I Have Always Been Here Before: The Roky Erickson Anthology

Genre rock Publisher Shout Factory Records External Links Official Website Shout Factory Records

As are Syd Barrett and Alex Chilton, Roky Erickson is one of those musicians whose early recordings were so perfectly conceived that nothing they have done afterwards could ever compare. Barrett's solo records are intermittently great, as are Chilton's, and Chilton successfully changed directions after his Big Star and mid-'70s work. Roky Erickson's Thirteenth Floor Elevators recordings, like "You're Gonna Miss Me" and "Fire Engine," stand as some of the best examples of garage rock as it turned into psychedelica. Some of his mid-'70s work is a bit like that of Love's Arthur Lee--folk-rock, in a way. But again, Erickson never really developed. The leap from Love's rather derivative first album to the masterful pop of Da Capo and Forever Changes is nowhere paralleled in the work documented here; in fact, Erickson's career could be compared to Lee's if Lee had gone directly from "My Little Red Book" to the more generic and far less interesting work he did around 1970.

Anyway, the first half of the first disc here is pretty essential rock and roll. Erickson owned one of the great rock voices. And I like the jug playing on these recordings, by Tommy Hull. But by the end of the first disc, the sound has thinned out. Erickson was saddled with uninteresting arrangements, in the usual etiolated '70s manner. He still had his voice, but his lyrical concerns don't interest me at all. He simply sounds like a nut backed up by mediocre rock music that is devoid of the true intensity and insanity of the Elevators.

Things pick up a little bit around the middle of the second disc. "If You Have Ghosts," produced by Stu Cook, is still pretty generic rock music, but these guys sound committed (pun intended). "Anthem (I Promise)" is a pretty good song he does with acoustic guitar. Then I hear him mention "Lucifer" and "gremlins" again and I lose interest. OK, he's crazy--got it. It sounds like someone decided to rationalize what Erickson was doing, or maybe it was difficult to get him to do anything. He obviously would have been better off playing with more adventurous musicians.

There are some nice later recordings. "Don't Slander Me" is a great basic rock tune, and he sings it well. In fact, he sounds like John Fogerty after shock treatment, and the simple arrangement reminds me of Creedence. He sounds like Dave Edmunds on "Nothing in Return." Shoulda gone into the studio with Rockpile, I'd say. I kind of like the concluding folkish tunes here--"We Are Never Talking" would've been a natural for the Traveling Wilburys.

In conclusion, I simply don't buy the myth of Roky Erickson. It's a shame he's had so many problems, and he sounds somewhat saner on the last few songs here--well, not that much saner, but perhaps a little more focused, given his obsession with "evil." I have a problem with rock groups who supposedly call upon the dark side. You have to match the music to the lyrics if you're going to invoke Lucifer successfully. Most of the time it's just a joke. The stoned-looking guy wearing a Batman shirt and holding a drink pictured here tapped into the black pool of evil? Or he just read a lot of comic books? Either way, I think that Roky's idolaters worry too much about the words and not enough about the actual music. Black Sabbath never much appealed to me, but I find Blue Oyster Cult pretty funny, and they meant to be. And both bands owe a debt to the early Roky recordings, as do all of us who appreciate great rock and roll. Buy The Psychedelic Sounds of the Thirteenth Floor Elevators and Easter Everywhere if you want Roky. Hats off to the record label here for a nice package and good liner notes.