Hailing from Austin, Texas, the members of 13th Floor Elevators were quite possibly the first artists to describe their music as psychedelic. Their lyrics and sleeve notes openly and religiously endorsed the use of drugs (particularly LSD) to alter human consciousness for the better. The band rattled to the middle of the Hot 100 in 1966 with Youre Gonna Miss Me, anchored by Roky Ericksons unforgettable yelping vocals, Stacy Sutherlands guitar, and Tommy Halls electric jug runs. According to myth, Tommys jug was tuned by the amount of marijuana stored in it. The group pioneered some of the first garage psychedelia on its albums The Psychedelic Sounds of the 13th Floor Elevators 1966, and the followup Easter Everywhere 1967. However, Texas at that time was an extremely conservative area that still hadnt come to terms with 50s rock n roll. The authorities and the police set out to bust the entire band for pot (andnot surprisinglysucceeded). Stacy Sutherland was jailed. To avoid a prison term, Roky pleaded insanitya misguided ploy that landed him in Rusk State Hospital for the criminally insane for 3 years. That turn of events spelled the end of the band, although there was a posthumous 1968 LP, Bull of the Woods. Roky Erickson was released from hospital in 1973 and embarked upon a successful solo career that resulted in a CBS album produced by Stu Cook from Creedence Clearwater Revival. During the 1980s he struggled with mental illness and withdrew from public life for many years. However, in the 2000s he has re-emerged with one of his late 70s/early 80s backing bands, The Explosives, playing regular gigs including the Austin City Limits festival in September 2008, as well as Coachella in California, the Hultsfred Festival in Sweden and Montreal World Film festival in Canada.

Members

• Roky Erickson
• Stacy Sutherland
• John Ike Walton
• Benny Thurman
• Tommy Hall
• Ronnie Leatherman
• Dan Galindo
• Danny Thomas
• Duke Davis

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