Skip to main content

13th Floor Elevators

1

13th Floor Elevators


Boy, oh, boy. Where to start with this legendary Austin, Texas band? Where to start? What to say? Okay, I'll give you half facts & half fan appreciation.
The Facts: The 13th Floor Elevators were an American rock band which consisted of Roky Erickson (guitar and vocals), John Ike Walton (drums), Stacy Sutherland (guitar), and Tommy Hall (electric jug). They released three studio albums and one live album on the International Artists label. They were huge pioneers in the counter-culture movement of the 1960's. Between the amazing vocals of Roky Erickson & his amazing songwriting, not to mention the ELECTRIC JUG! Yes, you read that right. Remember the days of acoustic guitar, banjo, washboard & jug? Well The 13th Floor Elevators somehow found a way to keep the jug relevant (sorry washboard- drums won in the end!). Their shear amount of fearlessness as a band is something to be admired half-a-century later. They were also one of the fore-fathers of the term "psychedelic" in regards to its usage for categorizing rock 'n' roll. They were one of the first to use the term in the title of their debut album, The Psychedelic Sounds of the 13th Floor Elevators, released in 1966.
The Fan Appreciation: I've always thought what made a great drummer- was when you could tell who was playing just by their style. There are certain drummers: John Bonham, Ringo Starr, Stewart Copeland, Meg White--> You know who it is by their playing. Same thing goes for bands. And there is not one single band that OWNS their sound more than the 13th Floors. I mean Jesus- they have an electric jug in their band. And God almighty- have you really experienced life or really ever even lived until you've heard Roky Erickson sing "It's All Over, Now Baby Blue,"? I think not. They are so quintessential AUSTIN, TEXAS; If you don't know what I mean by that I suggest you visit Austin & get back to me. Finally, the fact that they made such a huge imprint on rock 'n' roll with just three studio albums, & in a short amount of time [their initial run with the original line-up lasted only from 1965-1969] proves their legacy. Three studio albums and a short amount of time together; who are these guys: Nirvana? In more ways than one, they're more important than Cobain's Seattle band. Their legacy (13th Floor Elevators) only grew greater through the years... growing to... what... a cult status? Call it whatever you will, but at least recognize the genius and beauty that is... THE...

13th Floor Elevators

 -SC

Comments

  1. UnknownDecember 2, 2019 at 5:29 PM

    Now I need to listen to all three of their studio albums!! 😁

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Band

19 The Band The Band First known as the Hawks, the Band got their initial fame as Bob Dylan’s backing band. Remember when Bob Dylan sold out and went electric, angering fans so much that they called him “ Judas ”? Well, you can thank all of that to the Band. For a band that sounds so fucking American (seriously- no band has done the whole Americana roots music better than the Band) it’s pretty funny most of them were Canadian. After finally branching out on their own in 1968, the Band would release some of the best music ever recorded… and if you thought the Beatles had a hell of a run- check out the Band’s discography: 1968’s Music From Big Pink , 1969’s self-titled The Band , 1970’s Stage Fright , 1971’s Cahoots , 1972’s live-album Rock of Ages , 1973’s Moondog Matinee , 1975’s Northern Lights -Southern Cross , and 1977’s Islands. Lynard Skynard may have taken the crown for greatest southern rock band, but for a band full of Canadians and Americans, the Band really embraces a...
Post a Comment
Read more

Crystal Castles

61 Crystal Castles Crystal Castles If you ever wondered what it would sound like if the video-game character Mario was catapulted through a plate-glass window- you'd get close to describing Crystal Castles. Cut up vocals and soothing waves of synth, live shows known for "fan riots, crowd surges, and metal barriers destroyed" Toronto electronic-punk-bleep-pop duo Crystal Castles is music that could only be made in the post-modern / post-millennium era, with a fan base that remembers the 8-bit era. Some dance music is meant to be played in the dark, but few dance bands bring their own darkness. This is dance music for sociopaths. Crystal Castles is the brain-child of Ethan Kath. The band began as a Kath solo project in 2003, but the producer recruited a 15-year-old Alice Glass to add vocals. Glass recorded rough soundcheck vocals for five tracks, which were secretly recorded by an en engineer, and Kath uploaded the material un der the name Crystal Castles. After rele...
Post a Comment
Read more

FKA twigs

99 FKA twigs FKA twigs FKA twigs is the brain-child of Tahliah Barnett. Under her stage-name of FKA twigs (which I'll just refer to her as twigs from here-on-out) she has released three EP’s (2012’s EP1 , 2013’s EP2 , and 2015’s incredible M3LL155X EP )  and two albums (2014’s LP1 & 2019’s Magdalene ). With someone with such a small catalogue, it's amazing how dense and rich this music is. Before Billie Eilish made the whole whisper-singer mainstream last year, twigs was already releasing down-tempo-trip-hop-whisper-sung music back in 2012. That is when she released her debut, EP1 . twigs hqd been studying dance since the age of six, but deep down, she knew she always wanted to be a recording artist so she eventually left the dancing behind (in a way [dance has always been a big part of her project]) to focus on her music project. However, limiting to just a music project is doing it an injustice in labeling. It’s more of a visual-dancing-art project. Ever ev...
Post a Comment
Read more