Holiday Inn Tapes

AMG Review of Holiday Inn Tapes

Richie Unterberger
All Music Guide

Listeners primarily familiar with Erickson via his deranged vocals and compositions with the 13th Floor Elevators and as a solo act may be shocked by the low-key, acoustic intimacy of this album. Recorded on December 1, 1986 at the Holiday Inn Red River in Austin, TX, Erickson's acoustic guitar and vocals are the whole show on this ten-song performance. Going easy on the horror/monster/mystical imagery, Erickson reprises a couple of Buddy Holly classics, traditional folk tunes, and the Elevators' "May the Circle Remain Unbroken." Just to remind you that this is Roky Erickson, "The Singing Grandfather" (different versions of which open and close this album) begins with the line "The singing grandfather will saw off your head." Sound (played into a portable recorder) is fair but quite listenable, and Erickson's plaintive, yearning vocals are quite touching. His acoustic picking isn't bad either, although he stumbles or loses the beat once in a while (and for Erickson, once in a while is quite an acceptable margin of error). This doesn't deliver the outrage that many have come to expect from Erickson, but shows a glimpse of the man behind the madness.