Easter Everywhere - The 13th Floor Elevators

Easter Everywhere
The 13th Floor Elevators
International Artists  IALP 5
1967
 

Easter Everywhere
The 13th Floor Elevators
Decal  LIK 28
1988

I have an original copy of this but the cover is pretty beat-up and the record is even worse, so I bought this 1988 reissue for my listening copy.  I keep the original as a totem, a holy relic for my altar to the psychedelic 60s.  I don’t really have this altar except in my head, but if I did, there are few sacred objects more appropriate than this one.  "The Psychedelic Sounds of the 13th Floor Elevators" was an extraordinary masterpiece, the greatest of all psychedelic records, yet this is even better.  Due to personal conflicts, mismanagement, drug abuse and legal problems, the group was already falling apart, but you'd be hard-pressed to find a better album by a disintegrating band aside from "Forever Changes" and "Abbey Road."  This really is a dazzling and inventive record.  "Slip Inside This House" is almost without equal in the history of rock.  I still vividly remember when I first heard it on a college radio station when I was in my late teens and it absolutely floored me.  It is Tommy Hall's definitive statement, 8 mesmerizing minutes of his acid fueled philosophizing combining elements of Eastern mysticism and the "Book Of Revelations" revealed in a relentless torrent of Roky Erickson's passionate vocalizing.  It is astonishing to me that Roky could actually remember all this stuff, much less sing it like he knows what it means.  I've read explanations for some of it, it obviously means something, but that doesn't mean it makes any sense to anyone besides Tommy Hall.  I love it though, it is one of my favorite songs even if I can't even remember the words to a single verse.  The other extraordinary song on this album is "She Lives In A Time Of Her Own."  It has a driving, hypnotic melody that pulses with energy thanks to Roky's impassioned singing.  Once you hear it, you can never get it out of your head.  When I first bought this record, I played this song over and over.  It features some of Hall's best lyrics - mysterious yet accessible.  "Earthquake" and "Levitation" return to the raucous sound and raw energy of "The Psychedelic Sounds of the 13th Floor Elevators" with great success, the latter song is perhaps their best rocker ever.  "Nobody To Love" marks Stacy Sutherland's debut as lead vocalist.  He doesn't come close to Erickson's ability, but it is a very nice song that foreshadows the fine job Sutherland would do when he took charge on the final Elevators album "Bull of the Woods."  Hall and Erickson get most of the attention when people discuss the Elevators, but I have a lot of respect for Sutherland, I enjoy his guitar playing and he was a talented songwriter.  I mourn his tragic and premature demise.  Although credited to Hall/Sutherland on the record sleeve, "I Had To Tell You" was actually written by Erickson and Clementine Hall (Tommy's wife) and she sings harmony to Roky's lead vocal.  It is a moving and beautiful song.  They also collaborated on the lovely "Splash 1" on "The Psychedelic Sounds of the 13th Floor Elevators" - they obviously had some nice chemistry, it is too bad they didn't work together more.  The band's cover of Dylan's "It's All Over Now, Baby Blue" is also very pretty.  It is my favorite version of this song, I prefer Roky's vocal to even that of Van Morrison's vocal on Them's version.  The album finishes with "Pictures (Leave Your Body Behind)" which is one of the odder songs in their catalogue.  It is uncharacteristically slow and soulful with the warmth of the tune seemingly at odds with what is arguably Tommy Hall's most dogmatic and heavy-handed metaphysical set of lyrics.  The resulting song is kind of ridiculous but I still dig it, even the electric jug appeals to me on this one.  There was a time when this was one of least known rock masterpieces around, but I think most serious rock fans have heard it by now.  If you haven't, go out and buy it immediately.  You will never hear a better psychedelic record.  Recommended to anyone who ever wanted to leave their body behind - this is a trip you won't forget.