Coverocktober Song #17: "If You Have Ghosts" by Ghost

Back in 2013, Swedish metal band Ghost released a five-song EP called If You Have Ghost.  It was produced by Dave Grohl, who also played on a couple of the tracks, and all but one of the songs on the EP were covers.  But these weren't your standard metal covers of other hard rock or metals songs.  The band covered ABBA's "I'm a Marionette," Depeche Mode's "Waiting for the Night," Swedish pop group Army of Lovers' "Crucified," and Roky Erickson's "If You Have Ghosts."

Their cover of "If You Have Ghosts" seems to fit with the band's mystique and, of course, fits very well with the band's name.  Now if you're not familiar with Roky Erickson, I'll give you some background.  Erickson was a co-founder, lead singer, and rhythm guitarist of the influential Austin-based psychedelic rock band The 13th Floor Elevators, whose 1966 song "You're Gonna Miss Me" -- with Erickson's howling vocals -- is considered a treasure of both the garage rock and psychedelic rock genres.  Then in 1969, he got busted with a joint, and rather than face up to a decade in a Texas prison, he pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity, so he was sentenced to a state mental hospital, where he remained until 1972.  In between electroconvulsive therapy treatments, Erickson wrote songs, many of which would end up on future albums.

After he was released, he formed a band that would become Roky Erickson & The Aliens, and Erickson's lyrics and music took more of a hard rock and horror-inspired turn.  In 1978 and 1979, the band recorded songs that would end up on a self-titled EP in 1980 and a full-length album, The Evil One, in 1981.  CCR bassist Stu Cook produced the songs, and the recording sessions were interrupted when Erickson got arrested while having a psychotic episode and then had to spend three months in a state hospital before returning to finish the songs.  He also did a lot of drugs.

"If You Have Ghosts" was on The Evil One, and the original song is kind of a frenzied southern rock power pop song, with Erickson seeming to go off the rails a couple times.  I'd say Ghost's cover version is far more polished, with staccato strings kicking the song off, crisp vocals from Papa Emeritus II, some nice guitar solos from some Nameless Ghoul, rhythm guitar from Grohl, and generally a more clean feel than the original.  But they turned it into one of their anthems.  Also, The Nameless Grohls would be a great name for a Ghost/Foo Fighters tribute band.