Hailing from Austin, Texas, the members of 13th Floor Elevators were one of… Read Full Bio ↴Hailing from Austin, Texas, the members of 13th Floor Elevators were one of 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 You're Gonna Miss Me, anchored by Roky Erickson's unforgettable yelping vocals, Stacy Sutherland's guitar, and Tommy Hall's electric jug runs. According to myth, Tommy's 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 hadn't come to terms with 50's rock 'n' roll. The authorities and the police set out to bust the entire band for pot (and—not surprisingly—succeeded).
Stacy Sutherland was jailed. To avoid a prison term, Roky pleaded insanity—a 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 2005, as well as Coachella in California, the Hultsfred Festival in Sweden and Montreal World Film festival in Canada.
On May 31, 2019, Roky Erickson passed away.
The band rattled to the middle of the Hot 100 in 1966 with You're Gonna Miss Me, anchored by Roky Erickson's unforgettable yelping vocals, Stacy Sutherland's guitar, and Tommy Hall's electric jug runs. According to myth, Tommy's 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 hadn't come to terms with 50's rock 'n' roll. The authorities and the police set out to bust the entire band for pot (and—not surprisingly—succeeded).
Stacy Sutherland was jailed. To avoid a prison term, Roky pleaded insanity—a 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 2005, as well as Coachella in California, the Hultsfred Festival in Sweden and Montreal World Film festival in Canada.
On May 31, 2019, Roky Erickson passed away.
Levitation
13th Floor Elevators Lyrics
Instrumental
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Elías Téllez
Heading for the ceiling, I'm up off the floor
I've broken my horizon, out-distancing my door
High above the ant hills in among the planes
Swooping down to hear the sound and movements of the trains
I don't need these wings to guide me
They are hardly ever there
It's the clear I make inside me
Makes me feel light as air
I've got levitation
I've got levitation
I've got levitation
The ocean rolls below me, expanding plastic views
My vision cones to nearest land and brings me latest news
The waves of higher bodies soon dazzling in my ears
Will center my vibrations with the music of the spheres
I don't need these wings to guide me
They are hardly ever there
It's the thing building up inside me
Makes me feel light as air
I've got levitation
I've got levitation
I've got levitation
I wanna fly now, fly
I've got levitation
I've got levitation
I've got levitation
I've got levitation
I've got levitation
I've got levitation
Elías Téllez
Heading for the ceiling, I'm up off the floor
I've broken my horizon, out-distancing my door
High above the ant hills in among the planes
Swooping down to hear the sound and movements of the trains
I don't need these wings to guide me
They are hardly ever there
It's the clear I make inside me
Makes me feel light as air
I've got levitation
I've got levitation
I've got levitation
The ocean rolls below me, expanding plastic views
My vision cones to nearest land and brings me latest news
The waves of higher bodies soon dazzling in my ears
Will center my vibrations with the music of the spheres
I don't need these wings to guide me
They are hardly ever there
It's the thing building up inside me
Makes me feel light as air
I've got levitation
I've got levitation
I've got levitation
I wanna fly now, fly
I've got levitation
I've got levitation
I've got levitation
I've got levitation
I've got levitation
I've got levitation
Hobo Joe
Ooga booga sleepy sleepy
Esther0393
Your're levitating beyond the cosmos and the infinite now, Roky. Love ya and thanks for the music. RIP.
fuck
@Esther0393 i never heard about his death, that's sad....
Bodhi Apurva
Perhaps one of their better numbers. Monkey Island is great too. Get me down off the ceiling please.
KissOff
Oh I forgot he died. I’ve been wonder what he’s doing sometimes time and I forgot he passed away
Hard Frog
It doesn't get much better than this.
Robert Cubinelli
Great underrated tune by the Elevators.
Christopher Schmidt
You deserve some award or something for putting this together. I love the electric whisky jug.
Bobby Jimmy
Psychadic music began with these Texans. The played California in '66, and we'll, the rest is history. Thank you Roky in particular for expanding my horizons, by singing me your songs across space and time. It makes me glad. :) Peace and Love to all the universe.