The 13th Floor Elevators started with Tommy Hall, Stacy Sutherland, Benny Thurman, John Ike Walton, and Roger Kynard “Roky” Erickson. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The band’s life started in 1965 and ended in 1969 because of drug possession. The band had several popular songs such as “You’re Gonna Miss Me” <\/em>and had popular albums such as Psychedelic Sounds of the 13th Floor Elevators<\/em> and Easter Everywhere<\/em>. <\/p>\n\n\n\nInterview with Roky Erickson during the Houston Record Fair on October 10th<\/sup>, 1982 (Page 1 of 2)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\nInterview with Roky Erickson during the Houston Record Fair on October 10th<\/sup>, 1982 (Page 2 of 2)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
Here is the transcribed interview:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Interview\nRoky Erickson: Weird Trips\nThe following interview was taped by Allan Vorda during the Houston Record Fair on October 10th, 1982. What was originally designated as a speaking engagement turned out to be a nostalgic seminar as Roky fielded a barage of questions from the audience for nearly an hour, gave away copies of his albums, and signed photographs. Roky was in fine form as he discussed a variety of subjects ranging from his psychedelic days with the 13th Floor Elevators up to the present and his plans for a new album. My thank to the anonymous members of the audience for the following questions.\n\nWhat was that \u201cfunny little sound\u201d in the background of the 13th Floor Elevator songs?\nIt\u2019s an amplified jug. Have you ever heard of the Jim Kweskin Jug Band? They use a jug, but they don\u2019t put a mike to it. We thought that since you con\u2019t put an amplifier on it or a little pick-up, we thought about putting a microphone right next to it.\nOne of the International Artists (record label for the 13th Floor Elevator) said that the jug used to be full of something.\nIt might have been. It was a real hard to find antique pottery jug.\nThey said it was full of some kind of herb. At least that\u2019s what they had written on the album.\nWhat album was that?\nIt was a collection of International Artists hits called Epitaph of a Legend that came out in 1980.\nYes? (Roky points to a female with her hand raised to ask a question)\nWhat have you been doing the last couple of months?\nOh, I\u2019ve just been relaxing, listening to lots of music and mostly watching lots of horror movies. (Lots of laughter)\nWhat are you going to do next?\nI have a new album coming out. Right now we\u2019re looking for American distribution. It will first be released as a CBS-London import.\nIs there a reason why CBS in the United States doesn\u2019t distribute it?\nNo. The reason is that the original contract was signed in England.\nHas it been printed?\nIt has been mastered, but it hasn\u2019t been completed as yet.\nHas the album been given a title?\nWe haven\u2019t decided on the name. My name (i.e., LP title) was turned down by CBS because it was too horrific. (Laughter)\nAre the Aliens the backing group?\nThe only Alien is Duane Aslaksen who is the lead guitar player. Jack Casady, who\u2019s from Jefferson Airplane and now with S.V.T., plays bass. Paul Zoff (from S.V.T.) is drumming for us.\nAre the Resurrectionists the band who will back you if you go on tour?\nThere are thoughts in that direction. Do you know what Resurrectionists means?\nWhat?\nBody snatchers. (Lots of laughter)\nWhat got you onto the theme of your last album (The Evil One)?\nI\u2019ll tell you a little story. All my life I\u2019ve loved horror. When I was in school I had a teacher who asked to write a story. So I wrote a story about a doctor who had done experiments on young kids with their organs hanging out on meat racks. My teacher said, \u201cI love your story, but my God does it have to be so gory.\u201d (More laughter)\nIt\u2019s like that Shelly Bermann record talking about buttermilk. If you\u2019ve ever watched someone drink buttermilk, you feel like you shouldn\u2019t be watching. (Laughter)\nI just love horror. Horror is my religion.\nHow much does your album sell for now?\nYou mean The Psychedic Sounds of the 13th Floor Elevators? I don\u2019t know\nIt\u2019s going for $30.00 (A ten year old blonde girl abruptly comes up to him with the album to have it autographed.)\nYes? (Roky points to a raised hand).\nWhen were you born?\nJuly 15th (1947) on St. Swithin\u2019s Day which is tied into the vampire. If it rains on St. Swithin\u2019s Days it is suppose to rain for the next thirty days and have bad luck.\nDid the Elevators and Bubble Puppy (probably the tightest group ever to come out of Houston) have a commune house?\nPeople come up to me and ask where I lived in Houston, but I never really lived there except to hang out.\nWho were the musicians who influenced you?\nLittle Richard and James Brown. Now James Brown once played in Austin where I was the only white person there. He started playing organ \u2013 take this as a compliment \u2013 it just horrified me. I was scared to death listening to him because he was so involved with his organ playing. The way he screamed I couldn\u2019t believe it.\nI\u2019ve also been influenced by Jeff Beck, Eric Clapton and also John Mayall and the Bluesbreakers. If you get the change listen to Mayall because it has the hardest blues.\nDoes it bother you to get good reviews and not get very much airplay?\nIt\u2019s like I told you that ever since I was little everybody says you listen to too much horror. It\u2019s unsafe, it\u2019s going to come and get you. As I grow older, people can scream the devil and they can scream evil, but when I mention it they say here\u2019s what\u2019s happening. Apparently they think I\u2019m the real thing. It\u2019s like Proctor and Gamble had a lot of trouble because people thought their symbol was involved with Satanism.