The Psychedelic Sounds of the 13th Floor Elevators
The 13th Floor Elevators
1966
Album Summary
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, hard rock, 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.
WikipediaBrilliant from start to finish - exactly what I joined this list for. An absolute gem that i’d have never otherwise known about.
Pretty solid psychedelic rock. Surprised I’ve never heard of the band before.
Really cool psych surf garage gem from 1966, almost an entire year before the psychedelic era of rock was in full swing. The sound is here and the instrumentation is spot on, with some of the lyrical cadence reminding me a bit of Zappa’s first album from this year “Freak Out”. I would definitely consider this essential listening- glad I finally got to hear it beyond “You’re gonna miss me”. Go enjoy!
La conception de cet album s'est faite dans des conditions extrêmement particulières, c'est pourquoi je le note avec indulgence. Les 13th Floor Elevators choisissent en 1966 le studio du douzième étage (13th Floor aux USA) d'un immeuble pour l'enregistrer. Après avoir installé la batterie, les membres repartent chercher les autres instruments sans remarquer que la fenêtre est ouverte. Problème : l'immeuble en question est encerclé par des conifères habités de pygargues à tête blanche. Une branche voit d'ailleurs son extrémité s'arrêter juste sous la fenêtre en question. À leur retour, les musiciens ne remarquent rien de particulier et commencent la session d'enregistrement. Très rapidement, des petits crissements se font entendre. Le chanteur et le guitariste se retournent alors vers le batteur qui ne semble pas comprendre d'où peut provenir le bruit. Ce dernier continue donc de tambouriner sur sa grosse caisse. Quelques minutes plus tard, il sursaute en apercevant les gros yeux blancs d'un pygargue le fixer. L'animal est coincé dans la caisse qu'il est en train de castagner. Il prévient alors les autres avec un jeu de regard, et, tout en continuant l'enregistrement de l'album, se lancent dans une opération de sauvetage de l'animal. ♫ But what's gonna stop me, baby ? ♫ chante le leader tout en se saisissant d'un sécateur. ♫ Am / Dm / Am / Em ♫ joue le guitariste au moment de jeter des graines à l'animal. ♫ BAM ! BAM ! BAM ! BAMMM ! ♫ continue de bourriner le batteur pour les besoins de l'enregistrement et au grand dam de l'oiseau. Une dizaine de morceaux plus tard, une brèche est ouverte dans la grosse caisse et l'on entend le "FLAFLAFLAflaflafla...." du piaf qui s'en va retrouver sa liberté, merveilleusement capté par l'outro de l'album.
Cet album a été enregistré dans des conditions exécrables. En effet, un volatile est venu se glisser dans la caisse claire du batteur du groupe. Ceci va complétement venir gâcher la prestation proposée sur cet album. Dans la première partie de l'album, les différents membres du groupe vont venir tenter d'amadouer le volatile, à l'aide de différents appâts. Le volatile répondra par de nombreux cris et gloussement, mais ne se décidera pas à sortir de sa cachette. Dans la seconde partie de l'album, le batteur tenta d'utiliser ses baguettes afin de doucement pousser le volatile vers la sortie de la caisse, mais là aussi, tout ce qui sera obtenu sera des cris et gloussements de la part du volatile. Enfin, la troisième et dernière partie montre un groupe résigné à accepter la présence du volatile, qui fait désormais partie intégrante du groupe et de leur enregistrement musical, pour le plus grand bonheur de tous les ornithologues.
This is one of those albums that must've sounded great when they created it at 3 in the morning then woke up the next day and realized it's absolutely not what they thought it sounded like.
didn't know an electric jug existed before this. I can tell this record was really innovative and I enjoyed it a lot.
So good. Plenty of that dirty 60's sound, strong vocals, and amplified jug. Roller Coaster is my favorite of the album.
Feral for 1965. Texas menace with amplified jug. Some hate Roky's vocals, but they are philistines.
This is great. Greasy, salty surf punk that rolls right over you like a California breaker. Them with Dick Dale on lead guitar.
