13th Floor Elevators - You're Gonna Miss Me

[cyberinsekt]

Here's the young Roky Erickson with the 13th Floor Elevators with their garage classic You're Gonna Miss Me. There are so many great elements to this song. One is undoubtedly Erickson's harmonica playing, a violent shriek that follows his singing without respite. Then there's the famous electric jug playing of Tommy Hall. Yes, that juddering undercurrent that runs throughout the song is nothing other than an amplified jug. Legend has it that it was always filled with cannabis, and over the years the sound of the leaf infused into the ceramic itself. And last, but hardly least is Erickson's performance, patterned after the likes of Screamin' Jay Hawkins and James Brown. Apparently he was a rather insecure young man and wanted it to seem as if his singing was a natural expression of his authentic wildness: in truth he practised for hours on end in seclusion so no-one would realise how much hard work and dedication it took to get that voice. Find this as the opening track of the band's debut, The Psychedelic Sounds Of The 13th Floor Elevators (1966).

13th Floor Elevators - You're Gonna Miss Me
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