roky erickson: gremlins have pictures

By 1986, Roky Erickson's career had endured twists, turns, and a late-period purple patch marked by incredible music and self-destructive behavior. The Evil One broke him out of the indie underground and Don't Slander Me showed off his rock 'n' roll sensibilities. But Erickson was difficult to manage -- and patience was running out. 'I'd given up after the second album,' Erickson's then-manager, Craig Luckin, has said. 'I had enough.' Yet a third album -- arguably his best -- was to be found, if not created. Gremlins Have Pictures is an anthology of Erickson's solo work following his extended incarceration at the Rusk State Hospital for the criminally insane, beginning with his first live performance (opening for a screening of the Texas Chainsaw Massacre in Austin) all the way to Don't Slander Me. Collected here, the odds and ends of Erickson's post-incarceration work tell a story of a man finding his musical feet, ranging from Dylan-like folk strumming to the big, Neil Young-like rock of the unparalleled 'Anthem (I Promise).' The span of time is great -- from The Ritz Theatre tracks, recorded in Austin in 1975, at the debut performance by The Aliens, to those troubled Don't Slander Me off-cuts. Other tracks were cut with the Explosives, the band Roky started working with at Raul's punk club in Austin after he'd returned to Austin in 1979, following the departure of the Aliens. Together the various tracks deftly summarize Roky Erickson's recording career. LP housed in a deluxe gatefold 'tip-on' jacket with eight page booklet, liner notes by Joe Nick Patoski, and a bonus 7" containing tracks 13-16 from the CD. Includes download card for the full album plus rare/unseen archive photos and ephemera.