By some weird coincidence, I ended up renting what I thought was a documentary on a guy who thought he was an alien, but it was really a doc about Roky Erikson–lead singer of the legendary psychadelic band 13th Floor Elevators. And it was so good.
Here’s the deal. You’re Gonna Miss Me is the real deal, full of all sorts of wacky stuff, brilliant music, excellent rock history and a voice that will knock your socks off. Some of you may know the song the film takes its name from, it’s one of the best songs in High Fidelity, and prominitely features the “jug”–some sort of plastic jug that inspired all sorts of gossip and gave the group, along side Roky’s voice, its unique identity.
Fair warning though, this isn’t your typical rock doc. There’s some serious weird stuff that happens along the path, yes there’s drugs, multiple wives, a son who never really knew his father, but there’s also infamous mental institution Rusk, aliens, schizophrenia, a creepy-ass mentor (in my humble opinion), a cardboard obsessed mother who’ll make you go hug yours, four concerned brothers, and one often troubled, often brilliant man–who eventually finds his way back to the music.
Interesting sidenotes: Sonic Youth’s Thurston Moore and Butthole Surfers’ Gibby Haynes are some of the musicians interviewed about Roky, one of rock’s most famous cult icons. Seeing Gibby Haynes reminded me of when I begged my dad to take me to see Butthole Surfers when they performed at the Pioneer Center back in the day..he wouldn’t let me go by myself and so he came with me.
And there’s a guy in the film–I think he’s a collector and a fan or something–who says the Beatles’ song Rocky Raccoon is about Roky. There’s lots of internet banter about Roky being the subject, but I don’t know…you make the call.
