Billy Gibbons of ZZ Top has stated (Washington Post article by Richard Leiby on 6/23/1991) that "the Elevators sound was unititiated by outside sources."
Bullshit. Where do you think they got their acid? They went to San Francisco to get it. From AMG:
Formed in Texas in the mid-'60s, the Elevators started as a garage rock outfit, scoring their one and only modest national hit with "You're Gonna Miss Me." While Erickson's loopy persona, along with Tommy Hall's odd "jug" percussion, were the band's most distinguishing features, several members of the group's original lineup contributed strong material to their albums. Although these inconsistent efforts sometimes wander off into a cloudy haze, they also include sturdy folk-rock tunes and driving psychedelic rockers. Trips to San Francisco established the group as up-and-coming underground favorites,
Hee. Though you really don't think those college kids in Austin could cook some up?
You can talk about the negative influence of acid, but there was a positive influence initially.
Heh. I know very, very little about this musical history but I just heard the keyboard player from the Faces on Fresh Air and he would have spat on that remark. He HATED when they went psychadelic and never went back. (or possibly he was talking about his time in the Small Faces...whichever one was blues-y and then they all took a bunch of drugs and went all psychadelic). The interview is pretty amusing.
But from that AMG passage- isn't it saying that they already had the sound, but going to SF established them.
As far as the influence of drugs, this makes me sad.
Tommy was a manipulator and frankly I never trusted him. I had second thoughts as soon as I introduced him to Roky that this might not be a good thing. Tommy used acid to manipulate the rest of that band, but it wasn't in a violent direction. Tommy wasn't a violent person and he thought he was doing the right thing. He thought drugs were the key to the universe. They were all into this acid-disillusional thing. It affected Roky the most, but there wasn't a single person in that band that wasn't physically and/or mentally damaged by what happened back then.
But from that AMG passage- isn't it saying that they already had the sound, but going to SF established them.
Everything I've heard indicates Roky and crew discovered hallucinogenics and psychedelia in SF, then came back to Tejas.
I'm seeing it the opposite. It seems that Tommy likely had been to SF pre-band while in another band, but not the rest of them. And it didn't sound like any of them needed to go to SF to discover drugs.
I say "likely" Hall had most certainly been to SF.
I don't have any Cds now. I know tina has some.
If we do another exchange, how would people feel about doign it differently? i'm in a group on LiveJournal, which I think erinaceous is also part of, and the way it works is this:
1. Organizer announces it's time for a trade.
2. Everyone sends him 3-5 CDs they made and a postpaid envelope.
3. He sends everyone back 3-5 CDs by others.
I know the concept behind this trade was allowing everyone to hear everyone else's mix, but it does seem to be moving really slowly. We could do a number of trades, sending and getting five CDs back at each tiime, if we wanted to preserve that aspect, too.
Just an idea.
Also -- has anyone else heard the new Rilo Kiley? It is amazing.
