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Roky Erickson, RIP
Jun. 20th, 2019 07:38 amWe all knew Roky Erickson wouldn’t live forever, but it is still a shock to hear of his passing.
I did not get to see him perform live, but I believe some friends did. For most of my life, that seemed impossible. Still, for a few years at the end, he was able to get out and perform. It seemed his life ended up with a steady ascent and his death cemented him finally as an American hero.
I am ok with that. There are other garage rock bands and psychedelic bands that deserve attention (Seeds, Sonics, Sir Douglas Quintent) but Roky grew to be the image cemented in our mind. At last, he can be celebrated like Dylan, Reed or Springsteen.
It’s funny. I probably listen to Roky and the 13th Floor Elevators in recent years as much as I do anything. I might hard pressed to name artists I listen to more, but those I do are evergreens like Bowie and Cash.
It has been easy to classify Roky as a Rock n Roll casualty. It is romantic and he gets lumped in with Daniel Johnston, Syd Barrett and Wesley Willis. One can’t argue that his lyrics weren’t a bit out there, but he always struck me as having a real ear for melody.
I was lucky enough to be that impressionable age when Roky finally got his due. The idea of tribute albums came out and Roky got a pretty amazing one. It was a real testament that the artist involved were true fans- but not a group you might have put in the same room - REM, Julian Cope, ZZ Top, Jesus and Mary Chain, Primal Scream, Richard Lloyd of Television, the Butthole Surfers.
Because of that, I bought a matching retrospective. It was mainly drawn from his 80s records for Restless, but the tracks were flawless. I truly treasured that disc.
For someone who wanted more, it was good timing as it was also the era of CDs and it seemed like the Elevators discography was easily found. Another Dimension was also released- a decent sounding live record.
Things were all leading to a Roky revival and in 1995, teaming up with Henry Rollins and Paul Leary and King Coffey from the Butthole Surfers to release a book of lyrics and record a new album
Even in those ambitious indie rock days, Roky was never going to be huge, but the re-recording of many of his famous songs on All that May Do My Rhyme
Allmusic shockingly gives it only three stars, but they are wrong. With Leary, LouAnn Barton, Charlie Sexton, Speedy Sparks of the Texas Tornadoes and brother/Guardian as well as multi-instrumentalist Sumner Erickson backing, it is a cleanly recorded record, that almost is country-tinged in its acoustic spirit. It is also a classic.
Unfortunately, I stepped on my CD and had to buy it twice.
In 2010, Erickson got one last hurrah by teaming with Okkervil River who helped work some old songs and ideas into a cohesive record. It’s pretty solid and leaves one last great document of his career
Meanwhile in the current environment, it seems every time Roky had a guitar, it found its way to tape. I appreciate the various moments caught. It also means the hard to find records spread throughout his career have bubbled up. I feel lucky to be able to listen to those.
Roky’s legacy is a complex one. Songs like “Starry Eyes”, “Fire Engine”, and “You’re Gonna Miss Me” are classics. Erickson’s issues are legend too- stealing peoples mail, listening to multiple TV sets at full blast at the same time- almost glorified or mocked.
Somewhere in between is Roky singing “I’ve been working in the Kremlin with a three headed dog” with as much sincerity as others sang “She loves you. Yeah yeah yeah” or “How many roads must a man walk down before you call him a man”. It was fantastic. I celebrate that.
I did not get to see him perform live, but I believe some friends did. For most of my life, that seemed impossible. Still, for a few years at the end, he was able to get out and perform. It seemed his life ended up with a steady ascent and his death cemented him finally as an American hero.
I am ok with that. There are other garage rock bands and psychedelic bands that deserve attention (Seeds, Sonics, Sir Douglas Quintent) but Roky grew to be the image cemented in our mind. At last, he can be celebrated like Dylan, Reed or Springsteen.
It’s funny. I probably listen to Roky and the 13th Floor Elevators in recent years as much as I do anything. I might hard pressed to name artists I listen to more, but those I do are evergreens like Bowie and Cash.
It has been easy to classify Roky as a Rock n Roll casualty. It is romantic and he gets lumped in with Daniel Johnston, Syd Barrett and Wesley Willis. One can’t argue that his lyrics weren’t a bit out there, but he always struck me as having a real ear for melody.
I was lucky enough to be that impressionable age when Roky finally got his due. The idea of tribute albums came out and Roky got a pretty amazing one. It was a real testament that the artist involved were true fans- but not a group you might have put in the same room - REM, Julian Cope, ZZ Top, Jesus and Mary Chain, Primal Scream, Richard Lloyd of Television, the Butthole Surfers.
Because of that, I bought a matching retrospective. It was mainly drawn from his 80s records for Restless, but the tracks were flawless. I truly treasured that disc.
For someone who wanted more, it was good timing as it was also the era of CDs and it seemed like the Elevators discography was easily found. Another Dimension was also released- a decent sounding live record.
Things were all leading to a Roky revival and in 1995, teaming up with Henry Rollins and Paul Leary and King Coffey from the Butthole Surfers to release a book of lyrics and record a new album
Even in those ambitious indie rock days, Roky was never going to be huge, but the re-recording of many of his famous songs on All that May Do My Rhyme
Allmusic shockingly gives it only three stars, but they are wrong. With Leary, LouAnn Barton, Charlie Sexton, Speedy Sparks of the Texas Tornadoes and brother/Guardian as well as multi-instrumentalist Sumner Erickson backing, it is a cleanly recorded record, that almost is country-tinged in its acoustic spirit. It is also a classic.
Unfortunately, I stepped on my CD and had to buy it twice.
In 2010, Erickson got one last hurrah by teaming with Okkervil River who helped work some old songs and ideas into a cohesive record. It’s pretty solid and leaves one last great document of his career
Meanwhile in the current environment, it seems every time Roky had a guitar, it found its way to tape. I appreciate the various moments caught. It also means the hard to find records spread throughout his career have bubbled up. I feel lucky to be able to listen to those.
Roky’s legacy is a complex one. Songs like “Starry Eyes”, “Fire Engine”, and “You’re Gonna Miss Me” are classics. Erickson’s issues are legend too- stealing peoples mail, listening to multiple TV sets at full blast at the same time- almost glorified or mocked.
Somewhere in between is Roky singing “I’ve been working in the Kremlin with a three headed dog” with as much sincerity as others sang “She loves you. Yeah yeah yeah” or “How many roads must a man walk down before you call him a man”. It was fantastic. I celebrate that.
