RIP Sky Saxon
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According to Austin360 and Pitchfork, legendary garage rocker Sky Saxon died this morning at St. David's Hospital. As we reported yesterday, Saxon—who had stuck around Austin following his appearance at March's Psych Fest—fell ill over the weekend and was admitted to St. David's Monday. He is survived by his wife Sabrina.
Saxon is best known for his late-'60s work with proto-punks The Seeds, but he continued making music right up to his death—he played his final gig this past Saturday backed by Shapes Have Fangs at Antone's. In the early '70s, he joined the Source Family commune in Hollywood, contributing to its psych rock collective Ya Ho Wha 13, and adopting the name "Sunlight," which was given to him by Source Family leader YaHoWha. A 13-disc Ya Ho Wha 13 retrospective was overseen by Saxon in 1998; 10 years later he entered the studio to record new Seeds material with Smashing Pumpkins' Billy Corgan. Still, it's the youth snarling his way through "Pushin' Too Hard" and "Can't Seem To Make You Mine" that will remain the most indelible image of Saxon, and so long as teenage boys are frustrated by teenage girls (or vice versa), his early songs will continue to influence future generations of rock 'n' rollers.
