Roky Erickson's "I think of demons"

Roky Erickson and his Austin, Texas band the 13^th Floor Elevators were one of the first to play what we know today as psychedelic music, complete with an electric jug and the usual suspects- guitar bass, and drums, and, as Roky stated in an interview featured in his documentary, Erickson’s singing was heavily influenced by little Richard’s music and wailing voice.  Of course, as it seems was par for the course of most, if not all, psychedelic bands of the 60’s, Roky Erickson dabbled in acid.  Actually, he wasn’t exactly the recreational acid user; he ingested something like 300 hits in one year, or so the legend goes. But that kind of over indulgence may not have been the sole factor that changed him after he emerged from his three-year sentence at the mental hospital as a diagnosed schizophrenic.  It could have been the regular shock therapy treatment and the daily deluge of mistakenly prescribed psycho-actives (as was common those days) that contributed to his unchanging state of mental illness. Whatever the agitating factors may have been, after he came out in 1973, he began to work on some, well, you could say, thematically congruent songs with his new band, The Aliens.

             “I Think of Demons” (1980) was the first album to be released by Roky Erickson and the Aliens since the 13^th Floor Elevators. Just like the old band, the new group’s music is obviously inspired by old fashioned rock ‘n’ roll (so much so stylistically at times that it seems like Roky’s tastes have been forever encapsulated in the 50s), and Little Richard’s influence remains intact in Roky’s voice. However, keeping with the traditional Roky Erickson manner of interpretation, there are a few musical innovations and lyrical twists that make this album very listening worthy. Just about every song is a reference to an old B horror movie. It is apparent that Roky Erickson is a big fan of horror flicks, (Daniel Johnston mentions watching horror movies with Roky Erickson at his house in one of his songs) so he dedicated a whole album to what seems like a collection of his own theme songs to these movies.  “I walked with a Zombie” is named after a 30’s movie of that title and arranged as a typical slow dancing song anyone would hear in a dance hall in the 50s; it sounds almost romantic when taken out of context. “Don’t Shake me Lucifer” is a song made for people to do the shake or to twist and shout to get the demons out.  That he imposes the devil and other evil creatures into formulaic music that has been played millions of times is really genius, because this guy is totally serious about his music.  Other songs that don’t quite resemble a 50’s style is a complete burst of energy fraught the need for expulsion. There doesn’t seem to be any irony attached to his lyrics, his multiple run on gems like “If it’s rainin’ and you’re runnin don’t slip in mud cuz if you do you’ll slip in blood”  or “baby goes in the 1900s says beat him with your chain…drag your spoon, drag your chain away”.  To an innocent bystander it all sounds like insanity, and it is.

            And maybe there is another side to this literally crazed fan’s album dedicated to old horror movies. Roky places himself within these narratives of ghoulish mayhem and they become his experiences.  He confesses that “white faces always haunt me so beautifully”, admitting that it brings out “the white of the devil in me”.  Similarly, in “Don’t shake me, Lucifer”, he screams, “I’ve been up all night, and no suicide plot will work”.  I feel like I’m getting to know some of Roky Erickson’s deepest and darkest secrets when I listen to this album, because  I don’t see it as just a collection of possible B movie title tracks.  They may very well in some vein be musical manifestations of his bouts with schizophrenia, and they perhaps might even deal with his experiences in the mental institution.  He sings about insomnia, voices, demons, hallucinations, and many other occurrences associated with schizophrenia.  Perhaps superimposing himself into horror movies, where the supernatural regularly takes place, allows him a kind of therapy as well as  some sort of grasp on reality. In any case, it seems obvious that playing music is what this man was meant to do.  He takes everything he loves and brings it all together for one lively, strangely uplifting, and undeniably weird album- an intense debut which charges through and sheds his psychedelic moorings for a new kind of rock and roll. 

1. Two Headed Dog (Temple Red Prayer)

2. I think of Demons

3. I walked with a Zombie

4. Don't shake me Lucifer

5. Night of the Vampire

6. Bloody Hammer

7. White Faces

8. Cold night for Alligators

9. Creature with the Atom Brain

10. Mine mine mind

11. Stand for the fire demon

12. Wind and More