Roky Erickson RIP

The Punk Site is saddened to learn of the death of the pioneering musician and co-founder of The 13th Floor Elevators, Roky Erickson. I recall hearing You’re Gonna Miss Me sometime in the mid eighties, I immediately had to hear more and sought out all three of the albums by The 13th Floor Elevators, but it was when I encountered his solo material, especially Burn The Flames, one of the most uniquely beautiful, eccentric and haunting songs I have ever heard, that I was truly hooked into the dark, strange and unique world that Roky inhabited. It might sound like a cliché but Roky Erickson changed my life, his music opened my mind beyond the confines of what my then teenage tastes previously accepted, Roky was a true original who influenced music more than he would ever know.

Roger Kynard “Roky” Erickson July 15, 1947 – May 31, 2019 RIP