Extremely rare book by a rock pioneer
ERICKSON, Roky. Openers. Austin, TX: Pyramid Publishing Company. 1972.
8vo. White cloth-covered boards, a peace/cross symbol in gilt design on front board, gilt lettering on spine without dust jacket, pp. [6] 69 [3], soiled front and back boards with rubbing to rear spine, slightly stained on pastedown, otherwise very good.
Extremely rare signed first edition.
Openers is a collection of poems writen by the legendary singer and songwriter for the 13th Floor Elevators, Roky Erickson, during his incarceration at the Rusk Hospital for the Criminally Insane in Texas. Writen alongside his childhood friend George Kinney, Erickson would publish this volume whilst still institutionalised. Excluding anthologies, this may be the only volume of poetry ever published with poems coordinated in alphabetical order and, despite its dark context, the 45 poems are nearly all extremely jovial and positive with titles such as, "Lets have a Never-Ending Love Contest", "Thank God for Civilisation" and "Looking with The Light". Despite this optimistic outlook, upon his release, Erickson would form the heavy rock band Roky Erickson and the Aliens who would compose songs exclusively satanistic in nature.
A second collection Openers II, a compilation of Erickson's essays, interviews and song lyrics would be published in 1995, twenty three years later.
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