Beststash
Full time employment: Posting here.
- Joined
- Nov 8, 2003
- Messages
- 581
I think in many ways he was a victim of the times - the late 60's. The 13th Floor Elevators have often been cited as the first psychedelic rock band. Erickson was 71.
The Elevators were vocal proponents of marijuana and subject to extra attention from law enforcement. In 1969, Erickson was arrested for possession of a single marijuana joint in Austin. Facing a potential ten-year incarceration, Erickson pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity to avoid prison. He spent several years at Rusk State Hospital, which had a maximum-security unit for the criminally insane. While he was there, doctors gave him Thorazine treatments and administered electroshock therapy ultimately remaining in custody until 1972. Roky spent the next three decades drifting between reality and insanity. During the good times, he married, had children and produced music. The bad times left him paralyzed by auditory hallucinations and paranoia.
The Elevators were vocal proponents of marijuana and subject to extra attention from law enforcement. In 1969, Erickson was arrested for possession of a single marijuana joint in Austin. Facing a potential ten-year incarceration, Erickson pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity to avoid prison. He spent several years at Rusk State Hospital, which had a maximum-security unit for the criminally insane. While he was there, doctors gave him Thorazine treatments and administered electroshock therapy ultimately remaining in custody until 1972. Roky spent the next three decades drifting between reality and insanity. During the good times, he married, had children and produced music. The bad times left him paralyzed by auditory hallucinations and paranoia.
