Roky Erickson
Demon Angel: A Day And Night With Roky Erickson (Not Records Tapes)
by Jon Sarre
The weird and tragic legend of Roky Erickson‘s life and career oughtta be familiar to anyone who’s tarrying long enough to read this review (otherwise you woulda skipped right to the full color poster in the middle of this… sorry, wrong magazine). In brief, Erickson was the prodigal teen talent behind one of Texas’ most twisted contributions to ’60s rock’n’roll, the Thirteenth Floor Elevators (“the hallucinogenic drug industry’s version of ‘Up With People,'” saieth Sundazed Records archivist Al Quaglieri). While with the Elevators, he got busted with some pot and copped an insanity plea to avoid prison. Well, as things worked out, three years on whatever they force down yer throat at Rusk State Mental Institution was probably not what a guy in a questionable mental state to begin with really needed. After his release, Roky resumed his songwriting and recording career and developed a consuming fascination with the aliens only he sees and communicates with.
Demon Angel is the soundtrack to the 1984 documentary of the same title (apparently recorded live on Halloween of that year in Austin “in an underground creek,” if I read that correctly). Erickson keeps things mellow, mostly playing acoustic versions of various originals (tho’ producer/engineer Mike Alvarez joins him on a couple numbers, most notably on the Elevators’ “Splash 1” and the Nuggets “hit” “You’re Gonna Miss Me”). Roky sings about stuff that most singer/songwriters don’t really touch upon: bloody hammers, two headed dogs in the Kremlin, and the demons. The listener gets plenty of chances to digest the oft-disturbing lyrics (delivered in Erickson’s distinctive Texas whine). Really, the stuff’s just too weird to be funny. If you don’t believe in the white-faced devils, he does, and the only human being Roky Erickson needs to impress is Roky Erickson. Maybe I just cut the guy more slack than I should. Still, he ain’t no Wesley Willis. Genius or madman, ah hell, you know the saying…
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