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Perfect Sound Forever: RIP ROKY ERICKSON ROKY ERICKSON, RIPRoky live in Brooklyn, September 2017, photo by Jason Gross by Alan CrandallAt 17, I gave up on mainstream rock, and began to pursue two currents – the 'underground' of the time, and the history of rock going back to its origins. Since there was no Spotify, no YouTube, no Amazon – and no internet – my roadmap was limited to rock books and magazines. One of the main roadmaps was The Rolling Stone Record Guide, second edition, 1982. The blue one.I remember shelling out my hard-earned allowance money for a copy, taking it home and, for the next week or so, poring over it, entry-by-entry, line-by-line, with a notepad and a pen handy, jotting down artists and albums I needed to hear. And in the course of all that, I came across this fateful entry:ROKY ERICKSON AND THE ALIENSTwo four-starred albums (four stars meant 'Excellent,' for the uninitiated), released 1980, 1981.
Erickson, it seemed, was a former leader of The Thirteenth Floor Elevators (of whom I knew next to nothing except I'd heard part of 'You're Gonna Miss Me' on the radio once), a band who I lumped in my mind with the rest of the Nuggets crew (not that that was a bad thing – it's just that categorizing the Elevators as a mere one-hit-wonder garage band is about as accurate as thinking of The Kinks as just another typical post-Beatles British Invasion act ala Gerry and the Pacemakers) and he claimed to be a Martian. That was all interesting.
This entry, by David Schulps, was even more interesting:'Erickson writes songs about all manner of occult and demonic beings. Such titles as 'Two-Headed Dog,' 'Creature With the Atom Brain' and 'Don't Shake Me Lucifer' might be just silly if they weren't backed up by some tremendously hard-hitting rock and roll.'
Now, something you must know about the teenaged me is that, whatever parts of my addled adolescent brain that were not completely occupied with sex and rock and roll – and I'm not sure which one took up more space – was completely occupied with all things horror. A childhood diet of Vincent Price/Boris Karloff/Bela Lugosi, Hammer films, Godzilla movies, Kolchak the Night Stalker, Dark Shadows and a megaton of 70's horror comix had left me, by my high school years, obsessed with H.P. Lovecraft and his ilk, and the early novels of Stephen King.So. Occult and demonic beings. Hard-hitting rock and roll?
Roky Erickson and the Aliens were on the list.It took a couple years to come across the Roky albums. They were out of print by then, though not especially rare. I finally found The Evil One at the used record store down the street from my first job. I think it was less than a year before I came across the other one in the same shop.
Neither of them cost more than $5. Now, I'm not going to exaggerate here and say those albums changed my life.
But they were good. Very good.The music?
I would describe the music as basic, very traditional, rockabilly-based rock and roll, but with a heavy, punk-ish guitar attack. Over it all, Roky shouted in a harsh, raw-sounding voice. And the lyrics, well, aside from the horror-movie subject matter, they were seriously weird. The phrases didn't exactly make a lot of sense: what in the hell did the Kremlin have to do with a two-headed dog? What was 'fat kings and queens all eating their grapes/Blood and blaspheme not upon the door drapes/Scream out for murder, scream out for hate/If you click your fingers applauding the play' supposed to mean? Even assuming the lyrics could be understood; the usual problem of deciphering rock lyrics was exacerbated by the fact that Erickson's phraseology was so completely bizarre.
At the same time, in the great tradition of rock and roll, a phrase would leap out of the mix and catch your ear good and hard. I'm not sure to this day what 'her body just blows messiah' is supposed to mean, but damn, it sounds good.What was more important was the fact that Erickson screamed these words with absolute, complete conviction and passion that put, say, Joe Strummer, to shame. Whatever it was he was trying to communicate here, he damn well meant it.Unfortunately, for all their now-classic status among aficionados, the Aliens albums are also marred by flat, thin sound and constricted performances. The common 'new wave' production styles of the time – former Creedence bass player Stu Cook, who produced, should've known better - that rob the tracks of some of their power. I liked them, a lot. But I didn't love them.However, I was not done with Roky Erickson.
Not by a long shot.May of 1986. Our local college station, KFJC, one of the best and most eclectic non-commercial stations in the land, announced as part of its annual May special programming, a three-hour special on Roky and the Thirteenth Floor Elevators. Starbucks girl logo. Amen!I still have my tapes of it. The first 90 minutes was largely devoted to the Elevators, and gave me my first real exposure to the Texas acidheads.
