Dear Friends,
I had a really nice day yesterday. I mean, the kids weren’t perfect, but they never are on a full moon day. It was cooler in Phoenix, which is nice. This means that there will be more conversations about weather soon.
For those of us from Phoenix, we just know better than to get into a long conversation about the weather between May and October. There is no point. It’s probably the same in the places where winter is brutal and you don’t really talk about the weather between December and April.
Other than “It’s hot” or “It’s really fucking hot,” what else is there to say. Other places, in the summer, you will have long conversations with strangers about the weather, but not here. In Phoenix you will get shot down if you try to draw out a weather conversation in the summer. Even in the winter, you might just get “that’s why we live here.”
We don’t like to talk about the weather here.
It was a nice day, though, because of a small thing Rhondi said to me when we talked for a minute in the morning. She said, “This is the first day I sort of feel normal.” Considering all that has happened it the last three weeks, I think this is a good sign.
There will be more tough days. I know this and so does she. It’s inevitable, but I was happy to hear her sound almost happy, too. It’s the small things in life. It really and totally is.
Other than that, I just had kind of a mellow day where I got to do my thing. I was tired, a bit after an eventful night on Monday, so the plan was to get to bed early and that was accomplished, too.
*****
Today, on the other hand, will be busy. Wednesday’s always are. We have short days, as I have undoubtedly mentioned, and they go by so fast that it feels like a long day. We have a big Professional Development (PD) happening, too, in the afternoon, so by the time I am done, I will be ready to relax...but no. I have to play music, as well.
I am not complaining about playing music. It’s just a long day. The music will be worth it at the time, for sure.
*****
I bought Where the Pyramid Meets the Eye: A Tribute to Roky Erickson because it had the Butthole Surfers and Bongwater on it. I was a few months away from moving to Berkeley and still living on 7th Avenue and Earll near Phoenix College when I got it. At first, I tended to listen to those tracks and just a few more, but over time, I started listening to the whole thing.
This was my real introduction to Roky Erickson. I don’t know how much, if anything, I had really heard of or by him before getting this unique and truly excellent compilation. I mean, this record is so good that you don’t need to be a fan of Erickson’s music to appreciate it. Everybody delivers the goods on this one and it’s packed to the gills with talent.
As an aspiring Butthole Surfers completist, I had to have the record. The Surfers do their own version of “Earthquake” and it totally rules. The boys are in top form here and deliver the goods in slot number 13, but there isn’t a moment before them where I want to skip ahead at this point in my life.
It was probably during my short time in Berkeley where I truly realized that this was a great album all together. Our stereo was downstairs, and I spent a lot of time upstairs in the loft so I would just let things play. This one sunk in pretty quickly.
ZZ Top kicks things off with a pretty rad version of “Reverberation (Doubt)” and that flows into a truly spectacular version of “If You Have Ghosts” by John Wesley Harding & the Good Liars. It wasn’t long after getting to Berkeley that I bought my first Roky Erickson CD because it had this song on it. Such a great song.
Poi Dog Pondering’s “I Had to Tell You” is so catchy and mellow and great. The Judybats’ took me on a nice ride with “She Lives (In a Time of Her Own)” that sounds so much like that time of my life. This one really reminds me of being up in the loft and dreaming of what my California life would be like.
The next four songs are sofa king good.
“Slip Inside This House” got the Primal Scream treatment. It’s such a goddamn great groove. Primal Scream did Erickson in a way that many people would probably not have anticipated. It’s got a little Happy Mondays kind of feel to it. Maybe that’s why I like it so much.
Bongwater is up next with “You Don’t Love Me Yet.” It’s so pretty and kind of sad. Ann Magnusson’s voice is perfect here, too. The arrangement is very much a Bongwater thing, and it swirls into this lush, wonderful song. I could listen to it over and over.
The one song that I have listened to the most on Where the Pyramid Meets the Eye is Julian Cope’s “I Have Always Been Here Before.” It’s one of my favorite bass lines of all time. I just took a two-minute break to try and figure it out, but I gave up. I think I got the basics, but I need to be plugged into a proper bass amp and not my little punk rock guitar practice amp.
“You’re Gonna Miss Me” is done by Doug Sahm & Sons and it’s another super tasty one. Great, rootsy guitar with a blistering lead. It was fun to meet Sahm’s son, Shandon, when he was playing in the Meat Puppets. He seemed like a good guy.
Seriously, though, every track on this record is great. Southern Pacific and Richard Lloyd are up net with “It’s a Cold Night for Alligators” and “Fire Engine” respectively. Both hit their marks, for sure, before the record gives way to a couple of REM versions of “Bermuda” (as Vibrating Egg) and “ I Walked With a Zombie.” These are pretty good, actually.
After the Surfers, Lou Ann Barton absolutely slays “Don’t Slander Me” before Sister Double Happiness kills “Red Temple Prayer (Two Headed Dog).” Rest in Peace, Gary! You were the man. Thin White Rope turns in a very lovely “Burn the Flames,” too. I never really listened to them, but I like this track.
“Postures (Leave Your Body Behind” by Chris Thomas is kind of like Ween meets Prince Good stuff. “Nothing in Return” by T-Bone Burnett is also super lovely. Sounds a little like Buddy Holly, which is kinda rad. Jesus and Mary Chain do another rendition of “Reverberation (Doubt)” and it is suitably great. Perfect to hear both versions.
There are a few other tracks on the cassette release that I never opened. I have it, but it is still in the shrink wrap. Dumb. Just dumb.
What a great compilation, though. Totally recommended for all kinds of music fans. Truly one of those “Something for everyone” records. Roky Erickson was a helluva songwriter.
*****
See you tomorrow.
Roky and Richard, AI-style.
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