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![]() A Guide to the Roky Erickson Papers, 1993-1994
Biographical NoteIn 1965, Austin, Texas, musician Roger Kynard “Roky” Erickson helped form The 13th Floor Elevators, the first self-described "psychedelic" rock band. The next year, their song "You’re Gonna Miss Me" became the band’s first and only hit single. After Erickson was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia, the band split up, and he spent several years in the Rusk State Hospital for the Criminally Insane after being arrested for marijuana. Following his release, Erickson formed a new band called Bleib Alien, renamed later to Roky Erickson and the Aliens, performing and releasing albums through the 1980s. The 1980s and 1990s brought the release of several older recordings and the publication of his lyrics in Openers (1988) and Openers II (1995). By the 2000s Erickson’s younger brother Sumner established a trust to aid in medical treatment and legal aid to receive royalties for songs written as a solo artist and in other bands. In 2005, the documentary You’re Gonna Miss Me about Erickson's life premiered at Austin’s South By Southwest Film Festival, and later that year Erickson performed his first full concert in 20 years at the Austin City Limits Music Festival. Sources: Erickson, Roky. "Biography." Roky Erickson. http://www.rokyerickson.net/index3.php#bio (accessed July 2, 2010). Drummond, Paul. Eye Mind: The Saga of Roky Erickson and the 13th Floor Elevators, The Pioneers of Psychedelic Sound. Los Angeles: Process Media, 2007. Return to the Table of Contents Scope and ContentsThree draft copies of Openers II: The Lyrics of Roky Erickson compose the Roky Erickson Papers, 1993-1994. Two drafts contain handwritten notations. Return to the Table of Contents RestrictionsAccess RestrictionsUnrestricted access. Use RestrictionsUnrestricted use. Return to the Table of Contents
Return to the Table of Contents Related Material
Return to the Table of Contents Administrative InformationPreferred CitationRoky Erickson Papers, 1993-1994, Dolph Briscoe Center for American History, The University of Texas at Austin. Processing InformationThis collection was processed by Laurel Rozema, July 2010. Return to the Table of Contents Detailed Description of the Papers
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