The 13th Floor Elevators - The Psychedelic Sounds Of The 13th Floor Elevators (1966)

The 13th Floor Elevators were an American psychedelic rock band active from 1965 to 1969.

The 13th Floor Elevators emerged from Austin, Texas in 1965, with the line-up of Roky Erickson (vocals/guitar), Stacy Sutherland (lead guitar), Benny Thurman (bass), John Ike Walton (drums) and Tommy Hall (electric jug). The use of an amplified jug was hardly typical of a rock band; Hall's use of it as a lead instrument (albeit bubbling under the surface) even more so. He was also the band's primary lyricist.
In January 1966 they went to Houston to record a single for Gordon Bynum's newly formed Contact label. "You're Gonna Miss Me" b/w "Tried To Hide" was released and became a great success in Texas. It was then picked up by International Artists who re-released it, and it became popular outside Texas (notably in San Francisco). The band followed its success by touring the west coast, and appeared on national TV. During the summer Thurman left, and was replaced on bass by Ronnie Leatherman.
Back in Houston, International Artists gave the band a record deal, and their debut album came out in November '66. The Psychedelic Sounds Of The 13th Floor Elevators (its title reportedly one of the first uses of the word 'psychedelic' by a rock band) was some seriously raw garage rock, and quickly became popular with the counterculture. Defining features of the album's sound were Erikson's sneering vocals and Hall's ghostly jug. Retrospectively it can be seen as some of the best early psychedelic rock to emerge from the 60s.

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