Sunday, May 26, 2013

ADVICE FROM AN ELDER

Here's a couple of cuts from the alien who will not go quietly, Roky Erickson. His first big record with the 13th Floor Elevators, "You're Gonna Miss Me", was released in 1966 when he was just nineteen years old. Two years later he was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia, and it's been an uphill battle ever since. He's been in and out of psychiatric hospitals, claimed he was an alien, and had various obsessions. (One of which was mail, as in collecting junk mail, and writing to celebrities, both alive and dead. You know, the usual stuff.) He has put out some really great records, and put out some stinkers. But the cool thing is that the man is still here.


Roky Erickson's advice: "Just to find the things that you love and are important and ... make sure you have them with you."

~ NOTE: ALL MEDIA IS HOSTED BY THE BLOGS & SITES NAMED BELOW ~
Listen:
13th Floor Elevators - You're Gonna Miss Me (mono) mp3* at The Rising Storm
13th Floor Elevators - You're Gonna Miss Me (stereo) mp3* at The Rising Storm
*Direct linking may be disabled. If so, just go to the site to hear them
Roky Erickson - Don't Shake Me Lucifer mp3 at Nevver 1980(?)
More songs and links at this earlier post Several of the song links are still good.

4 comments:

Espen E. said...

Saw Roky and "band" (The Pedestrians?) a couple weeks ago here in Bergen, Norway… Was sort-of prepared for disappointment, but not for the sad event that this turned out to be. Roky's trademark voice and high-pitched shrieks were no more than a barely intelligable croak, and if you ask me it was pretty obvious he was – mentally – in no state to be on tour at all…

Tom G. said...

Bummer. Unfortunately, it's not that surprising. Thanks for sharing that footnote.

If you're in Norway, my guess is you get to see the Nomads on occasion, eh?

Espen E. said...


Also regarding Roky; seems his own son was/is the leading (and probably most annoying!) member of Roky's backing band… Now I don't know what sort of father Roky has been through the years, but I sure don't hope him being dragged around like this is has anything to do with it!

---

And yes; have seen the Nomads – although it's been a few years… come to think of it, probably at least 15 or more!
Failed to impress me as a live band then, so I might have just skipped later opportunities, but people say I'm hard to please, so what do I know… Still – I follow your blog on a pretty regular basis for what it's worth :)…

E.

Tom G. said...

Actually Espen, that's worth a lot! Feel free (hint, hint) to pipe in more often. Sometimes I feel like I'm just pissing in the wind.

The reason why I asked about the Nomads is because they're so close to where you are (compared to here anyway). I think they've only been to the states twice. When I saw them it happened to be a good night, though it might have been because I liked them for so long, and I never thought I'd have the chance. Sharing the bill with the Mono Men sure didn't hurt.