Roky Erickson was the genius behind the 13th Floor Elevators, the band that damn near single-handedly invented psychedelic rock.

They were a Texas band, of course, and had regional radio hits with ‘Splash1′, ‘Reverberation’, ‘Levitation’, ‘Slip Inside This House, and, nationally, ‘You’re Gonna Miss Me’:

This clip looks like it’s from some pre-psychedelic-era tv show. Those kids had no idea what was coming at them. But I bet Roky did.

If I may use the high-culture critical lexicon for describing the Elevators — they were fuckin’ brilliant. Their music was trippy and intense and dark and evocative and way over the edge in so many ways. They had a guy who played the electric jug on just about every song. It rocked.

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Roky wasn’t entirely stable mentally, and, when he was busted with one joint, to avoid lengthy imprisonment — Texas enforced marijuana laws in the Sixties that make today’s drug-war insanity look positively enlightened — was sent to a mental hospital. Texas did evil things to involuntary mental patients in those days. When Roky was released, he wasn’t functioning too well. Electro-shock is not often your buddy. He’s a beloved figure in Austin. A lot of his post-Elevator music is also disturbing and vibrant. His mental illness didn’t prevent him from being an excellent song-writer.

Here’s an oddly fascinating documentary about the Elevators and the tragic death of their lead guitarist, Stacy Sutherland, with some of their music included, posted in parts on YouTube: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4.

‘Where the Pyramid Meets the Eye‘ is an excellent tribute album that stands on its own musically, with covers of Elevators songs by folks such as ZZ Top, REM, and the Butthole Surfers. Well worth hunting down.

A few months ago, I read that he’d been playing out a bit lately, and was looking better than in many years. From the info on Roky’s official web site, it looks like he’s doing a world tour now. He plays Coachella next month, then a gig in New Orleans, then off to Sweden, Finland, and Denmark.

He had a birthday bash last year in Austin on July 29th. Maybe he’ll do it again this year. Maybe I can even talk some of you guys into going along with me. Though we probably shouldn’t drop acid first, since we’re now old and stodgy. And drugs are bad.

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I’ve created a ‘Thirteenth Floor Elevators’ station on Pandora, and have been listening to it while I wrote this post. I can highly recommend the experience. Pandora has already played three of their songs. I have no idea how their music will strike you, but it holds up for me.

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As a bonus track, we have Jah Paul Jo and the Judgement Day Refreshment Committee performing an excellent cover of the Elevators’ ‘Levitation‘. Jah Paul was in Elvis Presley’s last known band, Dread Zeppelin.