The Psychedelic Sounds of the 13th Floor Elevators

The Psychedelic Sounds of the 13th Floor Elevators
Studio album by The 13th Floor Elevators
Released	October 17, 1966 (1966-10-17)
Recorded	January 3 – October 11, 1966
Studio	Sumet Sound Studios (Dallas, Texas, United States)
Genre	Psychedelic rock[1][2] garage rock[3]
Length	34:31
Label	International Artists
Producer	Lelan Rogers
The 13th Floor Elevators chronology
The Psychedelic Sounds of the 13th Floor Elevators (1966) Easter Everywhere (1967)

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[1]
Pitchfork	(9.1/10)[4]

The Psychedelic Sounds of the 13th Floor Elevators is the debut studio album by the 13th Floor Elevators. The album's sound, featuring elements of psychedelia, garage rock, folk and blues, is notable for its use of the electric jug, as featured on the band's only hit, "You're Gonna Miss Me", which reached number 55 on the Billboard Charts with "Tried to Hide" as a B-side. Another single from the album, "Reverberation (Doubt)", reached number 129 on the Billboard's Bubbling Under Chart.

Background

The August 1966 album back cover credits the words "the psychedelic sounds of: The 13th Floor Elevators", which is purported to be the first use of the word "psychedelic" in reference to the music within. Two other bands also used the word in titles of LPs released in November 1966: The Blues Magoos' Psychedelic Lollipop, and The Deep's Psychedelic Moods.

In 2005, The Psychedelic Sounds of the 13th Floor Elevators was remastered and reissued in compact disc format by Charly Records, a British record label specialised in reissued material. It included bonus tracks of the band's 1966 performance at the Avalon Ballroom, a music venue in the Polk Gulch neighborhood of San Francisco, and both sides of a single, "We Sell Soul" and "You're Gonna Miss Me", from Roky Erickson's pre-13th Floor Elevators band, The Spades.

In 2009, the original mono version was released as part of the "Sign of the 3-Eyed Men" box set. The set also featured a new, alternate stereo version which retained the band's original intended track listing, as well as false starts on some of the tracks (the International Artists label had altered the track listing without the band's consent when the album was first released). Both versions on the box set featured different bonus tracks, some that were previously unreleased.

The album was included in Robert Dimery's 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.^[5]

Original band track listing

1. "You Don't Know (How Young You Are)" (Powell St. John)
2. "Through the Rhythm" (T. Hall, S. Sutherland)
3. "Monkey Island" (Powell St. John)
4. "Roller Coaster" (T. Hall, R. Erickson)
5. "Fire Engine" (T. Hall, S. Sutherland, R. Erickson)
6. "Reverberation" (T. Hall, S. Sutherland. R. Erickson)
7. "Tried to Hide"* (T. Hall, S. Sutherland)
8. "You're Gonna Miss Me" (R. Erickson)
9. "I've Seen Your Face Before (Splash 1)" (C. Hall, R. Erickson)
10. "Don't Fall Down" (T. Hall, R. Erickson)
11. "The Kingdom of Heaven (Is Within You)" (Powell St. John)

US 1966 release track listing

Side one

1. "You're Gonna Miss Me" (R. Erickson) – 2:24
2. "Roller Coaster" (T. Hall, R. Erickson) – 5:00
3. "Splash 1 (Now I'm Home)" (C. Hall, R. Erickson) – 3:50
4. "Reverberation" (T. Hall, S. Sutherland. R. Erickson) – 2:46
5. "Don't Fall Down" (T. Hall, R. Erickson) – 3:00

Side two

1. "Fire Engine" (T. Hall, S. Sutherland, R. Erickson) – 3:22
2. "Thru the Rhythm" [sic] (T. Hall, S. Sutherland) – 3:05
3. "You Don't Know" (Powell St. John) – 2:38
4. "Kingdom of Heaven" (Powell St. John) – 3:05
5. "Monkey Island" (Powell St. John) – 2:38
6. "Tried to Hide" (T. Hall, S. Sutherland) – 2:43

• All songs copyright Tapier Music Corp. – BMI.

2005 Charly Records bonus tracks

1. Everybody Needs Somebody to Love (Russell, Wexler, S. Burke) - 5:15
2. Before You Accuse Me (El. McDaniel) - 2:33
3. I'm Gonna Love You Too (J. Mauldin, N. Sullivan, N. Petty) - 1:53
4. You Really Got Me (R. Davies) - 6:17
5. Roll Over Beethoven (C. Berry) - 2:46
6. The Word (J. Lennon, P. McCartney) - 2:49
7. Gloria (V. Morrison) - 3:55
8. She Lives (In a Time of Her Own) (R. Erickson, T. Hall) -3:03
9. We Sell Soul (The Spades) (R. Erickson) - 3:21
10. You're Gonna Miss Me (The Spades) (R. Erickson) - 3:25

• Recorded live at The Avalon in 1966.

Personnel

• Roky Erickson – vocals, rhythm guitar
• Stacy Sutherland – lead guitar
• Tommy Hall – amplified jug
• Benny Thurman – bass (1, 3)
• Ronnie Leatherman – bass (2, 4-11)
• John Ike Walton – drums, percussion

Production

• Produced by Lelan Rogers, except track 1 produced by Gordon Bynum
• Recorded, engineered & mixed by Bob Sullivan

See also

• Nuggets: Original Artyfacts from the First Psychedelic Era, 1965–1968

References

External links

• The Psychedelic Sounds of the 13th Floor Elevators (Adobe Flash) at Radio3Net (streamed copy where licensed)
• The Psychedelic Sounds of the 13th Floor Elevators at Discogs