All That May Do My Rhyme

All That May Do My Rhyme
Studio album by
Roky Erickson
Released1995
GenreFolk rock, roots rock
LabelTrance Syndicate
ProducerSpeedy Sparks, Stuart Sullivan, Casey Monahan
Roky Erickson chronology
Beauty and the Beast
(1993) 		All That May Do My Rhyme
(1995) 		Demon Angel: A Day and a Night with Roky Erickson
(1995)

All That May Do My Rhyme is an album by the American musician Roky Erickson.[1][2] It was released in 1995 on Trance Syndicate Records, an independent record label founded in 1990 by King Coffey, drummer of Austin, Texas, band the Butthole Surfers.[3]

The album was a packaging of new songs with ones issued on the 1985 Clear Night for Love EP.[4][5] An unlisted track, "We Sell Soul", is a 1965 song by Erickson's band the Spades.[6] All That May Do My Rhyme was Erickson's first studio album in about a decade.[7]

Production

[edit]

The album was produced by Speedy Sparks, Stuart Sullivan, and Casey Monahan.[8] Paul Leary, Barry "Frosty" Smith, and Charlie Sexton contributed to All That May Do My Rhyme. Lou Ann Barton sang on one of the two versions of "Starry Eyes".[9] Sumner Erickson, Roky's brother, played tuba on the album.[10] The album was released at the same time as a book, Openers II: The Lyrics of Roky Erickson, that collected Erickson's poems and lyrics.[11]

Critical reception

[edit]
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[12]
Chicago Tribune[13]
The Encyclopedia of Popular Music[14]
MusicHound Rock: The Essential Album Guide[8]
Lincoln Journal Star[15]
Record Collector[16]
Rolling Stone[17]
Spin Alternative Record Guide8/10[18]

Rolling Stone determined that, "if Erickson covers a lot of territory, it is because his music has always functioned as a living archive of musical form, exploring the seams between supposedly incongruous genres."[17] The Boston Globe wrote that "Erickson looks at loves lost and sought in ballads given a light, melodic touch."[19] The Austin American-Statesman deemed the album "arguably his most accessible and listener-friendly to date, with the sort of buoyant melodicism, lyrical invention and shimmering jangle that the R.E.M. generation can accept as a kindred musical spirit."[20]

The Philadelphia Daily News stated that "the psychedelic pioneer brings his Bob Dylanesque phrasing and charmingly vulnerable voice to a mixed bag of old and new material that focuses more on love than on his past themes of demons and aliens."[21] The Santa Fe New Mexican concluded that "We Are Never Talking" "could almost be mistaken for a long-lost Blood on the Tracks outtake."[22] The Chicago Tribune determined that "best of all is the plaintive 'Please Judge', in which Erickson pleads, 'Don't send or keep the boy away'."[13]

AllMusic wrote that "Roky's most excessive traits are mostly absent; he sounds sort of like an eccentric, updated Buddy Holly."[12] Record Collector thought that his "dishevelled yowl elevates [the songs] into the otherworldly realm, spookily channelling both his fractured mind and convincingly extra-terrestrial soul."[16]

Track listing

[edit]
No.TitleLength
1."I'm Gonna Free Her" 
2."Starry Eyes" 
3."You Don't Love Me Yet" 
4."Please Judge" 
5."Don't Slander Me" 
6."We Are Never Talking" 
7."For You (I'd Do Anything)" 
8."For You" 
9."Clear Night for Love" 
10."Haunt" 
11."Starry Eyes" 
12."We Sell Soul" 

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "Roky Erickson Biography, Songs, & Albums". AllMusic.
  2. ^ Buckley, Peter (October 18, 2003). The Rough Guide to Rock. Rough Guides.
  3. ^ Larkin, Colin (1999) "Trance Syndicate Records" in The Virgin Encyclopedia of Heavy Rock, Virgin Books, ISBN 0-7535-0257-7, p. 454
  4. ^ "In Memoriam: Roky Erickson, July 15, 1947 – May 31, 2019". Lone Star Music Magazine. June 2, 2019.
  5. ^ Stewart, Alison (Apr 1995). "Reviews". CMJ New Music Monthly. No. 20. p. 32.
  6. ^ "Roky Erickson and the Aliens". Trouser Press. Retrieved 18 October 2021.
  7. ^ Wood, Nick (Jan 19, 1995). "Reviews". Dunmow Observer. p. 24.
  8. ^ a b MusicHound Rock: The Essential Album Guide. Visible Ink Press. 1999. p. 393.
  9. ^ "Roky Erickson: All That May Do My Rhyme Album Review". The Austin Chronicle.
  10. ^ Hall, Michael (December 1, 2001). "A Long, Strange Trip". Texas Monthly.
  11. ^ "Openers II: the Lyrics of Roky Erickson". My City Paper.
  12. ^ a b "All That May Do My Rhyme". AllMusic.
  13. ^ a b Kot, Greg (12 Feb 1995). "Still Risky, Still Real: Legends Re-Emerge, with Force, on New Albums". Arts. Chicago Tribune. p. 12.
  14. ^ Larkin, Colin (2006). The Encyclopedia of Popular Music. Vol. 3. MUZE. p. 304.
  15. ^ Wolgamott, L. Kent (Mar 26, 1995). "Records". Lincoln Journal Star. p. 6H.
  16. ^ a b "All That May Do My Rhyme". Record Collector.
  17. ^ a b Hill, Trent (May 18, 1995). "Recordings — All That May Do My Rhyme by Roky Erickson". Rolling Stone. No. 708. p. 90.
  18. ^ Spin Alternative Record Guide. Vintage Books. 1995. pp. 134–135.
  19. ^ Hayhow, Pete (1 June 1995). "Roky Erickson All That May Do My Rhyme". Calendar. The Boston Globe. p. 17.
  20. ^ McLeese, Don (19 Jan 1995). "Where the pyramid meets the rhyme". XL ENT. Austin American-Statesman. p. 5.
  21. ^ Darroch, Doug (21 Apr 1995). "All That May Do My Rhyme Roky Erickson". Features Yo!. Philadelphia Daily News. p. 70.
  22. ^ Terrell, Steve (24 Feb 1995). "Terrell's Tune-Up". Pasatiempo. The Santa Fe New Mexican. p. 9.
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