The 13th Floor Elevators – Easter Everywhere (1967)

The 13th Floor Elevators were on a roll, despite some drug possession troubles with the local police. Their first album had attracted some attention over the quality of their music. There were some quality pieces on it.

This album is even better than the first album. It is a more definitive and branched out style of tunes. A wider variety of instrumentation is here. Let’s dive in and have a listen.

It begins with the extended Slip Inside This House. Yes, this is the song that Primal Scream reworked on their own Screamadelica album. It’s a very good song, however. It’s a hippy sort of song but has beautiful acoustic guitar propelling it along. The guitar solo is mint too.

The following song Slide Machine has some wicked slide guitar, more gobbling Ostrich style sounds and plenty of audio space. By this meaning, the simplicity of the music gives the song an easy listen. It’s a simple and wonderful piece.

She Lives (In A Time Of Her Own) is up next. It’s a simply listenable pop piece. The instruments combine for a wall-of-sound style listening experience. Consistent in comparison to other bands, even around this time.

Nobody To Love is a melancholy piece with fuzz guitar, gobbling galore and pacing drums. It shows the variety of the 13th Floor Elevators and the ability of the band to create such music way back in the 1960s.

A Bob Dylan cover follows. (It’s All Over Now) Baby Blue is a bittersweet ballad that demands listening. The undercurrent of melancholy that exists throughout this album likely reflected their real-life situation, which was becoming difficult for the group. It’s a really great cover nonetheless. You can really hear the emotion in this song, especially towards the end. Brilliant.

The following piece Earthquake is more uptempo, with some fascinating sounds included in the song. The lyrics are rather random but excellently written. There is some sweet electric guitar playing in it with a bit of feedback. It’s an awesome listen overall.

Dust exhibits such a sad feeling in the song that one hears the direct emotion from Roky Erickson’s singing and feels immediately sad. It’s such a good song, it deserves multiple listens. What a beautiful song indeed.

Levitation is about an out of body experience, judging by the lyrics of the song. It’s a trip alright, but feels optimistic and joyful. It’s a great piece about the said experience. These guys were obviously heavily into drugs, and it shows here. “I’ve got levitation,” indeed.

The next song, I Had To Tell You is a short and sweet ode to music, with female backing vocals included. It also has harmonica to boot. Is there anything that the 13th Floor Elevators could not express? Probably not. It’s a good piece by the group.

The closing song is Postures (Leave Your Body Behind). It’s a laid back piece, likely about tripping. It sounds solid, a nice way to finish this recording. It takes its time but doesn’t seem at all boring.

Although being essentially a cult band, the 13th Floor Elevators had some great songs in their arsenal. Sadly, Roky Erickson was arrested for drug possession and the group disbanded shortly afterward. It’s a sad ending to such wonderful music. But at least we have the recordings here to enjoy. Check out the remastered reissues of the 13th Floor Elevators, worth doing so as well.

A great listen.

9/10