Scream of the Week

I wanted to do a little essay on Great Screams in Music History, but I got a little overwhelmed thinking of the possibilities. So I hereby designate every Thursday as Scream of the Week Day. This week, the Godfather of Psychedelic Screams:



First, full disclosure: I studied tuba with Roky Erickson's youngest brother, Sumner, and we became good friends, and I have met Roky a few times and he always remembers me. Not that it presents a conflict of interest or anything, but... well, it's an opportunity to brag.

Roky Erickson is one of the great masters of screaming, and he lets loose multiple times in this, his biggest hit and one of the greatest and earliest examples of psychedelic rock. I think he takes off from Little Richard's (also brilliant) screams, and uses them similarly, to punctuate phrases and put climactic moments over the top. Little Richard clearly gets it from gospel music, and so does Screaming Jay Hawkins in his own weird way, but if I trace it all the way back I'll end up with a book, and anyway every week is a chance to further discuss the great screamers.

Anyway, Roky starts where Little Richard leaves off, but when Little Richard goes in with a nice, satisfying "Woooooo!" it's all party. Roky gets much, much deeper, just opening his mouth wide, and shaking his head a bit and letting loose from the depths of his gut. It's usually "AAAAAAAAWH!" But it's more than that - it's the unfettered cry from the core of his being, uncluttered by consonants, or any effort to make a sound in English or any other language. It could be absolutely terrifying, and I've heard a few recordings where Roky is, in fact, absolutely terrifying. Here, it's more existential. The song is already an affirmation of existence and importance - you might be mean, but I'm more important than you think, and you're gonna miss me. So pretty much every minute - at the top of the song, the top of the second verse at 1:05 and on the way out of the song at 2:05 - he blows like a train whistle.

It's not the only scream in Roky's vocabulary, by the way, even if it might be the one that makes him an important singer. Check out that weird bark at 1:34, right before the second bridge. I'm not even sure what that sound is, besides intense. I am reasonably certain that this will not be Roky's only Scream of the Week - there are a lot of screams of his worth writing about.