The Psychedelic Sounds of the 13th Floor Elevators

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The Psychedelic Sounds of the 13th Floor Elevators
13th Floor Elevators-The Psychedelic Sounds of the 13th Floor Elevators (album cover).jpg
Studio album by
ReleasedOctober 17, 1966 (1966-10-17)
RecordedJanuary 3 October 11, 1966
StudioSumet Sound, Dallas
Genre
Length34:31
Label International Artists
Producer Lelan Rogers
The 13th Floor Elevators chronology
The Psychedelic Sounds of the 13th Floor Elevators
(1966)
Easter Everywhere
(1967)
Singles from The Psychedelic Sounds of the 13th Floor Elevators
  1. "You're Gonna Miss Me" / "Tried to Hide"
    Released: January 1966
  2. "Reverberation (Doubt)" / "Fire Engine"
    Released: 31 October 1966

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 Hot 100 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.

Contents

Background

The October 1966 back cover of the album uses 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. [4] 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 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.

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar half.svg [5]
Encyclopedia of Popular Music Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svg [6]
The Great Rock Discography 7/10 [7]
Pitchfork 9.1/10 [8]
Spin Alternative Record Guide 8/10 [9]

The album was included in Robert Dimery's 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die . [3]

Track listing

Side one
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."You're Gonna Miss Me" Roky Erickson 2:24
2."Roller Coaster"Erickson, Tommy Hall5:00
3."Splash 1 (Now I'm Home)"Erickson, Clementine Hall3:50
4."Reverberation (Doubt)"Erickson, T. Hall, Stacy Sutherland2:46
5."Don't Fall Down"T. Hall, Erickson3:00
Side two
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
6."Fire Engine"T. Hall, Sutherland, Erickson3:22
7."Thru the Rhythm"T. Hall, Sutherland3:05
8."You Don't Know" Powell St. John 2:38
9."Kingdom of Heaven"St. John3:05
10."Monkey Island"St. John2:38
11."Tried to Hide"T. Hall, Sutherland2:46
Total length:34:31
2005 Charly Records bonus tracks
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
12."Everybody Needs Somebody to Love" Bert Russell, Jerry Wexler, Solomon Burke 5:15
13."Before You Accuse Me" Ellas McDaniel 2:33
14."I'm Gonna Love You Too" Joe B. Mauldin, Niki Sullivan, Norman Petty 1:53
15."You Really Got Me" Ray Davies 6:17
16."Roll Over Beethoven" Chuck Berry 2:46
17."The Word" John Lennon, Paul McCartney 2:49
18."Gloria" Van Morrison 3:55
19."She Lives (In a Time of Her Own)"Erickson, T. Hall3:03
20."We Sell Soul"Erickson3:21
21."You're Gonna Miss Me"Erickson3:25
Original band track listing
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."You Don't Know (How Young You Are)"St. John2:38
2."Through the Rhythm"T. Hall, Sutherland3:05
3."Monkey Island"St. John2:38
4."Roller Coaster"T. Hall, Erickson5:00
5."Fire Engine"T. Hall, Sutherland, Erickson3:22
6."Reverberation (Doubt)"T. Hall, Sutherland, Erickson2:46
7."Tried to Hide" (false start)T. Hall, Sutherland 
8."Tried to Hide"T. Hall, Sutherland2:43
9."You're Gonna Miss Me"Erickson2:24
10."I've Seen Your Face Before (Splash 1)"C. Hall, Erickson3:50
11."Don't Fall Down"T. Hall, Erickson3:00
12."The Kingdom of Heaven (Is Within You)"St. John3:05

This version was included in the "Sign of the 3-Eyed Men" box set on CD 4 with the following bonus tracks.

No.TitleLength
13."You Don't Know (How Young You Are)" (alternate backing track) 
14."Roller Coaster" (alternate backing track) 
15."Don't Fall Down" (alternate backing track) 
16."Don't Fall Down / band introduction" (Larry Kane show) 

Personnel

Production

See also

Related Research Articles

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References

  1. "The 13th Floor Elevators – The Psychedelic Sounds of the 13th Floor Elevators (International Artists, 1966)". Spin . March 28, 2013. Retrieved July 24, 2016.
  2. Masley, Ed (September 19, 2008). "10 essential garage-rock albums". AZCentral. The Arizona Republic . Retrieved November 8, 2016.
  3. 1 2 3 Dimery, Robert; Lydon, Michael (23 March 2010). 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die (Revised and Updated ed.). Universe. ISBN   978-0-7893-2074-2.
  4. Hicks, Michael (2000). Sixties Rock: Garage, Psychedelic, and Other Satisfactions. Urbana, IL: University of Illinois Press. p. 60. ISBN   978-0-252-06915-4.
  5. Deming, Mark. "The Psychedelic Sounds of the 13th Floor Elevators - The 13th Floor Elevators : Songs, Reviews, Credits, Awards". AllMusic. Retrieved June 11, 2012.
  6. Larkin, Colin (2011). "13th Floor Elevators". Encyclopedia of Popular Music. Omnibus Press. ISBN   9780857125958 via Google Books.
  7. Strong, Martin C. (2004). "13 Floor Elevators". The Great Rock Discography (7th ed.). Canongate Books. p.  1539. ISBN   1-84195-615-5.
  8. Deusner, Stephen M. "Album Reviews: 13th Floor Elevators / Roky Erickson: The Psychedelic Sounds of... / I Have Always Been Here Before". Pitchfork. Retrieved June 11, 2012.
  9. Cohen, Jason (1995). "Roky Erickson and 13 Floor Elevators". In Weisbard, Eric; Marks, Craig (eds.). Spin Alternative Record Guide. Vintage Books. pp.  133–134. ISBN   0-679-75574-8.

Further reading