Quote:
Originally Posted by slipkid
Roky is credited to have coined the term "Psychedelic Rock", as well as having a distinct singing voice.
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If this is indeed true, I never heard it before. Interesting.
Apparently Roky liked LSD very much. He claims to have taken the drug 300 times ...
According to doctors, much like Peter Green, Erickson was diagnosed with schizophrenia.
Well the sad part is one will never really know if these conditions were 1) dormant all along, or 2) brought to the surface directly by drug (particularly hallucinogenic) abuse, or 3) were
created by it. Those that know of Peter's remarkable drive, confidence and ambition early on would find it difficult to believe that schizophrenia was riding shotgun all along, and may be more inclined to believe that repeated LSD use (a la "one toke over the line") was more likely the cause. Unfortunately all it takes with acid is one bad dose, even if this is sometimes used as a convenient "out" to mask a larger appetite for extended indulgence (and/or self destruction).
But dice it any way you like, sustained drug abuse almost always leads to mental deterioration, often permanent. It's a high price to pay for the ghost of creativity, or for those whose more innocent experiments run out of control. And like everything else in this often random world (and as Vinnie noted earlier), some are lucky to pull through when the day is done, while others don't. Some only make it halfway, caught in a confusing, murky fog or perennial in-and-out condition. Psychedelia refers to more than just spacey, progressive music; it also includes hallucinations, changes of perception, and altered states of mind, which was all the rage during that wild era.
Anyway, my long winded point is that from what I've seen in the recent Green documentary Man of the World, Green appears coherent and articulate. He can also still play the guitar. The fact that he's playing in public again no matter what the circumstances should be seen a blessing, and should be appreciated.
Not long winded at all. Green
can be coherent and articulate, other times it's not so evident. This has been the cross he bears ever since those heady years with the Mac -- in Peter's case, the ultimate price for fame, doubt, drugs and burnout. Reminiscent of what Danny Kirwan relayed in a rare interview years ago, wondering if perhaps the blues weren’t too powerful for a person such as he. The flame burned too bright, and needed extinguishing, as has been stated.
Listen to Bad Company's Shooting Star and tell me it isn't apropos, for many of our musical heroes -- and the era at large.
Edit: Paul Rodgers wrote that song as a pointed warning to people in the music industry, after witnessing what became of folks like Brian Jones, Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, Jim Morrison and Alan “Blind Owl” Wilson - all dead within approximately a year of the time Peter went south, and all victims of drug addictions and/or overdoses.