Contents.Biography Born in, Erickson was interested in music from his youth, playing piano from age five and taking up guitar at 10. He attended school in Austin and dropped out of in 1965, one month before graduating, rather than cut his hair to conform to the school dress code. His first notable group was the Spades, who scored a regional hit with Erickson's '; the song is included as an unlisted bonus track on Erickson's 1995 album and was adapted as 'Don't Fall Down' by the 13th Floor Elevators for their debut album. The Spades' original version of ', later a hit for the 13th Floor Elevators, was featured on the compilation album The Best of Volume 1.The 13th Floor Elevators years. Main article:In late 1965, at age 18, Erickson co-founded the 13th Floor Elevators. He and bandmate were the main songwriters.
Early in her career, singer considered joining the Elevators, but Family Dog's persuaded her to go to San Francisco instead, where she found major fame.The band released their debut album in 1966. It contained the band's only charting single, Erickson's 'You're Gonna Miss Me'.
A stinging breakup song, the single remains probably Erickson's best-known work: it was a major hit on local charts in the U.S. Southwest and appeared at lower positions on national singles charts as well.
Critic Mark Deming writes that 'If Roky Erickson had vanished from the face of the earth after The 13th Floor Elevators released their epochal debut single, 'You're Gonna Miss Me', in early 1966, in all likelihood he'd still be regarded as a legend among fanatics for his primal vocal wailing and feral harmonica work.' In 1967, the band followed up with, perhaps the band's most focused effort, featuring ', and a noted cover of 's '. The album was released in 1968 by the band's record label, with little to no input from the band. It featured audience applause dubbed over studio recordings of cover versions, alternate takes, and older material.(1969) was the 13th Floor Elevators' final album on which they worked as a group and was largely the work of Stacy Sutherland. Erickson—due to health and legal problems—and Tommy Hall were only involved with a few tracks, including 'Livin' On' and 'May the Circle Remain Unbroken'.Mental illness and legal problems In 1968, while performing at, Erickson began speaking.
He was soon diagnosed with and sent to a, where he involuntarily received.The Elevators were vocal proponents of and use, and were subject to extra attention from law enforcement agencies. In 1969, Erickson was arrested for possession of a single joint in Austin. Facing a potential ten-year incarceration, Erickson pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity to avoid prison. He was first sent to the. After several escapes, he was sent to the Rusk State Hospital in, where he was subjected to more and treatments, ultimately remaining in custody until 1972.
During his time at Rusk, he continued writing songs and poetry. Family and friends managed to smuggle out some of these poems and, in 1972, self published the book Openers, intending to use the proceeds to hire a lawyer.
(Various sources claim approximately 1,000 copies of Openers were printed; how many copies were actually sold remains unknown.) Six tracks from the 1999 Erickson collection Never Say Goodbye were also recorded during his time at Rusk.Alien years In 1974, after having been released from the state hospital, Erickson formed a new band which he called 'Bleib alien,' Bleib being an anagram of Bible and/or German for ',' and 'Alien' being a pun on the German word ('alone') – the phrase in German, therefore, being 'remain alone.' His new band exchanged the psychedelic sounds of for a more sound that featured lyrics on old.
' (produced by 's and inspired by 's 1950s experiments) was released as a single.The new band was renamed Roky Erickson and the Aliens. In 1979, after playing with the Reversible Cords on May Day at Raul's, Erickson recorded 15 new songs with producer, former bass player of.
These efforts were released in two 'overlapping' LPs – Roky Erickson and the Aliens (CBS UK, 1980) and (415 Records, 1981). Cook played bass on two tracks, 'Sputnik' and 'Bloody Hammer.' Roky performed with as his backup band at The Palladium in in July 1979.
A recording was issued on the French label and was recently re-issued elsewhere.The Austin-based band the Explosives served as Roky's most frequent back-up band during the early era, between 1978 and the early 1980s. Billed as Roky Erickson and the Explosives, they were regulars at Raul's, the Continental Club, and other Austin venues. It was this incarnation that contributed two live tracks to the first Live at Raul's LP, released in 1980, with other Raul's top bands:, Terminal Mind, The Next, Standing Waves, and The Explosives (without Roky Erickson). The Roky Erickson tracks ('Red Temple Prayer' and 'Don't Shake Me Lucifer') were not included on the initial release for contractual reasons, but were included on a later release.In 1982, Erickson asserted that a had inhabited his body. He came to feel that, due to his being alien, human beings were attacking him psychically.
