Wednesday Weirdness: Ode to the Founder of Psychedelic Music

Hola kitties! DJ CK here. I was wondering what to do for my Music Monday freebie. Then the answer dropped into my lap. Two musicians who may not have been household names—but should have been—passed away late last week. When we tried to create a playlist, YouTube wouldn't let us save any songs so Music Monday became Music Wednesday. Our playlist is a lot different than the songs you're used to hearing from me but as the title suggests really weird. Weird as in different.

Austin, Texas, has always been a hotbed for good music. Every year since 1987 they've hosted the SXSW music conference and festival. Musician Roky Erickson emerged from the scene in the mid-60s and could very well be the founder/godfather of psychedelic music. Roky always described himself as an Alien which was the name of one of the bands he formed. He died last Friday at the age of 71. If you're not familiar with him, you can read more about him. My playlist included songs from throughout his long career as well as a few covered by other bands that he influenced.

We weren't sure what we wanted to put in our playlist so we enlisted the help of one of TW's friends who was close to him. She mentioned some of her fave tunes and we couldn't argue. The Spades were from his pre-13th Floor Elevator Days. We included an early tv appearance and a whole lot of cool psychedelia.

1.  You're Gonna Miss Me. A trailer for a movie by the same name about his life.
2.  "We Sell Soul"—The Spades
3.  "You're Gonna Miss Me"—13th Floor Elevators
4.  "You're Gonna Miss Me"—13th Floor Elevators, cool b&w clip from American Bandstand
5.  "She Lives in a Time of Her Own—13th Floor Elevators
6.  "(It's All Over Now) Baby Blue"—13th Floor Elevators covering Dylan. Dana said "My fondest memory of Roky is him sitting at my kitchen table and singing 'Baby Blue.'"
7.  "Splash 1"—Roky Erickson
8.  "Don't Slander Me"—Roky Erickson
9.  "It's a Cold Night for Alligators"—Roky Erickson
10.  "She Lives in a Time of Her Own"—Judybats
11.  "Bermuda"—Vibrating Egg
12.  "Don't Slander Me"—Lou Ann Barton

Can you spot the R.E.M.-related tune? You know it has to be there. Vibrating Egg is a band fronted by Jefferson Holt, who was their manager at the time. For some reason, YouTube deleted R.E.M.'s cover of Roky's "I Walked With a Zombie."

Let's switch gears now or tune the dial to a another station.

On a totally different note,  Leon Redbone specialized in jazz, ragtime and Tin Pan Alley classics. At one time in the early '70s, it seemed that Redbone opened for every act TW went to see. At the time she didn't appreciate him; in fact, many in the audience laughed at him. He is believed to have been 70 at the time of his death on May 30.

This song is a real moldy oldie. TW's dad used to sing this song about Harvey Moon all the time.

I'm just sharing two songs. He certainly was a character.

No prompt this week but today's post is part of the #4M Music Monday blog hop co-hosted by Curious as a Cathy and a chorus of others.

Gratuitous cat photo. I don't know why humans think it's funny to put stuff on our backs.