The 13th Floor Elevators: Psychedelic Rock Pioneers

The 13th Floor Elevators were a psychedelic rock band from Austin, Texas, who were active from 1965 to 1969. The band was led by singer-songwriter-guitarist Roky Erickson and featured a rotating cast of musicians, including fellow singer-songwriter Stacy Sutherland and drummer John Ike Walton. The band was influential in the development of the psychedelic rock genre and their use of LSD, marijuana, and other drugs was integral to their sound. The 13th Floor Elevators

The 13th Floor Elevators: Psychedelic Rock Pioneers

The 13th Floor Elevators were an American rock band from Texas, formed in 1965. The band was led by Roky Erickson, and also featured members such as Stacy Sutherland, Tommy Hall, and John Ike Walton. The band was one of the first to be categorized as “psychedelic rock”, and their sound was influential on subsequent generations of psychedelic music.

The 13th Floor Elevators released four studio albums between 1966 and 1969, before disbanded due to disagreements amongst the members. Despite their short time together, the band have been cited as being a major influence on numerous artists, including the Grateful Dead, Janis Joplin, and R.E.M.

The 13th Floor Elevators: The Early Years

The 13th Floor Elevators were an American rock band, formed in Austin, Texas, in late 1965. The band was led by Roky Erickson, and also included Bun E. Carlos on drums and Jimmy Carl Black on vocals and percussion. The 13th Floor Elevators were the first band to refer to their music as “psychedelic rock”, though the genre would not be widely known until the release of The Beatles’ Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band album in 1967.

The 13th Floor Elevators released their debut album, The Psychedelic Sound of the 13th Floor Elevators, in early 1966. This album featured their signature song, “You’re Gonna Miss Me”, which reached #56 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. The band’s follow-up album, Easter Everywhere, was released later that year and is widely considered to be one of the finest examples of psychedelic rock ever recorded.

Unfortunately, drug abuse and personal problems began to take their toll on the band, and they broke up in 1969 after only two albums. Roky Erickson would go on to a successful solo career, while the other members of the band faded into obscurity. In recent years, however, there has been a renewed interest in the 13th Floor Elevators’ music, and they are now widely regarded as one of the most influential bands of their era.

The 13th Floor Elevators: The Later Years

The 13th Floor Elevators were a psychedelic rock band from Austin, Texas, formed in 1965. The band was founded by singer-songwriter Roky Erickson and guitarist Stacy Sutherland, and also included drummer John Ike Walton and bassist Ronnie Leatherman. The Elevators were one of the first bands to be categorized as “psychedelic,” and their sound influenced subsequent bands in the genre, including the Grateful Dead and the Jimi Hendrix Experience.

The band released three albums between 1966 and 1968, before disbanding due to creative differences and drug-related problems. Erickson continued to perform as a solo artist, while Sutherland and Walton formed the group Judgment of Jupiter.

In the late 1970s, the 13th Floor Elevators reunited for a series of live shows, but again disbanded after a short time. A partial reunion took place in 2005, when Erickson, Sutherland, and Leatherman performed together for the first time in 37 years. The band was inducted into the Austin Music Hall of Fame in 2014.

The 13th Floor Elevators: The Legacy

The 13th Floor Elevators were a key part of the Austin, Texas music scene in the 1960s. They were one of the first psychedelic rock bands, and their style influenced a generation of musicians. The band’s sound was a mix of garage rock, blues, and country, with elements of Eastern drone music. The band’s lyrics were often surreal and psychedelic.

The 13th Floor Elevators were formed in 1965 by frontman Roky Erickson, guitarist Stacy Sutherland, lyricist Tommy Hall, and drummer John Ike Walton. The band’s name came from a report on the first trial of LSD in which the prosecutor suggested that taking the drug was like riding an elevator to the 13th floor (a level that does not exist).

The band released their debut album, The Psychedelic Sounds of the 13th Floor Elevators, in 1966. The album’s lead single, “You’re Gonna Miss Me,” was a top 40 hit in the US. The album is now considered one of the classic albums of the psychedelic era.

The 13th Floor Elevators were plagued by personal problems and legal trouble throughout their career. They disbanded in 1969 after Erickson was diagnosed with schizophrenia and committed to a mental institution. The band reunited briefly in the 1970s without Erickson, but it was not until 2005 that they performed together again with Erickson on lead vocals.

The 13th Floor Elevators were inducted into the Austin Music Hall of Fame in 2015. In 2016, they were inducted into the Texas State Legislature’s Texas Music Hall of Fame.