For Christmas, I received The Psychedelic Sounds of the 13th Floor Elevators from my brother and I've been listening to it a lot lately. It features their insanely wonderful hit "You're Gonna Miss Me" which is the only song I really knew by them. It's a killer and aside from the lovely screeching by Roky Erikson, it also blows my mind because of that bizarre noise in the background of the song. It's hard to describe but it's kind of like a "wooka-wooka-wooka" sound but really really fast. Imagine a hummingbird outside your window with plastic wings. Or maybe someone pulling their zipper up and down very quickly and amplifying the sound. It's kind of like that.
I cannot imagine what could possibly make that noise. Some kind of bass string manipulation? A toy harmonica of some sort? Possibly a broken down hurdy gurdy? So I went on You Tube to check out the video and found this:
What the hell is that guy playing? A lampshade? He's obviously holding something near a microphone and it must be the mystery instrument making that mystery sound.
I continued on to allmusic where I finally found the answer - It's Tommy Hall and his electric jug! Of course. But what, you ask, is an electric jug? Next stop - Wikipedia: "The jug, a crock-jug with a microphone held up to it while it was being blown, sounded somewhat like a cross between a minimoog and cuica drum." So they were just a jug band who plugged in and loaded up on psychedelics and reverb. Fascinating. Thank you internet for once again coming to the rescue!
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3 comments:
more nostalgia time on battle for the earth.
i bought this cd at a used cd store in jackson, miss with you, jamie and jack on our way to new orleans in the spring of '96.
cool. i remember i bought the Soft Boys '76-'81 2CD set at that store in Jackson. a totally worthwhile purchase, and i guess the 2nd best thing i ever did in Mississippi after Graceland 2.
I had no idea what Roky Erikson was famous for and I am still in shock that that was him singing.
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