2000 Great Songs #1325: Don't Shake Me Lucifer
After his early run with 60s garage band greats the 13th Floor Elevators, Roky Erickson faced a bout of mental illness and was mostly MIA throughout the seventies, though he still managed a few songs with various bands during that period. He finally emerged (with his band the Aliens) for a 1980 self-titled full-length LP (later paired with its 1981 follow-up as 1987's The Evil One ). The Aliens' songs continued Roky's garage band style, amped up with some post-punk rawness, generally backing sci-fi/occult-themed songs. "Don't Shake Me Lucifer" is your basic garage band bar-burner, a stripped-down Chuck Berry 12-bar-blues with some compelling riffage, Roky sounding thoroughly plugged in, like a lost 1967 b-side given an extra layer of electricity (if not polish). No bells and whistles, just great fun. Live 2007: Cover by The Meatmen: See the entire Top 2000 to date in a sortable database !