Prefs : You're Gonna Miss Me, Roller Coaster, Splash 1 (Now I'm Home), Reverberation (Doubt), Fire Engine, You Don't Know, Kingdom of Heaven, Monkey Island, Tried to Hide Moins pref: Don't Fall Down (still good)
Any album with an electric jug is at minimum a 4.4 and then they make the rest up with fantastic songwriting. There’s only 1 mediocre song on the whole album (Monkey Island) everything else are classics. I just wished they hadn’t called it psychedelic cause it’s not really. The album has more in common with stoner/ garage/ punk rock than it does psychedelic music. Although it was released in 1966, the same year Tomorrow Never Knows came out, so was there at the very start of the psychedelic movement. I’d forgotten about the sound-quality which is a shame. It sounds cheaply produced with the sounds muffled and distant. But I LOVE this album. All the songs sound different and exciting, the songwriting is excellent and there was nothing like this in 1966. Maybe my favourite album cover of all time too. 5 stars.
Excellent album for those who like psychedelic rock. Trully felt I was listening to some 60's band
This is a great psychedelic rock album and a great debut by the 13th Floor Elevators. I've definitely listened to this one before but mostly remembered the song 'You're Gonna Miss Me', as I think it's easily their most popular. I really enjoyed this one. The "amplified jug" playing, which almost sounds like a Theremin, adds a cool vibe to most of the songs. These guys were out their in 60s Austin, TX doing it right before many others in the genre. Standout Tracks: You're Gonna Miss Me, Roller Coaster, Splash 1, Reverberation, Fire Engine, You Don't Know, Tried to Hide
Este disco es una FUMADOTOTOTOTOTA que imagino está aquí por ser un magnífico exponente del "rock ácido" Pero el disco me agradó bastante y con gusto lo volvería a escuchar. Agregué una canción a mi lista: "Tried to hide", que por cierto me recordó al estilo de “Bad Boy” de los Beatles, y no creo que sea coincidencia.
Beyond unique, too canoncial for less than 4 stars but a little too loose and sloppy for 5.
This feels so authentic to the era it’s paying homage to that i thought it actually belonged to it. A lot of Mick Jagger inspired vocals.
La pura psicodelia de los 60s. Debo aceptar que los sonidos vocales en forma de instrumento (tucutucutú) son extraños al principio pero si te logras acostumbrar, quedan perfecto en el viaje de esta banda. Songs: Reverberation, Fire Engine, Monkey Island, Tried to hide
Recordando un poco a Moby Grape, los Doors y a Hendrix como los puntos psicodélicos que han tocado hasta ahora creo a mi gusto este es el mejor. Tienen un punto muy interesante de psicodélico pero con un sonido mucho más crudo, con una guitarra que va más fuerte, una voz que puede dejarse llevar a gritar realmente con desaire y un botellón que extrañamente persiste durante todo el disco pero que, aunque pudiera llegar a ser cansado, da cierto sentido de taladrado en la cabeza y que simplemente tengo que aceptar, me da hasta gracia las agallas de dejarlo en el mismo ritmo canción tras canción. Las letras dentro de lo esperable en su imaginario lleno de LSD se me hacen mucho mejor escritas que por ejemplo cualquier cosa de Morrison, mucho más sinceras y aterrizadas. No llega a 5 porque aunque a mí se me hace simpatico creo que el botellón puede trabajar en su contra y porque no es tampoco un género que pueda escuchar una y otra vez; a pesar de eso se me hace de los mejores grupos (a pesar de que tienen creo solo 2 o 3 discos y duraron un par de años) en rock psicodélico, incluso a mi gusto pudiendo llegar casi saltándose un paso a ser también rock ácido.
I like these guys - heard them for the first time years ago when watching that Foo Fighters documentary that tracked roots of music.
Enjoyed a lot-wasn’t as “Trippy” as I was expecting. Good vocals. Got some Jefferson Airplane vibes
Pretty cool to listen to the one of if not the first psychedelic Rock records. I like it. What is that wobbly sound, is that the electric jug?
Super fun, trippy, and creative psychedelic rock album! I love this sound from the '60's!!
A very 60s album, and a good listen overall. Definitely a band who's discography I expect to listen to more. Forgot to record favorite/least favorite songs.
