Roky Erickson with Okkervil River - True Love Cast Out All Evil (2010)
New album by legend Roky Erickson!!!
http://www.rokyerickson.net/
Roky Erickson with Okkervil River - True Love Cast Out All Evil (2010)
In 1982, Erickson asserted that a Martian had inhabited his body. He later reported to friends that aliens were coming to Earth to harm him, and asked a Notary Public to witness an official declaration that he was himself an alien, hoping that this would convince the aliens to leave him alone.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Roky Erickson
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
[edit] Biography
[edit] Early life and career
[edit] 13th Floor Elevators years
In 1966 (Erickson was 19 years old) the band released their debut album
The Psychedelic Sounds of the 13th Floor Elevators.
Psychedelic Sounds had 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 position 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
garage rock fanatics for his primal vocal wailing and feral harmonica work."
[3]The album
Live was put out in 1968 by
International Artists. It featured audience applause dubbed over studio recordings of cover versions and older material, and it had little to no input from the band.
Bull of the Woods, released in 1969, was the 13th Floor Elevators' last released 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".
[edit] Mental illness and legal problems
The Elevators were vocal proponents of
LSD,
mescaline (
peyote),
DMT and
marijuana use, and were subject to extra attention from police. In 1969, Erickson was arrested for possession of one
marijuana joint in Austin. Facing a ten-year prison term, Erickson pled not guilty by reason of insanity. He was first sent to the
Austin State Hospital. After several escapes, he was sent to the Rusk State Hospital for the Criminally Insane, where he was subjected to more
electroconvulsive therapy and
Thorazine treatments, ultimately remaining in custody until 1972.
[edit] Bleib Alien years
The new band renamed itself
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 Stu Cook, former
bass player of
Creedence Clearwater Revival. These efforts were released in two "overlapping" LPs — "I Think Of Demons" (CBS UK, 1980) and "The Evil One" (415 Records, 1981). Cook played bass on two tracks, "Sputnik" and "Bloody Hammer." Roky performed with
The Nervebreakers as his backup band at
The Palladium in
Dallas in 1979. A recording was issued on the French label
New Rose and was recently re-issued elsewhere.
In 1982, Erickson asserted that a
Martian had inhabited his body. He later reported to friends that aliens were coming to Earth to harm him, and asked a Notary Public to witness an official declaration that he was himself an alien, hoping that this would convince the aliens to leave him alone.
[edit] Creative decline and renewed interest
In an unmedicated state, Erickson began 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 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
Sire Records/
Warner Bros. Records released a
tribute album,
Where The Pyramid Meets The Eye produced by WB executive
Bill Bentley. It featured versions of Erickson's songs performed by
The Jesus and Mary Chain,
R.E.M.,
ZZ Top,
Julian Cope,
Butthole Surfers,
Bongwater,
John Wesley Harding,
Doug Sahm and
Primal Scream. 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
Eye of Providence and the
Great Seal of the United States.
[edit] Return to music
Roky Erickson and the Explosives at
Bumbershoot festival (2007).
Roky Erickson receiving a lifetime achievement award from Billy Gibbons at the Austin Music Awards (2008).
Roky Erickson performing at Austin Music Awards (2008).
The same year Swedish death metal band
Entombed released a split EP with
New Bomb Turks titled Night of the Vampire, with a cover of Erickson's single.
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, which had reduced
royalty payments to all but nothing for his recorded works. He also started taking medication to control his schizophrenia.
In the December 30, 2005 issue of the
Austin Chronicle, an alternative weekly newspaper in Austin, Texas,
Margaret Moser brings up to date the story of Erickson's recovery with the aid of his brother Sumner. According to the article, Roky weaned himself off his medication, played at 11 gigs in Austin that year, obtained a driver's license, owns a car (a
Volvo), voted the previous year, and planned to do more concerts with
The Explosives in 2006.
British Rock Band
Kasabian, acknowledged Erickson's work on the centrefold CD booklet of their 2009 album
West Ryder Pauper Lunatic Asylum with a case of dead moth and butterfly samples and a plaque reading "Bequeathed to the West Ryder Pauper Lunatic Asylum by Mr. R. Erickson". The centrefold also serves as the band's backdrop at live shows.
On April 20, 2010, Erickson will release
True Love Cast Out All Evil, his first album of new material in 14 years.
Austin-based
Okkervil River serves as Erickson's backing band on the album.
[7][edit] Discography
- I Think of Demons (1980, CBS Records)
- The Evil One (1981, 415 Records)
- The Return of the Living Dead (soundtrack) (1985, Enigma Records)
- Don't Slander Me (1986, Pink Dust Records)
- Gremlins Have Pictures (1986, Pink Dust Records)
- Casting the Runes (1987, Five Hours Back)
- Holiday Inn Tapes (1987, Fan Club)
- Live at the Ritz 1987 (1988, Fan Club)
- Openers (1988, Five Hours Back)
- Beauty and the Beast (1993, Sympathy for the Record Industry)
- All That May Do My Rhyme (1995, Trance Syndicate)
- Demon Angel: A Day and a Night with Roky Erickson (1995, Triple X Records)
- Roky Erickson and Evilhook Wildlife (1995, Sympathy for the Record Industry)
- Never Say Goodbye (1999, Emperor Jones)
- Don't Knock the Rok! (2004, Norton Records)
- I Have Always Been Here Before (2005, Shout! Factory)
- Live at the Ritz (200?, New Rose Records)
- True Love Cast Out All Evil 2010, Anti Records
[edit] See also
[edit] 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)
[edit] External links
- Roky Erickson official Web site
- Roky Erickson official MySpace page
- Roky Erickson and The Explosives official MySpace page
- official Thirteenth Floor Elevators MySpace page
- -P Texas Psych Google Group: Online Community & Discussion Group
- Texas Psychedelic Ranch: 13th Floor Elevators, Roky Erickson, Golden Dawn, Bubble Puppy, more...
- Roky CD Club Discography
- Austin Chronicle article (12/05)
- Roky Erickson FAQ
- Roky Erickson / 13th Floor Elevators Extensive Discography
- Thirteenth Floor Elevators Discography
- Roky Erickson on AllMusic.com
- Texas Psychedelic Ranch: 13th Floor Elevators, Roky Erickson, Golden Dawn, more...
- Review of You're Gonna Miss Me soundtrack
- November 2008 Interview with L.A. Record
- Texas Psychedelic Blog: Posts, Images, Articles, Interviews, more...
- the official 13th floor elevators website