The 13th Floor Elevators - You're Gonna Miss Me

Sunday and it's time for a classic.

Today we choose a debut tune from a pretty crazy band called THE 13TH FLOOR ELEVATORS with the tune "You're Gonna Miss Me".

The tune is a 1966 single from the band 13TH FLOOR ELEVATORS from their album The Psychedelic Sounds of the 13th Floor Elevators. The song being the most successful hit for the band.

It has since become a garage rock classic, being included on the 1972 Nuggets: Original Artyfacts from the First Psychedelic Era compilation.

The song is part of the soundtrack of High Fidelity (based on the novel by Nick Hornby), prominently featured during the film's introduction.

The 13th Floor Elevators was an American rock band from Austin, Texas, formed by guitarist and vocalist Roky Erickson, electric jug player Tommy Hall, and guitarist Stacy Sutherland, which existed from 1965 to 1969. During their career, the band released four LP records and seven 45s for the International Artists record label.

They are often credited as one of the first psychedelic bands in the history of rock n' roll. According to the 2005 documentary You're Gonna Miss Me, Tommy Hall is credited with coining the term "psychedelic rock", although artists such as the Holy Modal Rounders and the Deep had used the term "psychedelic" to describe their music earlier. Their contemporary influence has been acknowledged by 1960s musicians such as Billy Gibbons of ZZ Top, Peter Albin of Big Brother and the Holding Company, and Chris Gerniottis of Zakary Thaks.

A short note: the Elevators could have been commercially huge but were cursed with bad luck on the way culminating in the mental demise of Roky Erickson due to being placed in a mental hospital for (in the main part) the criminally insane as an example to the youth in Texas that drugs would not be tollerated. The subsequent raid that put him there arrested him with about 3 grams of Marijuana in a matchbox (speculation is that it was planted on him in the first place) unfortunately as Roky was "Roller Coaster"ing with a much worse mental illness due to certain therapies they used at the time the rest of the band eventually folded and went their separate ways and then any chance for a full reunion was lost when the guitarist Stacey Sutherland died from a shot wound by his estranged wife in the late 70's. 

 

Personnel

Roky Erickson: Vocals, rhythm guitar
Stacy Sutherland: Lead guitar
Tommy Hall: Amplified jug
Benny Thurman: Bass
John Ike Walton: Drums, percussion




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