13th Floor Elevators

From Freepedia

13th Floor Elevators were a rock music group founded in Austin, Texas in late 1965. Personnel were singer/guitarist Roky Erickson, electric jug player Tommy Hall, bass guitarist Benny Thurman, guitarist Stacy Sutherland, and drummer John Ike Walton. Erickson was the band's primary songwriter, most of the band members wrote or co-wrote some material.

They found only limited success, but are commonly regarded as one of the first psychedelic bands, and have been cited as an influential protopunk group. The squeaking, fluttering sound of Hall's amplified "electric jug" remains one of the band's signature sounds.

Singer Janis Joplin was a close associate of the band.

1 Name
2 Albums
3 Members
4 Breakup
5 External links

Name

The band's name is reputed to have been based on the fact that the letter "M" is the thirteenth letter of the alphabet.Tommy Hall's wife, Clementine helped think up the name.

Albums

The band had their only charting US hit, "You're Gonna Miss Me", early in their career. In 1966, came the band's first and most popular album, The Psychedelic Sounds of the 13th Floor Elevators, which marked the first appearance of the word "psychedelic" in an album title. It was followed by Easter Everywhere (1967), an integrated musical experience, if not a concept album.

Bob Dylan credits the band with the best recording of his song Baby Blue. The final album they recorded as a group was entitled: Bull of the Woods, released in 1968.

Members

Roky Erickson

Roky Erickson was the band's singer, guitarist and primary songwriter. He was the singer and writer of the classic 1960's anthem "You're Gonna Miss Me" used especially in counterculture films. He has since recorded a number of albums

Tommy Hall

Tommy Hall was best known for his amplified "electric jug" — usually sounding somewhat like a cross between a minimoog and cuica drum — which remains one of the band's most famous and distinguishing features. Hall also wrote lyrics to many of the band's songs. And much of his lyrical content stemmed from his study of philosophy and poetry at the University of Texas in Austin. He was also influenced by the philosophy of the Polish-born mathematician Alfred Korzybski whose 800 page work Science And Sanity continues to influence Hall's life to this day.

Benny Thurman

Benny Thurman, former bassist with the 13th Floor Elevators, left the band shortly before their excursion to San Francisco in 1966. He now plays violin and acheived recognition in his other bands, most notably leading 'Plum Nellie' and 'Mother Earth' along with Powell St.John in the early 1970s at the Armadillo World Headquarters in Austin, Texas.

John Ike Walton

John Ike Walton, builder of musical instruments, drummer, instrumentalist and founding member of the band, presently builds kalimba and "zulu-drums". He presently resides in the Texas Hill country. His family originally supported the creation and subsequent management of the band and the earlier band 'The Lingsmen' John Presently is playing with Tommy Hall Schedule along with Ronnie Leatherman, who joined the band for their 1960s San Francisco dates at the Avalon and Fillmore. Both left the band because of monetary/mangerial disagreements with the bands label. John is not credited on the Easter Everywhere LP, though he does play on "levitation" and "she lives", two of the more popular singles (or 45s) released.

Stacy Sutherland

Stacy Sutherland (May 28,1946-August 24,1978) was a founding member of the band. He also joined the group after playing with the Lingsmen, which had been playing mainly in the Port Aransas, Texas area. Stacy was the lead guitar for the 'Elevators', and is still remarked upon in guitar circles for the pioneering use of reverb and echo in his guitar work. In many ways his sound was years ahead of its time, and his bluesy, acid drenched guitar had its influence on such bands as the Allman Brothers, and ZZTop. In the 1970's he tried to form his own band called 'Ice', which played live, for a brief time in Houston, Texas.

He was killed during a domestic dispute with his wife in 1978.

Danny Thomas

Danny Thomas was the second drummer in the band. Danny played drums and sang back up vocals on the final two studio albums, Easter Everywhere and Bull of the Woods. Danny remains committed to the music and message of the band. In an interview in 2001, Danny was asked when he quit the band. His reply was "I never quit". This refers to both the circumstances of how the band broke up -- due the confinement of Roky Erickson -- and his belief that the impact of the band continues on.

Powell St. John

Powell St. John was a songwriter for the band.

Breakup

Drug problems and harassment by law enforcement quickly helped tear the band apart. Facing a marijuana possession charge, Eriskson made the disastrous decision to be admitted to a mental hospital rather than face years in prison.

Erickson continued to record (see Two Headed Dog) and play live from the 1970s on. The band itself was still considered to be important enough regionally to merit a panel discussion at the 2005 SXSW music festival, along with Powell St. John one of their songwriters. Roky's younger brother Sumner has formed a tribute band of sorts, with bassist Ronnie Leatherman. There is also the Tommy Hall Schedule, another tribute band dedicated to the Elevators' music.