B, hip-hop and sampling as Frank Ocean.

Ocean is quite familiar with sampling from the greats of yesterday. Check out his full-length sample of "Hotel California" in his song "American Wedding" from his mixtape Nostalgia, Ultra. Could we hear a sample of a Beatles song on the new record? It wouldn't be the first time, and maybe it would sound a little bit like one of these great re-appropriations of a Beatles classic.

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Photo courtesy of SXSW

Bruce Springsteen at SXSW, March 2012

Springsteen on Springsteen: Interviews, Speeches, and Encounters
Edited by Jeff Burger

Even editor Burger himself poses this question in his intro: Does the world really need another book on Bruce Springsteen? Especially in recent times when Boss Books have been flooding the marketplace (and Yours Truly would know, having covered most of them for this column...).

Well, the short answer is... no. But what makes Springsteen on Springsteen different -- and worthy -- is that it's one of the few tomes that mostly lets the artist speak for himself and in his own words.

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Here are my Top 5 Billy Joel songs that take names, after Tuesday's post that ran down the songs that do that other thing that comes before taking names.

Rewind:

Billy Joel: Still Kicking Ass (FIrst Leg)

5. "All For Leyna," Glass Houses
Kicks Ass Because: It Rocks

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"Don't take any shit from anybody."

One Sunday morning a few weeks ago, my wife and I watched the Billy Joel concert documentary The Last Play at Shea. When my daughter stumbled into the den to ask about breakfast, we were soiling Kleenexes and wiping tears from our eyes.

"Did you take your meds this morning, Dad?" she asked.

I tried explaining to her what a significant role the Piano Man played in her parents' lives (after I assured her that yes, I had not skipped my daily happy pills). It's not just that he'd soundtracked a good deal of our 30 years together, I told her, it's that he felt like a friend who had been there for big moments in our lives, then suddenly wasn't.

We hadn't seen him since a December 1999 show at The Summit, and we missed him.

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