Performer Notes
- Personnel: Roky Erickson (electric guitar); Lou Ann Barton (vocals); John Reed (acoustic & electric guitars, guitarra); Harry Hess (acoustic & electric guitars, harmonica); Speedy Sparks (acoustic guitar, bass); Carey Bowman (electric guitar); Charlie Sexton (guitar, organ); Paul Leary (guitar); John Hagen (cello); Sumner Erickson (tuba, background vocals); Barry "Frosty" Smith, Ernie Durawa (drums); Lynn Gathright (tambourine).
- Producers: Casey Monahan, Speedy Sparks, Stuart Sullivan.
- Engineers: Stuart Sullivan, Lynn Gathright.
- Recorded at Music Lane Studio, Austin, Texas from September 1984 to February 1985; Arlyn Studio, Austin, Texas from October 1993 to April 1994.
- ALL THAT MAY DO MY RHYME includes six new songs and five remixed tracks from a 1984 recording session.
- Recording information: Arlyn Studio, Austin (09/1984-02/1985); Music Lane Studio, Austin (09/1984-02/1985); Arlyn Studio, Austin (10/1993-04/1994); Music Lane Studio, Austin (10/1993-04/1994).
- Photographers: Bill Geisler; Scott Newton; Greg Geisler; Karen Mazur.
- On this 1994 release, Erickson revisits a number of his more familiar and (for the most part) prettier songs. Indeed, this album is free of any overt demons, with a decidedly hopeful romanticism taking center stage and Erickson's loud guitars-and-feedback (see "Haunt" for a throwback to this earlier style) psychedelia giving way to country-tinged rock.
- Half of ALL THAT MAY DO MY RHYME was originally released in the mid-'80s as the French CLEAR NIGHT FOR LOVE EP. The new tracks were recorded with sympathetic accompaniment (including Charlie Sexton on guitar) in Erickson's native Texas. "Starry Eyes" is presented twice, in versions recorded a decade apart, the newer rendition a duet with Lou Ann Barton. New songs by Erickson were few and far between throughout the '80s and '90s, but this set happily includes two standouts in "Please Judge" and "We Are Never Talking
Professional Reviews
Rolling Stone (5/18/95, p.90) - 3.5 Stars - Very Good - "...[ALL THAT MAY DO MY RHYME] is a brilliant trip through a variety of pop-music genres, encompassing everything from strummy country folk to Buddy Holly-esque rock & roll to blues stomp..."
Spin (4/95, pp.200-01) - 7 - Recommended - "...A poignant, even tasteful work befitting a sweet, sensitive man....The record focuses exactly where it should: on his songs' easy swing and...Erickson's for-the-ages wail of a rock'n'roll throat, ghostly and gorgeous and scary and soulful all at once..."
Q (3/95, pp.96-97) - 3 Stars - Good - "...contrary to Erickson's past work's often off-putting fire brimstone and LSD cocktails, [ALL THAT MAY DO MY RHYME] is reminiscent of nothing so much as The Byrds circa "Chimes Of Freedom," with Erickson, now 47, as a creepier Roger McGuinn..."
Option (7-8/95, p.104) - "...Erickson's song style is a startling echo of fellow Texan Buddy Holly, with the clean melody lines, chipper electric guitars, and simple rhythm section that made rock'n'roll worth living for in 1957..."
NME (Magazine) (2/18/95, p.49) - 6 - Good - "...there are moments--the desperately sad single `We Are Never Talking,' the noise of `The Haunt'; `Don't Slander Me,' where you will believe a 50-year-old man can sound like Kurt Cobain--when he sounds as vital as Neil Young, only cooler..."
