In the pantheon of 60’s obscurities/underground/edge-dwelling artistes (by whicht I mean Velvets, Stooges, MC5 etc – you know the drill by now) the Elevators stand out as a weirdity even in the company of the weird. The kind of kid even the weird kids thought was a freak. If the Velvets were trying to delineate the demimonde, the 5 fired on revolution, and The Stooges out to map the O-Mind (which I would guess as a mélange of sexually-fueled, chemically-fueled, hormonally-fueled frenzy), the Elevators were seeking the Mystical Experience, ecstasy as found via magic(k), tantric yoga, psilocybin, marijuana, LSD and mind-bending rock and roll. I cannot attest to their success, except on that last. Their clattering psychedelic/garage-rock is as close to the Mystical Experience as you’ll get listening to a rock`n’roll record.
The standout of the Elevators is that, for an acid-influenced band, they rocked. There was nothing particularly folkie (live sets reveal a good chunk of their stage repertoire was Buddy Holly, Stones and Beatles covers) or pretentious about most of their music. The songs were built off garage-y, Yardbirdsy/Kinks-like guitar riffs, slashing chords and a front-man who screamed and shrieked at odd intervals. Famous single “You’re Gonna Miss Me” is garage-rock heaven. Add to it their third-eye lyrical content:
Well once , somewhere, sometime ago/His eyes were clear to see/He put his thoughts into my mind/And gave my self to be/He stopped me from living so unsane/I could be just what I want to be/And things appear as they really are/I can see just what I want to see/Oh come on, and let it happen to you…
If your limbs begin dissolving/In the water that you tread/All surroundings are evolving/In the stream that clears your head/Find yourself a caravan/Like Noah must have led/And slip inside this house as you pass by…
…this might sound pretty awful, but backed by the band’s sound, which rattled and clattered along like The Bingity Bangity School Bus if all the kids were high, or rumbled like some slow-rolling earthquake (title of appropriate song on second album) again experienced through a hallucinogenic veil. This was Texas r&b influenced rock`n’roll filtered through rough playing, lousy production and a curtain of Texas sun-dried lysergia. All of their records conjure up a haze of shimmering heat and fluctuating reality.
It was Tommy Hall, a psych student and budding acid-head under the heavy influence of Gurdjieff, the General Semantics of Alfred Korzybski, the psychedelic philosophy of Timothy Leary, and Tantric meditation, who drew the band around him in `65 - Stacy Sutherland on guitar, iddim John Ike Walton/drums and Ronnie Leatherman/bass, later replaced by Shaggy lookalike Danny Thomas (drums)(no shit – look at his pic!) and Dan Galindo (bass) (later replaced by a returning Leatherman). Hall was the band’s lead philosopher amd main lyric writer and played a jug – yeah you heardme, a jug - though Sutherland and Roky both contributed in music/lyrics department, and Danny Thomas had big hand in arrangements. Tommy’s wife Clementine also contributed occasional lyric/vocals/inspiration. When singer/guitarist/future legend Roky Erickson quit his old band The Spades and joined up, bringing with him his best song, “You’re Gonna Miss Me” the Elevators as we know them were complete.Oh, the name – well supposedly it was drummer John Ike Walton who suggested “Elevators” and Clementine who added “13th Floor” – in reference to the fact that many building do not have a designated 13th floor, but that’s not all:
(…it has been noted that the letter "M" (for marijuana) is the thirteenth letter of the alphabet … it also refers to the 13th and very last floor of the pyramid of enlightenment, where stands the "all seeing eye" or "third eye", featured prominently in the band imagery, and which, according to Roky Erickson, defines the psychedelic music itself ("it's where the pyramid meets the eye"). The number 13 traditionally refers to the beyond, to the unknown, and symbolizes the gateway to the mysterious source of Creation, sometimes referred to as the "eye of the vortex", or "Eye of God". In the human brain, the third eye relates to the pineal gland, which is activated by yogic practices, but also by the proper use of psychedelic substances, such as LSD, mescaline, and magic mushrooms[citation needed]. So, in the mystical sense, the band's name signifies that the members of the band actually serve as elevators for the audience consciousness, which is led progressively by the music and the lyrics to a state of enlightenment.”)
Are you getting that? Welcome to the world of the Elevators, dude.
They signed to International Artists records in Houston, a Texas-fried version of ESP-DISK, apparently, who had decided to make a name for themselves by releasing the most offbeat of Texas acts available (labelmates included Red Krayola and Bubble Puppy – plus Lightnin’ Hopkins!). Tommy Hall scrawled wild-ass sleeve notes advocating altered states of consciousness as the path to enlightenment.