Classic weird psychedelic rock. Some of it rocks, some of it wallows, some of it is just plain strange. A favorite, for sure.
Strong Animals vibe out of this one for me, minus Eric Burdon perhaps. Interesting sounds along with that standard 60’s guitar. Will listen again.
This would make an excellent soundtrack for a 1960's movie. Some really good riffs
When I read the band had conducted sly sheepish LSD trips during recording, a lot started to make sense. I didn’t mind it at all. That weird noise throughout is someone making noises into an old jug…
Nothing else on the album approaches the brilliance of You're Gonna Miss Me; a potent blast of guitar rock gold. The rest of the album stakes the bands claim as the FIRST psychedelic rock band with the amplified jug playing giving them a totally unique and somewhat spacey, ethereal sound. A fine album that all should hear at least if you have even a passing interest in 60s guitar rock. 4 🌟
Not sure what I was expecting, but this is excellent. Jefferson Airplane and the Moody Blues had a trippy kid.
Still undecided on the Electric Jug but a cut above for intensity and passion
"You're Gonna Miss Me" is a great leadoff track and it absolutely belongs on "Nuggets." It might even be the best song on that whole compilation. If you like that kind of psych garage music (I do too) then you'll dig this. The rest is more of the same but not as amazing I guess. Put this on at a party and you're good to go. 3 1/2 stars rounded up to 4.
Some psychedelia, I'd imagine.. "You're gonna miss me when I'm gone" does some really interesting things. The unique sound of what some research tells me is known as an electric jug adds some weirdness and otherworldliness to the track that works really well. Onto the second track and there's a total reframing of the music, like they drop a cog and hammer down the accelerator, changing lanes and blasting past the caravan they'd been stuck behind for four miles. Track three - splash 1 - is a bit of a let down - too slow and not really in keeping with the album. Reverberation picks the pace back up again. I think the age of the recording might be a factor here - but the bass sounds muddy somehow. It could be a production choice, but it just doesn't quite fit. Overall, this is a great album - pioneering, but immediately placed to its time. It should be 4 tracks shorter, but overall I enjoyed it.
Must've been a huge influence on The Brian Jonestown Massacre, they sound just like the 13FEs. This preformed really well as a break from the other stuff I've been listening to. Though I wouldn't be able to sit through this again without dropping acid and frolicking naked in a wheat field at sunrise.
Listened to the half of the songs. Went too repetitive at the end (I see people mentioning electric jug in the comment, I guess that was the sound that annoyed me). But it was worth listening too this. Will keep it in my playlist
How in the world did I never hear about these guys before now? Read a bit into them and learned they are credited with creating psychedelic rock, and were an influence on many different artists. Giving this 3 stars for the music. Just not one of my favorite genres of music. I'm giving a bonus star, though, because of the influence they had on other musicians.
Always love this era of psychedelia, and what these guys may lack in pure songwriting like the Beatles or the Byrds, they make up for with raw grit. Cool stuff.
Well this was a really cool discovery. Nice blend of melodic tunes balanced well with some grit and trippiness. Sounds bit dated sure, but for 1966 very much ahead of it's time, and certainly predates many similar sounding yet much higher acclaimed artists.
Creative and pretty funky to listen to loved there best songs but some ar e a little too experimental for me
Really great, enjoyable psych rock. I’d never heard of this but would absolutely revisit it.
Peak '60s. This is the music my parents got high to while my grandparents downstairs worried about the fate of the next generation. I love it even if the \"electric jug\" is waaaaay overused.
A very important album for rock music and also holds up very well. R.I.P. Roky Erickson
So that’s what an electric jug sounds like. I think this stood out as a bit more out there than some of the other seminal psychedelic rock albums I’ve heard so far, which made it more interesting. 7/10
I'm a sucker for Psychedelic Rock. Čuo sam za njih tek kada sam čitao knjigu o bendovima koji su napravili promjene u glazbi, ali nisu okusili slavu. O svakom bendu po nešto, i eto bio je i ovaj bend - zajedno sa dosta njih i drago mi je što sam posudio tu knjigu. Nažalost ne znam više kako se zvala, ali je bilo nešto što ja volim.