\nSomebody said that the reason why my albums aren\u2019t played that much is because God will look down and say it\u2019s because he\u2019s done an evil deed. The way I look at it is that God is my friend. I have a song called the \u201cThe Interpreter\u201d which says the real interpretation is God and then there is man\u2019s interpretation which accounts for quite a bit of difference. When you hear the real interpretation a light just shines.\nFor instance, the devil punishes people for being bad. He\u2019s the evil one, but he has a good side too. In other words, if someone kills somebody then the devil would take him to Hell and punish him with a pitchfork and burn him in eternal hellfire. He also keeps records. If you\u2019re a little shady he watched you like an alien. That\u2019s what the interpreter is.\nDo you have plans for a video?\nWhat happened is Warner Brothers collaboratored with HBO to do a video, but we didn\u2019t get a very good tape. I sang \u201cHeroin\u201d by Loy Reed and that may have been it. (Laugher) I\u2019d like to do a video, but I wasn\u2019t that please with it.\nThank you, Roky.\n(P.S.: There will be an exclusive interview with Roky Erickson that was conducted by phone on 11\/22\/81 and in person on 10\/10\/82. This forthcoming interview will be printed to coincide with the release of Roky\u2019s new album scheduled tentatively for late 1982. ---A.V.)\n<\/pre>\n\n\n\nThe University Daily newspaper on April 9th, 1980<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
Here is the transcribed newspaper article:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A psychedelic classic from the Elevators\nThis is one review I don\u2019t want to write. Instead I\u2019d rather just sit and listen to this album a few more times. In fact, the more I listen to it, the more I love it.\nThe album, \u201cEaster Everywhere,\u201d was released in 1968 by a Texas group called the 13th Floor Elevators. You might think that they are a country and western or swing band coming from Texas, but don\u2019t let that fool you. This is one of the greatest psychedelic albums of all time.\nThis is true in spite of the fact that it was recorded on a small, independent label and the mix and fidelity of the record are substandard in many ways. Original copies of the album are rare, and fortunately, the album has been re-released on import.\n\u201cEaster Everywhere\u201d is the second album of four by the Elevators. The preceding album \u201c(Psychedelic Sounds of the) 13th Floor Elevators\u201d was only a minor success and contained the band\u2019s best-known hit to date, \u201cYou\u2019re Gonna Miss Me,\u201d which might be considered punk by today\u2019s standards.\nThe group consists of Roky Erickson, lead vocalist of the group, accompanied by Stacy Sutherland, Tommy Hall, Danny Thomas, and Dan Galindo.\nIf Dylan had gone to psychedelic extremes in the \u201860s, he might have sounded something like this group. The material reflects the search (as well as the search of countless others) for perfect knowledge, truth and understanding.\nThe Bible and self-revealed understanding are the two main sources for this album. Even if you disagree with some of the lyrics, they are satisfyingly thought-provoking.\n\u201cSlip Inside This House\u201d is the most evident song on the album using references from the Bible. The song\u2019s lyrics are intriguing and are far from obvious. The listener has to take time to figure out the meaning.\n\u201c\u2026If your limbs begin dissolving in the water that you tread all surroundings are evolving in the stream that clears your head, find yourself a caravan like Noah must have lead and slip inside this house as you pass by\u2026 in this dark we call creation we can be and feel and know from the every confirmation that\u2019s surviving on the go there\u2019s infinite survival in the high Baptismal glow just slip inside this house as you pass by\u2026 there is no season when you are grown you are always risen from the seed you\u2019ve sown\u2026 live where your heart can be given and your life starts to unfold in the forms you invision in this dream that ages old on the river layer is the only sayer you receive all you can hold like you\u2019ve been told\u2026\nPsalms 36:8-9 \u201cThey feast on the abundance of thy house and thou givest them drink from the river of they delights for with thee is the fountain of life\u2026\u201d \u201cThis house\u201d is not a physical house, but rather a place of contentment, refuge, and security. Water is symbolic in the Bible for its washing and cleansing properties (Baptism).\nRevelations, the last book of the Bible, in which the vision of the end times are revealed through the servant John, also is referred to in the song in additional lyrics.\nThe other songs on the album are also mesmerizing, if not mind-expanding. Unlike many of the psychedelic groups of that era, the Elevators\u2019 music was not repetitive and sound-alike-ish.\nThe songs range in pace from slow (\u201cI Had to Tell You\u201d and Dylan\u2019s \u201cIt\u2019s All Over Now Baby Blue\u201d) to the fast-paced rockers (\u201cEarthquake\u201d and \u201cLevitation\u201d). There isn\u2019t even a bad song on the album. The guitars in-nerweave and blend with the vocals and flow in a nice unexplicable way.\nPsychedelic is not a state of music, but of mind. \u201ceaster Everywhere\u201d is a classic, deserving every word of critical praise presented here.\nGood. I\u2019ve finished writing this thing. I can get back to listening to the record.\n\u201cEaster Everywhere\u201d will be presented in its entirety on \u201cThe Late Great Lost Rexord Review\u201d today on KTXT-FM from 3:30-4:30 p.m.\n<\/pre>\n\n\n\n
The entire publication for the interview and the newspaper are below the videos of their popular songs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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