A concerned friend enlisted a Notary Public to witness an official statement by Erickson that he was an alien; he hoped by declaring so publicly he would be in line with any 'international laws' he might have been breaking. Erickson claimed the attacks then indeed stopped.Creative decline and renewed interest Beginning in the 1980s, Erickson developed a years-long obsession with the mail, often spending hours poring over random junk mail, writing to solicitors and celebrities (dead or living). He was arrested in 1989 on charges of mail theft. Erickson had picked up mail from neighbors who had moved and taped it to the walls of his room. He insisted that he never opened any of the mail, and the charges were ultimately dropped.Several live albums of his older material have been released since then, and in 1990 / released a, produced by WB executive. It featured versions of Erickson's songs performed by, and, among others. According to the liner notes, the title of the album came from a remark Erickson made to a friend who asked him to define psychedelic music, to which Erickson reportedly replied 'It's where the pyramid meets the eye, man,' an apparent reference to the and the.Return to music and later life.
Roky Erickson performing at the 2007 Coachella Valley Music and Arts FestivalIn 1995, Erickson released on drummer 's label Records. Produced by bassist, Austin recording legend, and director, the release coincided with the publication of, a complete collection of Erickson's lyrics. Published by 's Publications, it was compiled and edited by with assistance from Rollins and Erickson's youngest brother, a classical player.Sumner was granted legal custody of Roky in 2001, and established a legal trust to aid his brother. As a result, Roky received some of the most effective medical and legal aid of his life, the latter useful in helping sort out the complicated tangle of contracts that had reduced to all but nothing for his recorded works. He also started taking medication to control his schizophrenia.A documentary film on the life of Roky Erickson titled was made by director and screened at the 2005 film festival. See also:.
Bermuda/The Interpreter (1977 ). (1986, ). (1986, ). Casting the Runes (1987, ). Holiday Inn Tapes (1987, ). Click Your Fingers Applauding The Play (1988, ). Openers (1988, ).
Live at the Ritz 1987 (1988, ). Live Dallas 1979 (1992, ).
All That May Do My Rhyme (1995, ). Demon Angel: A Day and a Night with Roky Erickson (1995, ). Roky Erickson and Evilhook Wildlife (1995, ). Never Say Goodbye (1999, ). Don't Knock the Rok! (2004, ). I Have Always Been Here Before (2005, ).
Halloween (2008, ). (2010, Records)Roky Erickson and the Aliens. Roky Erickson and the Aliens (1980, ).
(1981, )Roky Erickson and the Resurrectionists. Beauty and the Beast (1993, )Filmography.
(2007, documentary)See also.Notes. Dorian Lynskey (June 8, 2007). London: Music.guardian.co.uk.
Retrieved November 2, 2011. ^ 'The fall and rise of Roky Erickson. Austin American-Statesman, July 12, 2007. P 13 (Xlent section). Burks, Tosten (May 31, 2019). Billboard-Hollywood Reporter Media Group. Retrieved June 1, 2019.
Deming, Mark (March 1, 2005). Retrieved November 2, 2011.
Eggertsen, Chris (May 31, 2019). Retrieved June 1, 2019. interview with Fred Krc, June 17, 2015; Club Calendars of Raul's, Continental Club and Soap Creek Saloon, 1978—1982. Juha Merimaa. Retrieved November 2, 2011. Dobson, Gareth (May 30, 2008). Drowned in Sound.
Roky Erickson 2018
Retrieved November 2, 2011. March 13, 2008. Retrieved November 2, 2011. Freedman, Pete (January 12, 2010). Dallas Observer. Freedman, Pete (May 11, 2015). Dallas Observer.
Roky Erickson And The Aliens Zip Download
Blackstock, Peter. Retrieved June 1, 2019.References.
Eye Mind: The Saga of Roky Erickson and The 13th Floor Elevators, The Pioneers of Psychedelic Sound by Paul Drummond, Foreword by Julian Cope (Process Media, December 2007),External links Wikimedia Commons has media related to. with.