Customer Reviews

Never Say Goodbye

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I stumbled on this recording and whisked off home to play it. Behind the lo-fi quality and tag of "old" recordings this is yet another piece in the jigsaw that is Roky Erickson. For over two decades this singer songwriter has been tagged mad, brain damaged and all the other derogatory labels that are enough to put many people off a listen. Here we have coherence and melody, simple song structure yet engaging music. Timeless is a corny word to use but this would not be out of place coming from the 1940s, 30s, 20s,10s, 00s etc. Apart from one ridiculously titled You're An Unidentified Flying Object there are none of the usual brain crushing lyric contents. In fact any one who thinks Mr Erickson is mad is in fact off cue themselves. Remember what was said about so many of the genius of the past ? Surely before this man leaves the planet due to old age or God forbid anything else we must study this music. We must ! This man is painfully absent from the generally available books and compilations of music. Where there is mention be sure only to read about insanity, demons and horror. It is not Roky's fault he was administered Electro Shock Therapy. Amazingly this man managed to sing away beyond the horror of narrow-minded so called health help... You buy this album and be given the chance to record your own versions of these songs. How many so-called musicians give everybody their music in the way this man does ?

Roky Erickson truly can do it all! From the garage-psych of the 13th Floor Elevators to the Luciferian folk of songs like "I Have Always Been Here Before, from Buddy Holly inspired pop of songs like "Starry Eyes" and "Nothing In Return" to the CCR stomp of songs like "Two Headed Dog" and "Dont Shake Me Lucifer". He is truly one of the greatest songwriters around. This collection of songs are mostly recordings done when he was a patient at Rusk State Mental Hospital in California in the early 70's. This is my favorite album that Roky has ever made. The creepsville beauty of songs like "Never Say Goodbye" and "You Are An Unidentified Flying Object" rivals anything he's done. When I listen to this album it makes me feel a warmth and calm unlike anything in my collection. I cant recommend this beautiful album enough. The fact that he wrote and recorded these songs when he was locked up for being "unfit for society" only proves that what society deems "crazy" might not be all that mad.

"What if..." Buddy Holly would have missed that flight, gone through the Summer of Love and the Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test, and ... Who knows what would have been the result.

Here is one possibility:

Roky Erickson, prophet with the 13th Floor Elevators and wild man with the Aliens... between those roles, he recorded these acoustic tunes.

Low-fi (very), but from the heart, they are reminiscent of Lennon ("Unforced Peace"), Harrison ("Something Extra" with 12-string guitar jangling like a sitar), Dylan ("Be And Bring Me Home"), all in Roky's high Texas tenor.

This is the other side of the Walked With A Zombie story. We will never KNOW Roky, but these songs give another glimpse.

Simply one of the most beautiful, touching albums I've ever heard. Everything by Roky is wonderful, but there is something extra special about this one.

Half this album was recorded in Rusk State Hospital in Texas while Roky was spending his time for confessing to be an alien. It shows. This is what Bob Dylan, the Grateful Dead, Palace Bros., etc. only wish they could be. Beautiful lyrics, amazing music! Thanks to Roky's mom we now have some of his best music ever.

for the most part,this here release is probably best suited for the established fan as the recordings here are pretty "raw" & low-fi (some tracks sound like they where taken from an old mono cassette deck!)
this all,of coarse,makes no difference at all to the devoted,as these tracks are essential.very sparse,just Roky's voice & guitar (no Aliens in sight).those into Roky's Buddy Holly-esque vibe will probably particularly appreciate this disc.
for the curious,start with "gremlins have pictures" and/or "dont slander me" both recently re-released & remastered!

not quite, only if yr. graveyard is in the east end -- regardless, this may be wackiest/most beautiful batch of collected recordings you'll ever hear on a 'compilation' album --without further ado go out and buy (or download accordingly), on the strength of track one alone (careful, it's ruff!) --

conjunto desprolijo de canciones que parecen haberse desprendido de una subita sacudida de cabeza de uno de los "locos" mas simpaticos de la voragine psicodelica..caido de un ascensor desde el decimotercer piso, intentando agarrarse en cada saliente, ERICKSON nos ofrece un puñado de temas asombrosamente melodicos y agradables, escondidos tras un sonido mediocre y "de entrecasa" que desdibuja un poco la apreciacion final.