in 1966 a band called the 13th floor elevators became the first band to use the word psychedelic to refer to their music. their debut album, “the psychedelic sounds of the 13th floor elevators”, rode the swell that became a wave which would eventually crest with an explosion of music following this mind expanding trip which all hip musicians at the time were turned on to. (for better or worse.) the doors, the dead,jefferson airplane et al.

one notices two things immediately when listening to the psychedelic sounds album. the first: roky erickson’s unhinged wail. a voice that ranks above the best rock and soul voices of his time and to some of any time. not the sort of so-bad-it’s good because he’s a good vocalist sort of thing like dylan or van morrison or mick jagger, but a genuine gifted set of pipes, with a confident and commanding delivery.
the second thing is the electrified water jug playing of tommy hall. by holding a mic to a water jug and making voice sounds hall was able to make synthesized sounds in a rock context before synths like the ems vcs3 and minimoog were availible for pop consumption. and it fits. the jug is used in a musical way which doesn’t stink of novelty single gimmickry.
they were one of the progenitors of what would become known as garage rock.

roky had written the elevators top 100 hit, “you’re gonna miss me” which would gain national attention for the band and over the next two years or so they continued on a program of drugs and rock and roll. aided by certain elelments in the band and their managment the group were encouraged to take acid (roky supposedly had over 300 trips) and play their wildest. their notorious reputaion for being heads caught up with them and they were busted on several occasions. around 1968 roky was tried and convicted of possession of a single joint. at the time this was a fellony. his lawyer knew roky couldn’t do hard time so he got him off by reason of insanity and roky was summarily institutionalized. friends and band members facilitated multiple escapes which led to him being deemed criminaly insane. this landed roky in a maximum security prison for the criminaly insane. 

at rusk, roky was in with people convicted of such disturbing crimes the very nature of the crimes themselves had implied their insanity. some musicaly inclined inmates were organized into a band which included people who had commited gruesome murders, child rape, etc. oh, and roky, who was in for a single joint. in addition to being surrounded by murderers and rapists the young roky was subjected to electroshock “treatments” and different drugs to keep him under control. around this time it appears that the analysis for roky indicated he would be a vegatable for the remainder of his life. a beautiful and telented person, beaten and broken. this would be the sad ending for most of his contemporaries. comparisons to syd barrett and sky saxon are common, though not particuarly apt. 

released from rusk state hospital in 1972, by ’74 roky had stared doing music again with various backing bands with various names. this is where we begin to see the sci-fi and horror themes impregnate roky’s lyrics. by 1979 roky had made a full return to playing and recording. enjoying another brush with minor success by simply making an album after the real horror he had experienced. and it was worth the wait. both “roky erikson and the aliens” and “the evil one” are masterworks. not only was that incedible wail intact but his songwriting had matured and modernized. this is often refered to as a turn toward a more heavy metal sound when reading reviews and descriptions of roky’s music. however, i don’t feel this is accurate. the music is simply garage rock in a tuxedo. the post-elevators albums are well produced and well writen ersatz pop rock. and the aliens (or whatever backing band was behind him) were always well above average. 

roky’s lyrics however had undergone a bizare metamorphasis. vampires, lucifer, aliens, ghost babies, doctors, two headed dogs and bloody hammers inhabit the world of roky’s music now. one can only guess what created this shift, heavy drug use, the physical and mental violation of his institutional stays or his earlier disfunctional family life…most likely all of the above. he had split with our collective, shared reality. he was on planet roky only occassionaly visiting our world to keep us on track with what was going on. just as one can only offer conjecture as to what changed roky, the same can be said of the meanings behind his oblique lyrics. this is what sets his middle period above the rest. the cryptic and colorful lyrics delivered with roky’s powerful wail. in this sense roky trumps the misfits and cramps. they were both fun and could be violent and scary or just seedy. roky’s music is all that, but it can also portray very real fears, desperation, hurt and occasionaly happiness. 

whether it’s the calm of “i have always been here before” or the intense “the wind and more” roky appears in full control, musically at least. his soulfull tenor, dead serious as he sings of “working in the kremlin with a two headed dog” and makes his claims that bermuda will not allow you to come back a matter of fact proclamation. and when he explains, “the devil is innocent, the word YOU want is master”, he forces you to think for a second. i can’t begin to describe the full effect of roky erickson’s music with words. by listening you’re stepping into another world. the songs can be listened to in a passive state and simply enjoyed as exceptionally well written rock. or you can attempt to penetrate beneath the surface and wonder what terrifying lyrics like “bloody hammer” may suppose to mean or ponder the heady, “i am”. 

more trouble with drugs and apparently increasing mental insatability would enter into roky’s life again in the late 1980’s. he disappeared into obscurity, his musical legacy weaving into the sounds of the butthole surfers, the jesus and mary chain, rem, zz top, to name a few. roky’s music refuses to go unnoticed. a perennial favorite of garage rock and psychedelic rock hounds, the elevators and the aliens enjoy a cult following which includes some high profile grammy weilding douchbags and cult rockers alike. he is introduced at a 1979 comeback gig as “legendary” and his recent comeback after once again gaining some sort of control over his demons to take the stage. roky still has the talent and charisma that made him legendary by the time he was 20. you would think somebody as allegedly “crazy” as roky would have some amount of trouble remembering the lyrics and guitar parts to a clutch of songs that goes back 4 decades. and admittedly it’s hard to imagine the guy who sleeps with a din of electronic appliances and gadgets roaring getting up and singing for an audience yet roky continues to do so into his 60’s.

there is a petition going around to get roky into the rnr hall of fame. ordinarily i wouldn’t give a shit. but it’s roky’s wish to be inducted so, i respect that. and hell, he deserves it. even if only for the elevators first album he deserves to be there. for being an original, he’ll always enjoy a place in the pantheon of generally accepted cult staples, somewhere mixing outsider and acid casualty, good and evil, insane and genius, is roky erickson. 

sign the petition here:
http://​www​.PetitionOnline​.com/​roky/