ROKY ERIKSON

So, it's the hieght of summer and I'm working against time. I think I have to go to the Chateau and work for two weeks at the end of next week for the Vendenge Verte.
We have a guest here and are trying to be good hosts and then there's this bicycling thing...and assorted incidents with dogs, neighbors who want to store hay in my barn, barbecues...etc.
I have a lot of ideas for posts, but I haven't had time to sit down at the cranky old computer and write. I will tomorrow, though...after I bike to Ayen Bas!
Tonight, though, I am posting a video of Roky Erikson, performing his song Two Headed Dog live in 1980.
Roky should have been a huge star. He had a huge hit in 1965 with his band from Austin, Texas, The Thirteenth Floor Elevators called You Gonna Miss Me.
He had a huge soulful voice and a manic delivery and a band that really was ahead of its time in its truly grungy authentic way. Then in 1966, Roky was busted for possession of marijuana. Being a punky white rock musician in Texas, things l;ooked grim as far as sentencing. His lawyer advised him to plead insanity. He did expecting to be senttenced to counseling and treatment. Instead he was committed to an institution on Texas and subjected to years of electro shock and drug therapy. When he was finally released in the mid 70's, it was clear that the mans brains had been severely scrambled by the system. He was totally unable to cope with the day to day reality of the real world.
One thing though that wasn't affected...his sheer raw talent. He still had his voice and his ability to write and perform great songs. The subject matter of the songs changed. He wrote about Zombies, Aliens, Lobotomies, Ghosts, Alligators and Two Headed Dogs, billiantly.
Roky became a legend and a group of supporters became his life support system and made it possible for him to keep recording and performing. Roky is around 60 now and he is still writing great rock songs and performing with the manic energy of man half his age.
In 1983, I performed his song I Walked With A Zombie and I still take requests....