I feel very fortunate to have seen Roky Erickson perform live at SXSW backed by Okkervil River in 2010 or 2011. Erickson passed away in 2019 at the age of 71. For those of you who aren’t already disciples, Roky Erickson was the lead vocalist of legendary Texas psych rockers 13th Floor Elevators. Recorded after the breakup of the Elevators and following his stint in a Texas mental institution, The Evil One is a stone cold classic featuring some of my personal favorites such as “Two- Headed Dog” and “Night Of The Vampire”.
In this day and age Roky Erickson’s story of arrest and imprisonment for possession of a single joint is a tale worthy of a biopic (c’mon Hollywood!?) as tragic as it is fascinating. Erickson spent three and a half years in Rusk State Hospital for the Criminally Insane where he was subjected to electro shock therapy and Thorazine treatment. Only a few years after his release- according to an article in Texas Monthly magazine- 124 employees of Rusk were fired and criminal charges brought against 14 of them for brutality and abuse of patients. While hospitalized, he formed a band and wrote early versions of the songs that make up The Evil One. Recorded in 1978 and 1979 by Creedence Clearwater Revival bassist Stu Cook, at CCR’s own Cosmo’s Factory studio, these songs are awesomely weird and allegedly Roky's favorite of all his recorded output.
Not to dis two all time greats but this sounds less hippy rock than either 13th Floor Elevators or Creedence and more like horror themed proto stoner rock, as if Zeppelin or Sabbath somehow got Glenn Danzig to write their lyrics. This compilation of The Aliens earliest releases has been previously issued multiple times by labels such as Reckless Records, Sympathy For The Record Industry and Light In The Attic, but Fire Records calls this the definitive version. Not sure why they’re not releasing this on October 31st but maybe they’re just making sure the collector nerds have it in hand with ample time to blast it on All Hallows Eve.
