ROKY ERICKSON DIES

Influential psychedelic musician Roky Erickson has passed away, aged 71.

Erickson first made his reputation with the 13th Floor Elevators, who had a hit single in 1966 with ‘You’re Gonna Miss Me’, one of the most important songs during the formative years of the burgeoning psychedelic era. At one point, Janis Joplin even considered joining the Texan band.

In 1968, Erickson was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia, and he was put in a Houston psychiatric hospital, where he underwent involuntary electroconvulsive treatment. He received further doses of this treatment when arrested in 1969 for possession of a marijuana joint. Pleading not guilty due to insanity, Erickson was sent to Rusk State Hospital in Rusk, Texas where aside from the aforementioned treatment, he was also given Thorazine, an antipsychotic medication.

Erickson put together various bands throughout his career, and became acknowledged as a massive influence on so many more successful musicians. But suffering from mental problems throughout his life, he became obsessed at one time with the mail and also claimed to be an alien.

He once said: “Yes, I am from a different planet, but there are lots of others like me. Sometimes I think we are all aliens on Earth.”

One his closest friends was ZZ Top’s Billy Gibbons, who said of Erickson: “Roky has one of the most original and creative minds I have ever come across.”

Mark Lanegan has posted this message about Erickson’s death: “Devastated to hear of Roky Erickson’s passing. One of the reasons I began singing. A huge inspiration and giant; in the history of rock”.