ROKY ERICKSON and the Aliens - s/t Lp - 1980 1st UK press 13th Floor Elevators
$
50
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Description
Vinyl is in Near-Mint Condition. Cover is in Near-Mint condition. Original UK pressing on CBS from 1980. This was not issued in the US when it came out.
NOTES: As lead singer of Texas' infamous 13th Floor Elevators — one of rock's earliest, strangest and greatest psychedelic bands — Roky Erickson explored the far reaches of musical and personal extremes. The Elevators' first two albums (Psychedelic Sounds of the 13th Floor Elevators and Easter Everywhere, released, respectively, in 1966 and '67) are essential classics whose far-reaching influence transcends genre boundaries. Following a nightmarish '70s mental-hospital stint that reportedly had a devastating long-term effect on his mental health, Erickson's subsequent work revealed a singularly brilliant songwriter and performer whose talent was no less impressive for the fact that he was singing about zombies, vampires and aliens. Indeed, the demons that abound in Roky's songs are all-too-real reflections of his own troubled psyche, and the combination of the artist's oddly poetic lyrical constructions and his bracing banshee wail makes it clear, as it wasn't always, that he's not kidding.
The Elevators fell apart in the late '60s, when Erickson began a three-year stretch in a state mental institution to avoid criminal prosecution on a drug charge. He didn't return to recording until the second half of the '70s, with a string of one-off singles and the four-song Sponge-label EP (reissued in 1988 as Two Headed Dog). Three of the EP's numbers were re-recorded for the 1980 CBS UK LP (the title of which is actually five unpronounceable ideograms). Roky Erickson and the Aliens is an excellent manifestation of his post-Elevators persona, expressing dark dilemmas through creepy horror-movie imagery. Roky sings such offbeat gems as "I Walked with a Zombie" and "Creature With the Atom Brain" in a tremulous voice that insists he's telling the truth — or at least believes he is. Former Creedence Clearwater bassist Stu Cook turned in an excellent production job, bringing the hard electric guitars (and Bill Miller's electric autoharp) into a sharp focus that underscores Roky's excitable state. Erickson and band seem less unstable than the drug-crazed Elevators (best remembered for "You're Gonna Miss Me"), but just barely.
SHIPPING:
USA: Media Mail Rates: $3.99 for 1st Lp and $1.25 for each additional Lp (additional discounts may apply when you buy over 7 or 8 lps) (Priority available upon request)
7" Records: $3.25 for 1st 7" and 75 cents for each additional 7"
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INTERNATIONAL SHIPPING RATES: $17.00 for 1st Lp and $6.00 for each additional. - 7" records: $9.00 for 1st 7" and $2.50 for each additional
RECORD GRADING: 1) Sealed/New 2) Near-Mint 3) Excellent 4) Very Good Plus 5) Very Good ( I do not sell records below the Very Good Grade)
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