Roky Erickson

Regarded as the Pink Floyd of American psychedelic music for their seminal importance, the Thirteenth Floor Elevators are the authors of one of the absolute masterpieces of rock music, but also the most troubled ensemble of the Sixties. The excess of psychedelic philosophies and the immoderate use of drugs immediately caused rifts within the band: the effect of these mishaps wasn't instantly felt in their music, although after "Easter Everywhere" their releases belong to the speculative end of the industry.

The talent of their leader Roky Erickson and his obsession with music that transcended earthly boundaries were what set the Texan band apart, but also the weak point that dragged their adventure toward a premature end: the otherworldly Erickson found himself struggling for years with schizophrenia and legal troubles, while remaining tenaciously anchored to his desire to make music, but his attempts to piece the band back together collapsed for good in 1978 with the death of Stacy Sutherland.

When his first album as Roky Erickson And The Aliens was released in England in 1980 (recorded two years earlier), the appeal of his voice was still intact, even though the music had slid toward more conventional tones. His is an acid, visionary rock that welcomes tales of zombies and vampires that feel all too earthbound, a sequence of corrosive tracks that, blending voodoo-blues, hard rock in the vein of Blue Öyster Cult and flashes of psychedelia, laid the groundwork for a renewed cult following.

The perceptible echo — as deliberate as it is inevitable — of the Kinks, the Creedence Clearwater Revival and the Yardbirds, as well as the natural distance from the psychedelia of the Austin band, are nonetheless the fruit of a pop-rock nature already evident in his big hit "You're Gonna Miss Me", written in 1965 for the Spades (Roky's first band) and later the cornerstone of the landmark Thirteenth Floor Elevators album.

The overall picture painted by the release of these three Roky Erickson reissues is a complex one. The myth that shapes his public image is still strong and hard to dent: the confused release, over the last twenty years, of albums, compilations and live recordings hasn't managed to undermine his creativity, which still shines through even in the most disjointed passages of "Don't Slander Me" (the least interesting of the batch). Lights In The Attic, however, has finally brought order to all the various versions of his first two albums ("Rocky Erickson" and "The Evil One"), gathering the tracks born from a single 1977 session into one unified project.

The unkind reviews that greeted these albums kept Erickson's high-voltage rock'n'roll from finding its rightful place in rock history, and from giving proper shape to his output: the 1977-78 sessions with Stu Cook remain the best results Roky ever achieved, great songs that give substance to a body of work that still resonates today. The fabulous alien rock'n'roll of "I Walked With A Zombie", the spine-chilling rock-blues of "Creatures With The Atom Brain" and the driving psychedelic rock of "The Wind And More" are worth as much on their own as a great Rolling Stones album. And how can one ignore the presence of "Bloody Hammer", brought back into the spotlight by Queens Of The Stone Age, or of "Two Headed Dog-Red Temple Prayer", one of the most-covered songs by guitarists the world over?

Stu Cook, the Creedence Clearwater Revival bassist who produced the material for the first two released albums, describes a man who was non-violent but unstable, passionate about music, in love with Little Richard, James Brown, and science-fiction theories (he believed he was possessed by aliens): his music is indeed corrosive, raw, full of rough edges but always melodic and brimming with flashes of genius.

Roky Erickson's real problem, though, is his own myth: when he was arrested on drug charges, he chose to be declared insane rather than go to prison, and he's the man who, looking back, once described his mind as "the surface of a frozen lake, beneath which the shapes of the past are only vaguely visible". The release of these three albums allows us to reassess a talent that has been mystified by his troubled personal history.

"Gremlins Have Pictures", collecting live fragments from 1975 to 1982, gives an even richer and more intriguing picture of him as a musician; the acid-drenched version of the Velvet Underground's "Heroin" and many of the live versions of tracks from his solo debut are even more compelling than the originals. The acoustic breaks (chief among them "I Have Always Been Here Before") also anticipate the lo-fi sound of many songwriters, even though Roky possesses a voice and a charisma that, sadly, is lacking in many of his followers.

So, thanks to Lights In The Attic for these three reissues, because at last this musician's legend has something solid to build its myth on as an artist, not just as a deranged, eccentric madman. Don't be afraid to approach his music expecting it to be difficult or hesitant: in these three reissues there's blood, sweat and tears, a voice loud with the emotional instability of a generation searching for itself, even at the risk of losing itself.

The massive use of Zyprexa and the constant deception by friends and family may have dragged Roky Erickson into a confused state that was merely the consequence of stress: his return to the scene in recent years and his collaborations with Mogwai and Okkervil River are just another chapter in a story that, thankfully, is not yet at its final page.

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