One of the greatest garage rock albums of all time, as is Easter Everywhere, you could include either. This has more straightforward bangers on it than EE but that Dylan cover... Man. The debut probably loses a bit of steam towards the end. Adore Splash 1, and Don't Fall Down, both of which show they had more about them than freakouts and playing a jug. What the authorities did to Roky and the band is a disgrace.
I liked this a lot more than I expected to...I figured it would be generic knock off psychedelic band and they kind of were... But a much higher quality than anticipated
I like a lot of this. I'd never heard of this band before so this is a genuine little hidden gem. They have a lot of elements from similar 60's bands, like the jangly guitars, bluesy riffs and vocals... some surf in there. It's kind of the Doors meet the Rolling Stones, with a bit of Dick Dale thrown in, or sitting somewhere in that space. The jug was pretty interesting at first, but jeez do they use a lot of it! It would have been better used sparingly I think. Still.... Groovy! As a side note, the first song was SO familiar and I knew I'd heard it in a film I knew well - turns out it's the start of High Fidelity, apt!
It’s like if The Doors’ cover of Gloria were an album long. Fun, but not incredibly deep
Had never heard this album before. I knew the opening track because it was on the High Fidelity soudtrack, but found I really liked the whole album.
Some definite gems in this collection. I had only heard You’re Gonna Miss Me before (which is fantastic). And the only time I’ve ever experienced the electric jug.
I have listened this one a few times. It's some really great 60's classic psychedelia.. Love all the weird quirky sounds, the surf guitar riffs and Roky's boisterous vocals. The crazy thing was this sound came from Texas and not San Francisco. Sadly this on about the only decent material they made.
One of, if not the definitive sounds of the psychedelic 60s. This one caught me off guard and proved to be more enjoyable than it should be.
Pretty much exactly what you expect when you think 60s psychedelic rock. I didn’t know the electric jug is an instrument but that definitely adds a unique sound to the album
Rating: 7/10 Best songs: You’re gonna miss me, Don’t fall down, You don’t know
pretty sick psychedelic rock. i just love the quintessential 60s guitar tone on all these tracks, i want to capture that in some songwriting soon. really dug this one, had never heard it before.
Great album. There are refrains of The Dead, Jefferson Airplane, The Seeds, Love, etc. This is some great music.
Cool album! I like this psychedelic surf sound, especially the guitar. Never heard of this band before.
I had never heard of this album or artists and it took me by surprise. The sound is definitely ahead of its time - it came out in 1966 but sounds like classic early 70s rock to me. Great surfer guitar licks, and that amplified jug is pretty unique. The vocals are gritty, squealy, bluesy and strongly leaning towards a hard rock sound which had not become popular yet. This is a combination of several genres that aren't my normal go-to (psychedelic rock, hard rock, 70s rock, etc., etc.) but it's so unusual and early I have to give it at least a 4/5 for sheer coolness. I mean, amplified jug .... so strange and cool!
I loved the groovy, psychedelic 60s vibe of this album. It took a little time to adjust to the quality of the recording itself, but I ended up enjoying the atmosphere of it all. Was the strange whomp whomp noises running through most (or all?) of the songs a saw being bent? The electric jug mentioned in the wikipedia article? Some other strange phenomena? After a few songs these questions left me and I just settled in.
Great psychedelic rock sound and cover art. Their influence on later acts is apparent. Glad to have heard it.
I love Roky’s solo stuff- paranoia never sounded so sexy- but I’m not as familiar with his earlier stuff. This is pretty cool, solid psychedelic rock with some killer guitar and neat backing tracks. Would hear more. B
Interesting album with a lot of Energy. Television has a cool cover of Fire Engine. Didnt blow me away, but still pretty interesting. Very raw.
I've never heard of this group or the album. It has the psychedelic rock sound. Apparently one of the first bands to use that term.
3.5 - No tenía idea de que existían The Elevators o su electric jug. Fuera de que abusan de ese sonido poniéndolo en todas las canciones, me pareció un rock psicodélico muy a gusto y en particular me agradó 'Fire Engine'