“You’re Gonna Miss Me” made # 55, as the band toured Texas and the West Coast, did a bunch of TV, and played the Fillmore alongside Moby Grape, The Great Society and Quicksilver. (I once stopped into Guitar Center and overheard some aged hippie guitar tech lecturing a customer about his experience opening for the Elevators – “they definitely couldn’t play worth shit he declared with the usual disdain aged hippies have for everything not Jerry/Jorma/Cippolina. I really hate aged hippies)
By `67 the band was coming apart at the seams. Stacy Sutherland had been caught in the Austin cop web and could no longer travel outside the state. The rhythm section bailed.The process of recording album #2 was difficult and costly. The yield is considered by many to be their masterwork (Dylan rated the haunting cover of “It’s All Over Now, Baby Blue” as his favorite version [I still say Van Morrison takes that prize – but it’s still a very fine version]). Commercially it died a death compared to the relatively popular debut. They were still king of the mountain in Texas, but it wouldn’t last. Revolving door membership, and Roky and Hall’s increasing distance from reality as most of us know it meant recording sessions went nowhere, and their once-powerful live shows began to dissipate. By April `68 the band as it had been known had effectively disintegrated. IA released a batch of demos and pisstakes with crowd noise dubbed on top as a live album. Remaining current members gathered around guitarist Stacy Sutherland, who waxed some recordings with Ronnie Leatherman, Danny Thomas and occasionally, Roky. This version played a few gigs but finally faded out, with Rolling Stone running an obituary at the end of `68. Early the next year IA released the fruits of these sessions as Bull Of The Woods.
By then Roky had been busted and was on his way to a psychiatric hospital.
Dan Galindo played with Jimmie Vaughan’s band, Storm. Danny Thomas went back to North Carolina, played in several bands, and started his own company and a family. I believe he’s still kicking around. Tommy Hall was living in San Francisco last I heard. He became a Scientologist in the `70’s and was not Jandek, let it be known. He continues to seek enlightenment. Stacy Sutherland formed another band, got busted, had many troubles and eventually was killed in a domestic accident. A sad end. Roky of course went on to a celebrated solo career and became an icon of rock`n’roll weirdness.
On May 10, 2015, Roky, Tommy Hall, Ronnie Leatherman and John Ike Walton performed at Austin Psych Fest (Levitation 2015). Stacy Sutherland's guitar duties were covered by Fred Mitchim and Eli Southard, with Roky’s son Jaeger adding some harp. The show was rapturously received and can be seen on Youtube.
P.S. – according to Roky anyway, neither Janis Joplin nor Townes Van Zandt were ever seriously vying for membership. Roky’s screaming was, apparently, a legit influence on Janis’ style.
13th Floor Elevators wiki
13th Floor Elevators Allmusic
13th Floor Elevators RYM
Lysergia (considerable info here)
Visup (blog which covers Elevators, tying them in with UFO's, CIA, etc. I warned you...)
Essential Listening
The Psychedelic Sounds of the 13th Floor Elevators is the classic – Texas sun `n’ acid-fried garage goodness. “You’re Gonna Miss Me” can be found here. Also worth it for Hall’s mindwarp sleeve notes.
Easter Everywhere is generally thought to be their psychedelic classic. I’m not as enamored of it but I am fond of it, and if you’re a fan it’s a must-have, esp. for “Levitation”, “Slip Inside This House” and “Earthquake.” Bull of the Woods is more problematic – one of those not bad but not really memorable albums – I always have to dig it out to refresh my memory as to what I did or didn’t like about it. In many ways this is the work of a different band, basically a Stacy Sutherland project – yet it retains a certain Elevators-ish flavor through its rather laid-back acid-country ramble. None of its bad, but the only track I get excited about is the feedback and organ -drenched hymn “Will the Circle Remain Unbroken” sung by Roky. Coming at the end of an album drenched in a sense of sadness, exhaustion and loss, it sounds like a fitting final farewell to the band, the music, and the era. All of the above can be had on The Albums Collection – which also includes the pitiful “live” album IA foisted on the public. For $20 it’s a good deal.
For live Elevators, you’re better off seeking out Texas Archive’s 80’s issues Fire In My Bones and Elevator Tracks - the former includes a whole side from a local TV show, including a very strong “Fire Engine” and a hilarious interview with Tommy Hall re: the jug, as well as a blistering live take of “She Lives (In A Time Of Her Own)” recorded with members of fellow Texans Conqueroo sitting in, and the title track, an outtake that’s a straightforward (and good) blues. The latter has the unreleased “I Don’t Ever Want To Come Down” and “Make That Girl Your Own” – both of which are gems and deserve hearing, and some less interesting live stuff. These are both OP but not expensive. Warning: all of the live sets that have surfaced feature the band mostly doing covers of Stones/Beatles/Kinks/Buddy Holly, and only a handful of their originals.
Essential Reading
Eye Mind: The Saga of Roky Erickson and the 13th Floor Elevators, The Pioneers of Psychedelic Sound by Paul is a book I can’t say enough good things about. Covrering not only the history of the band and members up to the present day, but also the Texas rock and roll scene and the alternative lifestyle/counterculture of 60’s Texas in great depth, plus intelligent analyses of the music – it’s one of the best band bios I’ve ever read, hands down.
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