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  1. A sad, sad day. Roky was one of the greats. I only discovered his music 10 or 15 years ago and it was a revelation. I had to buy some expensive imports to find all the music. There have been some decent compilations since but most are probably hard to find now. I actually had tickets to see him in Birmingham a few years ago but the show was cancelled.

    He is best known for the 13th Floor Elevators albums in the late sixties – psychedelic jug band music if you will. However, for me his masterpiece is the Roky Erikson & The Aliens LP (sometimes called The Evil One) from 1979/1980. It is wild guitar driven demonic rock, produced by Stu Cook of CCR fame. The lyrics are bonkers, but bonkers brilliant. You haven’t lived if you haven’t heard Two-Headed Dog, Cold Night For Alligators, Creature With The Atom Brain or Bloody Hammer. Seek it out.

    Rest in Peace Roky. A troubled life but some utterly brilliant music.

  2. Almost the definition of a cult artist.
    The intensity and devotion of his fans is testament to that, as is the fact that any snippet of footage is relished & subjected to incredibly close scrutiny & he obviously spoke to some genuinely far out and sometimes troubled people.
    To say Roky was ‘out there’ is an understatement, but there is no denying he made some excellent and intense music. As Artery says Two Headed Dog & Bloody Hammer can stand toe to toe with any rock music.
    Lots of fan talk about him walking with a zombie , now he’s passed – & I get the feeling they’re not kidding!
    RIP

  3. I know Tommy wrote these lyrics, but Roky delivers them like he lives them (probably was at the time).

    Bedoin tribes ascending
    From the egg into the flower
    Alpha information sending
    State within the heaven shower
    From disciples the unending
    Subtleties of river power
    They slip inside this house as they pass by
    If your limbs begin dissolving
    In the water that you tread
    All surroundings are evolving
    In the stream that clears your head
    Find yourself a caravan
    Like Noah must have led
    And slip inside this house as you pass by
    Slip inside this house as you pass by
    True conception, knowing why
    Brings even more than meets the eye
    Slip inside this house as you pass by
    In this dark we call creation
    We can be and feel and know
    From an effort, comfort station
    That’s surviving on the go
    There’s infinite survival in
    The high baptismal glow
    Slip inside this house as you pass by
    There is no season when you are grown
    You are always risen from the seeds you’ve sown
    There is no reason to rise alone
    Other stories given have sages of their own
    Live where your heart can be given
    And your life starts to unfold
    In the forms you envision
    In this dream that’s ages old
    On the river layer is the only sayer
    You receive all you can hold
    Like you’ve been told
    Every day’s another dawning
    Give the morning winds a chance
    Always catch your thunder yawning
    Lift your mind into the dance
    Sweep the shadows from your awning
    Shrink the fourfold circumstance
    That lies outside this house don’t pass it by
    Higher worlds that you uncover
    Light the path you want to roam
    You compare there and discover
    You won’t need a shell of foam
    Twice born gypsies care and keep
    The nowhere of their former home
    They slip inside this house as they pass by
    Slip inside this house as you pass by
    You think you can’t, you wish you could
    I know you can, I wish you would
    Slip inside this house as you pass by
    Four and twenty birds of Maya
    Baked into an atom you
    Polarized into existence
    Magnet heart from red to blue
    To such extent the realm of dark
    Within the picture it seems true
    But slip inside this house and then decide
    All your lightning waits inside you
    Travel it along your spine
    Seven stars receive your visit
    Seven seals remain divine
    Seven churches filled with spirit
    Treasure from the angels’ mine
    Slip inside this house as you pass by
    Slip inside this house as you pass by
    The space you make has your own laws
    No longer human gods are cause
    The center of this house will never die
    There is no season when you are grown
    You are always risen from the seeds you’ve sown
    There is no reason to rise alone
    Other stories given have sages of their own
    Draw from the well of unchanging
    Its union nourishes on
    In the right re-arranging
    Till the last confusion is gone
    Water-brothers trust in the ultimust
    Of the always singing song they pass along
    One-eyed men aren’t really reigning
    They just march in place until
    Two-eyed men with mystery training
    Finally feel the power fill
    Three-eyed men are not complaining
    They can yo-yo where they will
    They slip inside this house as they pass by
    Don’t pass it by

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