The 1966 - 1967 Unreleased Masters Collection

Disc 1 tracks 1-9 alternate takes - Disc 1 tracks 10-14 from 1991, John Ike Walton & Ronnie Leatherman, unknown vocalist (not Walton), Roky Erickson not present - Disc 1 tracks 15-18 instrumental backing tracks - Disc 2 live February 18, 1967 Houston Music Theater, Houston, Texas - Disc 3 tracks 1-9 1984 Rokys home, Austin, Texas with Jack Ortman 2nd guitar - Disc 3 tracks 10-15 solo live 1975 Sleeping Lady Caf, Fairfax, California Notes by Chris Meerbott: Description/comments: The first 2 disks are 13th Floor Elevators material, the 3rd disk is all Roky Erickson solo material. The first disk begins with 9 alternate takes of familiar Elevators material. You Dont Know, Thru The Rhythm, Monkey Island and Dont Fall Down were previously released in 1988 on The Original Sound Of The 13th Floor Elevators LP, also called Demos Everywhere in the UK, but the sound quality is better on this CD. Dust and Fire In My Bones were released in 1991on Collectables labels own The Magic Of The Pyramids CD. This alternate mix of Dust is generally regarded as superior to the Easter Everywhere mix. Fire In My Bones was written by Roky Erickson and is believed to originate from the 1968 Beauty And The Beast sessions. This haunting song was first released in 1985 on Texas Archives Fire In My Bones LP. Tracks 10-14 are described on the tracklisting as previously unreleased masters of The 13th Floor Elevators with John Ike Walton on vocals 1967. These tracks date from 1991, and John Ike Walton is not the vocalist. John Ike Walton and Ronnie Leatherman are most likely the only original members of the Elevators on these recordings. Roky Erickson, Tommy Hall and Stacy Sutherland were not present at any rate. The Japanese ammended the title of their version of this box set to 1966 1967 Unreleased Masters Vol. 3 based on the inclusion of this material. These songs do not belong on a 13th Floor Elevators album, especially with the deceptive billing. Tracks 15-18 are backing tracks without the vocals. All are different takes from the officially released versions. Dont Fall Down and You Dont Know are from the Psychedelic

Sounds sessions; the two versions of Levitation are from the 45 sessions at Andrus studios, Winter 1967. Disc 2 is a PA recording of a live 13th Floor Elevators performance that conflicting sources place at La Maison or The Houston Music Theatre in early 1967. It was first released in 1988 on the UK Big Beat label as Live #?Rockius Of Levitatum!, then again in 1991 on the Collectables label as tracks 3 through 13 of The Magic Of The Pyramids. On both of these releases the audience and tuning sounds between songs have been edited out and the track sequence shuffled. Here it is in the correct order with between song sounds intact, and is 6 minutes longer than the previous two versions. The performance itself is odd for a number of reasons. For one the sound is much better than any other live Elevators show. Another strange thing is the apparent absence of Rokys rhythm guitar. Also the songs are all originals whereas the Elevators were always known to perform cover songs in their live sets. This show may have been staged and sound equipment set up for the express purpose of a live LP that never came to pass, but thats just a guess. Powell St. Johns Kingdom Of Heaven is the stand-out of this set. Disc 3 is all Roky Erickson solo material, and combines two primitively recorded acoustic performances. Tracks 1 through 9 are Bob Dylan and Donovan cover songs. These were taped at Rokys home in Austin sometime in 1984 (1988), apparently on a portable cassette recorder. Roky plays acoustic guitar and harmonica. The sound quality is poor with a lot of high-end distortion, but Rokys talent and spirit shine through for those who can listen past the technical limitations. Two songs are ommitted from the original performance: One Too Many Mornings and a second take of The Lonesome Death Of Hattie Carroll. The editing is haphazard; most songs start abruptly. The original sequence has been rearranged. The complete performance in original order can be found on the Spanning Your Theory CDR. Tracks 10 through 15 finish the CD with a live acoustic set from 1975. The performance seems tentative. The white noise from the recording process is sometimes half as loud as Roky and his guitar. On Splash 1, May The Circle Remain Unbroken, and I Had To Tell You a couple of people standing near the recorder are chatting loudly and interfere with the music. The editing is quite bad; each song starts abruptly. This set contains what had been the only known version of Im Gonna Free Her until the release of a fine studio rendition on the All That May Do My Rhyme album in 1995. Hide Behind The Sun is a beautiful song that so far is unique to this set, but its very lo-fi. Hopefully

another version exists and will one day come to light. This 3 CD set has been rereleased in Japan as three separate CDs, called 1966-1991 Unreleased Masters Vols. 1, 2, and 3. Volume 2 of the Japanese set matches disk 1 of this set, and vice-versa. The third CD of this set containing Roky Erickson solo material has also been rereleased in Australia on a CD called Hide Behind The Sun. It contains the exact same 15 songs with somewhat improved sound quality and shuffles the playing sequence once again. Various songs from these two Roky performances have also turned up on Through The Rhythm, The Interpreter Volume One, and The Interpreter Volume 2. Packaging/sleeve notes: The cover is the exact same one Collectables used 3 years earlier on Roky Erickson & the 13th Floor Elevators The Magic Of The Pyramids except for a change in color scheme. The insert includes an informative history of the band written by Jack Ortman, and some good band photos.

Errors: The title itself is in error since these CDs contain material from 1975, 1984, and 1991. Tracks 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 9 and 17 on disk 1 are not previously unreleased as stated. The five tracks with John Ike Walton on vocals 1967 are not sung by John Ike Walton and are not from 1967. Disk 2 is not previously unreleased as is stated. The Bob Dylan set is from 1984; not from 1988 as it says. When The Ship Comes In is mislabeled as One Too Many Mornings. The Lonesome Death Of Hattie Carroll is mislabeled as The Ballad Of Hattie Carroll. Honey, Just Allow Me One More Chance is mislabeled as Honey, Give Me One More Chance. To Sing For You is mislabeled as Ill Sing For You. Lay Down Your Weary Tune is mislabeled as Lay Down Your Weary Time. I Had To Tell You is mislabeled as Right Track Now. Hide Behind The Sun is mislabeled as For Brian Jones. Thankfully no attempt was made at songwriting credits.