13th Floor Elevators: A Visual History

by Paul Drummond

Born out of a union of club bands on the burgeoning Austin bohemian scene and a pronounced taste for hallucinogens, the 13th Floor Elevators were formed in late 1965 when lyricist Tommy Hall asked a local singer named Roky Erickson to join up with his new rock outfit. Four years, three official albums and countless acid trips later, it was over: the Elevators' pioneering first run ended in a dizzying jumble of professional mismanagement, internal arguments, drug busts and forced psychiatric imprisonments. In their short existence, however, the group succeeded in blowing the lid off the budding musical underground, logging early salvos in the countercultural struggle against state authorities, and turning their deeply hallucinogenic take on jug-band garage rock into a new American institution called psychedelic music. Before the hippies, before the punks, there were the 13th Floor Elevators: an unlikely crew of outcast weirdo geniuses who changed culture. Paul Drummond has spent years documenting every aspect of the history of this amazing band and amassing an unprecedented archive of primary materials, resulting in this comprehensive visual history. The book recounts the story not just of the Elevators as a band--wild and remarkable though it is--but that of the American counterculture itself: the hallucinogens, the rebellion and the truly profound music that resulted. The 13th Floor Elevators: A Visual History places the band finally and undeniably in the pantheon of innovators of American rock music to which they have always belonged.

Genres: Music

298 pages, Paperback

Published April 21, 2020

Reviews

[Brian Johnson · Rating 5 out of 5]

A Visual History paints a clear and comprehensive picture of the band’s history through written accounts of those who were there including band members, friends and family as well as through pictures. newspaper clippings and documents. I found Paul Drummund’s research to be quite extensive. It must have taken hundreds if not thousands of hours to gather and compile the info this book offers. An essential fir fans of Roky Erickson & the 13th Floor Elevators.

[Jonas Paro · Rating 5 out of 5]

Underbar text- och bildmatig bok om ett av de mest mytomspunna och legendariska banden som existerat. Ja, de var först med att kalla sin musik psykedelisk. Ja, en av grundarna var Roky Erickson. Det mesta berättas i citat från de som själva var med. Alla klassiska band borde föräras en dylik publikation.

[Dillon Hansen · Rating 5 out of 5]

A compelling read littered with psychedelic time capsules that take you on quite the trip. The 13th Floor Elevators were a band that definitely practiced what they preached. RIP Roky!

[Michael · Rating 5 out of 5]

A real trip! Tons of photos, posters, and ephemera sprinkled throughout a chronological "oral history" of the band drawn from first- and second-hand interviews. Slip inside this book ...

[John · Rating 5 out of 5]

Comprehensive!

[Charlie Caraccio · Rating 5 out of 5]

The amount of detail that went into this book and the rarity, and volume, of ephemera collected by Paul Drummond are staggering. A must-read for any fan of Roky or the Elevators.