Historic events this week from Roky Erickson, Black Sabbath, Ray Davies, Eagles, U2 and The Cars
MAY 31, 2019: ROKY ERICKSON DIES
Roky Erickson is another one of those artists who has flown under the radar while maintaining a very loyal cult following.
Classic rockers like Janis Joplin and ZZ Top consider(ed) themselves fans of Roky and his band The 13th Floor Elevators (one of the first psychedelic rock bands), and it’s even said that Janis based her singing style on Roky’s.
Roky’s sad story included paranoid schizophrenia, institutions, involuntary electroconvulsive therapy, and he later claimed an alien had inhabited his body.
No cause of death has ever been revealed. He was 71.
JUNE 1, 1970: BLACK SABBATH’S DEBUT RELEASED IN THE US
Nearly 4 months after being released in the UK, Black Sabbath‘s eponymous debut arrived in the US.
It was critically panned upon release, with Creem magazine’s Lester Bangs describing it as “shuck”, “inane” and “cliché.”
The album has since received retrospective reviews referring to it as “so influential it remains a template for metal bands” (Q magazine, 2000).
JUNE 2, 1996: VH1 STORYTELLERS WITH RAY DAVIES
VH1 Storytellers, VH1’s answer to MTV Unplugged, began in 1996 with Ray Davies of The Kinks.
The 15 song set was dominated by classic Kinks tracks including “Lola”, “Tired of Waiting for You”, “You Really Got Me” and “All Day and All of the Night.”
JUNE 3, 1972: ‘TAKE IT EASY’ BY EAGLES
Having trouble completing “Take It Easy” for his debut album, Jackson Browne received assistance from Glenn Frey.
Upon hearing “standing on a corner in Winslow, Arizona”, Frey completed the verse with “Such a fine sight to see. It’s a girl, my lord, in a flatbed Ford, slowin’ down to take a look at me.”
The song was the Eagles’ first single off their debut album. Jackson Browne recorded his own version the following year for his second album.
JUNE 5, 1983: U2 PERFORMS AT RED ROCKS
On the 31st date of the North American leg of their War Tour, U2 played Red Rocks Amphitheatre. Two of the songs from that show would appear on their classic Under a Blood Red Sky live album.
The full Red Rocks show was later released on VHS/DVD as U2 Live at Red Rocks: Under a Blood Red Sky. The 20 song performance features tracks from the albums Boy (1980), October (1981) and War (1983).
JUNE 6, 1978: THE CARS’ DEBUT ALBUM
The Cars‘ self-titled debut album is the band’s biggest, with 6 million copies sold in the US.
The classic debut features the singles “Just What I Needed”, “Good Times Roll”, “My Best Friend’s Girl”, as well as “Bye Bye Love”, “Moving in Stereo” and “You’re All I’ve Got Tonight.”
