ROKY ERICKSON

WHAT IS A PRESS PROOF?

Before an album cover, CD booklet, or any printed artwork for a recording artist is officially printed for commercial sale, a PROMO PRESS PROOF is printed in a very small limited number and distributed to the executives involved in the sales, promotion and marketing of this project. Usually a "sign off" sheet is stapled to the top corner of the "proof" for the exec to sign for approval before printing. Often the artist, management, or record company exec will ask for "changes to the art" and will indicate said changes in writing either via memo form, or directly written/drawn onto the proof and redistributed back to the art director for the project. In those cases, the original press proof becomes an INSTANT COLLECTORS ITEM, as the album cover will be different than previous design. This item is in MINT CONDITION and SUITABLE FOR FRAMING.

SPECIAL SHIPPING/HANDLING: PRIORITY MAIL S/H to US and Canada is $12.00, and item will be shipped between stiff interior boarding (or rolled depending on orig. condition) to prevent bending and folding. S/H fees listed below are for smaller, less fragile mailed items-this is a specialty shipping item as costs a little more to protect while we get it to you safely..;-) Thank you.

More about Roky and Pyramid project:Roky Erickson often seems to be better known in rock circles for his well publicized psychological maladies and his less-than-gentle treatment at the hands of Texas' judicial system than for his music -- and that's a shame. While Roky's habit of informing anyone who asks that he's a Martian or is in contact with Satan makes for good fanzine copy, the best reason to be interested in Erickson is his songwriting -- there's a graceful, vivid surrealism to his lyrical style that's endured far better than most of the noodlers who came out of the psychedelic rock movement, and his later bursts of horror film fancy conjure up a troubling tension that's laughed at only by the shallow or ignorant. When Erickson's legal problems came to a head in the late 1980s, longtime fan and Sire Records executive Bill Bentley assembled Where the Pyramid Meets the Eye: A Tribute to Roky Erickson to raise money for Erickson, as well as drawing attention to the unique beauty of his music. Like most multi-artist tribute albums, the results are a bit uneven; some of these artists seem to have appeared out of convenience rather than any great love of Roky's music, and a few of the interpretations are simple miscalculations (Thin White Rope's Guy Kyser really goes overboard on his version of "Burn the Flames"). But there are a several moments of very real beauty and power here, especially from the artists who share Erickson's Texas heritage -- Doug Sahm and ZZ Top rock out on their contributions, the Butthole Surfers' version of "Earthquake" is one of their finest moments on wax, and T-Bone Burnett's take on "Nothing in Return" is a heart-tugging gem. The 13th Floor Elevators' first two albums are still the best place to sample Erickson's music (and the latter-day All That May Do My Rhyme is a fine album, for which Erickson actually receives royalties -- hint, hint), but Where the Pyramid Meets the Eye is a sincere if inconsistent tribute to his work, and shows how well his songs can translate to the styles of other artists. ~ Mark Deming, All Music Guide