13th Floor Elevators - You And I And Me
Icon and Iconoclast: Roky Erickson, The Two-headed Dog
It was 1978 and with a Coast Guard discharge in hand I had moved to Austin and quickly eschewed the then-obligatory Cosmic Cowboy lifestyle in favor of punk rock. When I wasn’t working construction jobs my life gravitated around Raul’s, a dive bar on the western edge of campus at the University Of Texas, where cheap beer and drugs were plentiful and the co-eds were wonderfully promiscuous and nearby was Inner Sanctum Records. It was at Raul’s that I quickly got my first job carrying gear and taking the door money for my favorite band, The Skunks.
The jukebox at Raul’s was filled with killer music and provided me with a fast-track curriculum for what was now considered “cool.” On heavy rotation were tracks like “Paralyzed” by The Legendary Stardust Cowboy, “Exodus” by Bob Marley and The Wailers, “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction” by Devo, “Sunday Morning” by The Velvet Underground and most notably – at a dozen plays a night – “You’re Gonna Miss Me” by The 13th Floor Elevators. That latter track was both a revelation and a mystery. I prided myself on my knowledge of “psychedelic rock.” How could a song so mind-blowingly brilliant and with a vocal like a banshee wail be off my radar and worse – never been the hit it most certainly was?
…So it was off to Inner Sanctum to make some inquiries where, to my astonishment, I quickly learned that a.) the Elevators were an Austin band, b.) their lead singer had been recently released from a mental hospital and was living as a recluse “somewhere in town” and c.) their guitarist has actually coined the term “psychedelic rock!”
It was then that the guy behind the counter walked me over to the “punk singles” display. He quickly shuffled through them. There, from among releases like “Piss Factory” by Patti Smith, “Chickenshit” by John Cale, “This Is Pop” by XTC and “God Save The Queen” by The Sex Pistols with a flourish he removed a simple 7” single with a red label and a plain paper sleeve entitled “Red Temple Prayer (Two Headed Dog) by “R. Erickson & Bleibalien.”
Winking knowingly, he whispered, “Check out the producer.”
“Doug Sahm?!!” I said. “Yes. Now take it home and play it. Loud.”
I did. Many, many times.
“Keep Austin Weird.” Let it be recorded for posterity that in 1975 (!) long before that sentiment became a tired cliché silkscreened on tee shirts and coffee mugs for tourists, the living embodiment of the Cosmic Cowboy, my friends Doug Sahm (1941-1999) and Roky Kenard Erickson (1947-2019) collaborated on what could arguably be called The First Punk Single. Ever. Keep Austin Weird, indeed.
- Richard Luckett