Various Artists-When The Pyramid Meets The Eye

This is a two record tribute album of songs by Roky Erickson. Tribute albums were all the rage back in the 90’s and I bought a lot of them on cassette and CD. This is one I had on cassette and was one of the better ones I had. This vinyl version came out on Record Store Day in 2017. With some artists from Erickson’s home state of Texas like Z Z Top,The Butthole Surfers,an Thin White Rope,there are also artists from across the pond like The Jesus & Mary Chain,The Mighty Lemon Drops,and Primal Scream. Any of the four sides are good and there are some very good songs. Primal Scream’s cover of “Slip Inside This House” may be my favorite and it’s a different version than the one on their Screamadelica album. Doug Sahm does an updated cover of “You’re Gonna Miss Me” a hit for Erickson’s 60’s band The 13th Floor Elevators and one covered by Sahm’s group The Sir Douglas Quintet in the late 60’s. “It’s A Cold Night For Alligators” by Southern Pacific sounds like Creedence Clearwater Revival with Stu Cook on bass who produced Erickson’s 1979 album The Evil One. The soulful “Postures(Leave Your Body Behind)” by Chris Thomas sounds like Prince. Other good songs are “I Have Always Been Here Before” done by Julian Cope,”Red Temple Prayer(Two Headed Dog)” by Sister Double Happiness and Z Z Top’s cover of “Reverberation(Doubt)” that is the first and last song on the album, the last one by The Jesus & Mary Chain. Although all my cassettes are gone still have about 50 tribute albums on CD. Someday I will have to listen to them and all the CD’s I have left.

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