The world lost a titan of a human
being on May 31st, 2019. Roky Erickson left us at the age
of 71.
If you're not familiar with the man's
work, he was in a band call the 13th Floor Elevators. Their song “You're Gonna Miss Me” plays over the opening credits
of the movie High Fidelity. Portions of the song were also used in an ad for Dell computers in
the mid 2000s.
As
great as the 13th
Floor Elevators were, it was in Roky's solo work where his song
writing fangs sunk deep into my mind. His album The Evil
One is one of the best records
that I have ever heard.
If I remember
correctly, Tom Petty played in one of Roky's bands for a time. Much
like when David Bowie would take a break from being David Bowie he
would play keyboards for Iggy Pop, Tom Petty would take a break from
being Tom Petty and go play guitar with Roky Erickson.
There
is a live album called Halloween
that shows Roky's prowess as a live performer. The songs were taken
from shows in the late 70s and early 80s. The man's howl could feel
like it was coming from the depths of Hell and at the same time still
convey the feeling of “I know what you mean.”
I was going to
flip a coin to pick between two shows that were happening on Friday
night but decided to stay home when I heard the man had passed. A
giant stack of his records came off the shelf and the plan was to
listen to them, at face melting volume, one after the other while
editing photos.
This
was working until I got to the collection Gremlins Have
Pictures. It's rather difficult
to edit photos through tears. I ended up sitting on the floor
watching the record spin and letting the music wash over me, flipping
back to side A as soon as side B ended. I listened to that record
about three times before I felt like I could function again. And I
thought leaving The Evil One until
last was the safe way to go, I was a damned mess.
Roky Erickson had
struggled with mental illness for most of his life. Going in and out
of institutions for many years. Roky landed in Pittsburgh for a time
in the early 2000s because he was staying with his brother who
happened to be a musician with the Pittsburgh Symphony. I'm glad I
never gathered up the courage to seek the man out while he was in town because it probably
would have been embarrassing for all involved. My blathering and
sweaty palms would have scared him off for sure.
Humanity is losing
its brightest minds at an alarming rate. Almost to the point where I
don't think humanity deserves them anymore because of our poor
behavior. Their words are no longer heeded. We have ceased paying attention to the lessons they provide us. Instead of being moved by the beauty
of their art, the only thing that seems to motivate anyone these days
is greed. The stars are burning out and not too many people seem to
care that we are losing them.
Roky Erickson--The Evil One
Roky Erickson--The Evil One
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