“Roller Coaster” by The 13th Floor Elevators
Written by Matt
“Recently, it has become possible for man to chemically alter his mental state and thus alter his point of view (that is, his own basic relation with the outside world which determines how he stores his information). He then can restructure his thinking and change his language so that his thoughts bear more relation to his life and his problems, therefore approaching them more sanely. It is this quest for pure sanity that forms the basis of the songs on this album.”
-liner notes, The Psychedelic Sounds of the 13th Floor Elevators
If there is one band I associate most with my dad, it’s the 13th Floor Elevators. Pioneers of psychedelic rock, the Elevators shared the stage with other Austin legends like Shiva’s Headband and The Conqueroo at the Vulcan Gas Company, which was my dad’s hangout. This was his milieu.
When I was thirteen and my brother was eight, we pitched in to get him a tribute album to Rocky Erikson, the lead singer of the Elevators, called Where the Pyramid Meets the Eye. It was a fun intergenerational moment as many of the bands on the tribute album were or would become favorites of mine, including R.E.M., the Butthole Surfers, the Jesus and Mary Chain, and Primal Scream.
I’m not sure how well that tribute album has aged, but the Elevators themselves are timeless—at least to my ears. I’ve listened to them since I was a kid and continue to listen to them frequently today. It was difficult to choose a representative song—“You’re Gonna Miss Me,” “Reverberation,” “Slip Inside This House,” “I Had to Tell You”—masterpieces all.
In the end, I went with “Roller Coaster” which “describes the discovery of the new direction and purpose to man’s life, the movement in that direction, and the results.” This journey is greatly enhanced by the spectral quivering of Tommy Hall’s electric jug, which—along with his instructions in the previously-quoted liner notes—guarantees an expansive journey indeed.
COMING UP... the music of Spaghetti Westerns
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