Obit:Roky Erickson-13th Floor Elevators (1947-2019

Subject: Obit: Roky Erickson - 13th Floor Elevators
From: Thomas Stern
Date: 03 Jun 19 - 06:52 PM

see also Mudcat You're Gonna Miss Me thread
https://mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=119888#2603531

copied from FACEBOOK:

Roky Erickson
May 31 at 7:59 PM ·
Roky Erickson, an heroic icon of modern rock & roll and one of the best friends the music ever had, died in Austin, Texas today. Born there on July 15, 1947, Erickson had a visionary zeal rarely seen in 1965 when he co-founded the 13th Floor Elevators. The band's original songs, many written with lyricist Tommy Hall, coupled with Erickson's super-charged vocals and guitar sparked the psychedelic music revolution in the mid-1960s, and led to a new role of what rock could be. Erickson never wavered from that path, and while he faced incredible challenges at different points in his life, his courage always led him on to new musical adventures, one he continued without compromise his entire life. The family asks for privacy while they deal with the loss of a son, brother, husband and father.
"Roky Erickson has moved on. Roky came to mean many things to many admirers and will continue to resonate with a legacy of remarkable style, talent, and poetic and artistic tales from beyond. As a long standing friend and follower of Roky’s amazing performing abilities and aa a guitarist and singer, I can only relate the far reaching impact he and his mates in The Thirteenth Floor Elevators brought to the fore with their eerily magnetic psychedelic sounds. It’s almost unfathomable to contemplate a world without Roky Erickson. He created his own musical galaxy and early on was an true inspiration. Even now, Roky is a source of creative energy of the first order. It’s really a circumstance where he continues to provide the requisite “Reverberation.” Something he predicted when he sang “You're Gonna Miss Me”…We certainly do know now that he’s at one with the universe.” - - - Billy F Gibbons

Subject: RE: Obit: Roky Erickson - 13th Floor Elevators
From: GUEST,keberoxu
Date: 03 Jun 19 - 08:09 PM

Isn't Roky Erickson the one who told
a bewildered Dick Clark,
"We're all heads!"

Subject: RE: Obit:Roky Erickson-13th Floor Elevators (1947-2019
From: punkfolkrocker
Date: 05 Jun 19 - 12:59 PM

I'd forgotten how good the Elevators were...

Haven't listened to them since the 70s when they were one of the important USA 'Garage Band' influences
on us teenage UK proto punks...

Amazon Prime basic has a good compilation CD to listen to...

Subject: RE: Obit:Roky Erickson-13th Floor Elevators (1947-2019
From: punkfolkrocker
Date: 05 Jun 19 - 01:23 PM

But I hadn't forgotten how crappy some of the worst tracks were...

I'd approach Roky's solo work with caution..
though obviously with an open mind...

Subject: RE: Obit:Roky Erickson-13th Floor Elevators (1947-2019
From: Thomas Stern
Date: 05 Jun 19 - 03:10 PM

Texas has a rich music heritage, blues, jazz, folk, tex-mex, singer-songwriter, rock, psych, punk and on.

In addition to 13th Floor Elevators, I found Shiva's Headband worth
a listen.
Blues greats Texas Alexander, Lightnin' Hopkins, Juke Boy Bonner, Mance Lipscomb come to mind.
Townes Van Zandt, Guy Clark, Nanci Griffith,
myriad others.

Thomas.