Two one-sided acetates used during the production of Ray Manzarek’s 1983 solo album Carmina Burana, with Ray’s handwritten mixing notes, and notes from the album’s mixing engineer, Joe Chiccarelli.

These acetates were formerly in the collection of longtime Doors associate and manager Danny Sugerman (1954-2005), who also managed Manzarek.  Inside the Masterdisk gatefold acetate sleeve we found a handwritten note from Manzarek ( on cat-themed paper) with mixing notes for four of the album’s tracks for mixing engineer Joe Chiccarelli, such as “#1 More punch-brighter-until snare enters at loud part.”

There is also a note on Chiccarelli’s stationery, presumably written by him, with mixing notes for three songs, and a small third note from a “Bob” about the recent shipment of blanks he usually used for acetates being defective, and so he’d used a different brand.  Carmina Burana was mastered at Masterdisc in New York, and we’re guessing this Bob is the legendary mastering engineer Bob Ludwig, who was a vice president at Masterdisc.

The discs are dated july 27, 1983 and are in EX and VG++ condition. The generic cover with Masterdisc sticker is in overall excellent condition, save for some splits to the bottom spines.

Danny Sugerman met and began working for The Doors at the remarkably young age of 13, first handling their fan mail and organizing their clippings and scrapbook, and later writing press releases.  He was close to Jim Morrison, and after Morrison’s death, became Ray Manzarek’s manager, and then manager of The Doors, overseeing their catalog releases and legacy.

Sugerman wrote several books about Jim Morrison and The Doors, including the bestselling Morrison biography No One Here Gets Out Alive (co-written with Jerry Hopkins), The Doors: The Illustrated History, and his Doors-heavy autobiography Wonderland Avenue. He was also a consultant to Oliver Stone for the film The Doors.

We acquired this award directly from Danny Sugerman’s widow, Fawn Hall, and Recordmecca’s letter of authenticity will note this extraordinary provenance.