‘Godfather Of Psychedelic Rock’ Dies

Ed Mazza

Roky Erickson, the beloved and troubled “Godfather of Psychedelic Rock” who influenced a generation of musicians with his songs of love and monsters, died on May 31 at the age of 71.

No cause of death was given.

Erickson helped introduce America to the psychedelic sound when his band The 13th Floor Elevators performed “You’re Gonna Miss Me” on the TV show “American Bandstand” in 1966:

The song cracked the Billboard top 100, peaking at #55 in 1966, but Erickson’s career was derailed by struggles with mental illness, including schizophrenia.

After a 1969 arrest for possession of marijuana, he was sentenced to a mental institution instead of prison; there he was subjected to electroshock therapy and given Thorazine, Texas Monthly reported in 2001.

“I was in there with people who’d chopped up people with a butcher knife, and they treated me worse because I had long hair,” Erickson recalled, per the magazine.

Erickson continued to record and perform when he was able, often creating inventive rock songs with lyrics referencing the supernatural and old monster movies, such as “Don’t Shake Me Lucifer,” “I Think of Demons,” “Night of the Vampire,” “Creature With The Atom Brain” and “I Walked With A Zombie.” That last song was a delightfully unusual pastiche of the 1960s girl group sound complete with a drum intro right out of “Be My Baby”:

Erickson also contributed the song “Burn the Flames” to the soundtrack of the cult horror-comedy, “Return of the Living Dead.” But he could produce aching ballads as well, including “I Have Always Been Here Before” and “You Don’t Love Me Yet”:

“Some artists are able to cut right through everything and get you,” punk rocker Henry Rollins told Texas Monthly in 2001. “Brian Wilson, Sam Cooke, Roky Erickson. His voice, lyrics and then the man himself — a sweet, likable guy who is so mysterious and obviously a genius.”

Rollins published a book of Erickson’s lyrics in 1995. When Erickson was struggling with both health and finances, Rollins helped to pay for his dental work, the Austin American-Statesman reported.

Erickson withdrew from the spotlight in the late 1980s. By 2001, he was taken in by one of his brothers, Sumner, and given treatment for his mental health issues.

In the final years of his life, Erickson returned to public life, was the subject of the documentary film “You’re Gonna Miss Me” and began recording and touring again, including a triumphant 2005 appearance on “Austin City Limits.” That concert included ZZ Top’s Billy Gibbons, a longtime friend who also credited Erickson as an influence.

In a Facebook post announcing the death, Gibbons hailed Erickson’s “legacy of remarkable style, talent, and poetic and artistic tales from beyond”:

“It’s almost unfathomable to contemplate a world without Roky Erickson. He created his own musical galaxy and early on was a true inspiration. Even now, Roky is a source of creative energy of the first order.”

“We certainly do know now that he’s at one with the universe,” Gibbons added.

Twice-divorced, Erickson is survived by three children and several grandchildren, as well as three brothers and his mother, The Washington Post reported.

Fellow artists and fans took to social media to pay tribute to him:

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