Roky Erickson and the 13th Floor Elevators...

..are so fucking cool.


But how in the hell did they make that noise? It sounds like... "choogachoogachoogachooga"... what instrument is that??

 

you mean on the song slip inside this house? i used to kinda like 13th floor elevators a few years ago but i never really embraced them. I've got levitation is a really good song and slip inside this house is good as well. in answer to your question, i wonder if it is at all an instrument and not some dude tweakin on acid makin a crazy sound w/ his lips haha.

 

It's an electric jug.

 

tommy hall made that sound apparently with an "electric jug", which the legend goes he filled with various amounts of marajuana to get different pitches.

but the reality was he made the noise into a microphone with his mouth and just held up a ceramic jug next to it to make it look like he was blowing into the jug.

the sound is something that alot of people find really annoying and is probably why they stopped doing it after a while.

 

Wow, I'd say he was pretty talented, then. I couldn't see myself making those noises with only my mouth.

The sound never annoys me, however. When I first started listening to the Elevators, though, the "jug" did kind of made all of their songs sound the same.

 

i was finally able to get a few of their albums. I got "the psycedelic sounds of...", and "easter everywhere". They are so good!

the electric jug is awesome...perhaps over used a little to much, but non the less, i love it!

 

It was used too much... but I think that's the defining sound of the Elevators

Actually, I think making it with his mouth would be a lot easier than using a jug... I can do it with my mouth kind of (I have way too much free time ) but I can't even imagine how that would be done with a jug...

yay for you getting those albums... I like their debut more than Easter Everywhere.

 

They came (or are coming..not sure which..) to Austin for South by Southwest. I want (or I wanted) to go, but I can't get tickets.

 

That would have been interesting... It might actually be scary to see Roky today.

 

does anyone have this book?

 

I don't have it, but I'd like to...