Roky Erickson & The 13th Floor Elevators might be the most popular band that no one’s ever actually listened to. Pages upon pages have been written about the influential psych-rockers from Austin. And for good reason: the Elevators were doing psychedelia before The Grateful Dead (né The Warlocks) and even The Beatles.
But there was more to the Texas psych-scene than just Roky and the Elevators, who were just one of several trippy-dippy bands on International Artists. Based in Houston, the label also counted among its ranks The Red Krayola, legendary bluesman Lightnin’ Hopkins, and Fort Worth’s Johndavid Bartlett. Writer Paul Drummond (Eye Mind: The Roky Erickson & The 13th Floor Elevators) and producer/writer/musician Julian Cope plan on re-releasing some of Bartlett’s folky IA-era work as part of a series of re-releases. The duo will draw from more than two hours’ worth of Bartlett material, including sessions produced by Red Krayola frontman and avant-gardist Mayo Thompson at IA’s homebase, Gold Star Studio (now known as SugarHill Recording Studios), also in Houston. Bartlett expects the CD to be about 13 tracks long and come out about a year from now. “I think it’s all great,” he said, noting that he’s enjoyed watching interest develop in IA artists over the past few years. “It’s fun. The past few weeks, I’ve been listening to [IA material], and it’s really good.” Bartlett also contributes liner notes to Elevators guitarist Stacy Sutherland‘s Love That’s Sound, an entry in a recently released 10-CD box set of Elevators material. Bartlett, incidentally, also was an ancillary member in one of the Elevators’ last incarnations, in the late 1960s. Visit www.internationalartistsrecords.com. … The Hardline producer and Sorta member Danny Balis‘ sideband, The King Bucks, is starting a weekly Sunday residency at Lola’s Saloon Stockyards, replacing former Sunday-night holder-downer, local bluesy singer-songwriter Josh Weathers, who was reportedly packin’ ’em in. “It’s been ‘one in, one out’ for the last eight weeks,” said Spune Productions‘ Lance Yocom, who books shows at Lola’s Stockyards and also at the nearby Longhorn Saloon and the West 7th corridor’s Lola’s Sixth, among other places. Weathers, Yocom said, will start playing once a month at the Longhorn, “so we don’t saturate him and also prepare for his CD release this summer.” The King Bucks, whose lineup also includes members of Sorta and The Drams, are booked through June at the recently opened downstairs Stockyards club. For two free tickets (a $3 per value), send your name to associate editor Anthony Mariani at anthony.mariani@fwweekly.com. First come, first served. You’ll need a valid picture ID to pick up your tix at the door. … Thursday at The Moon (2911 W. Berry St., by TCU, 817-926-9600) is the Zachary Foundation‘s inaugural benefit show, with The Frontier Brothers, Stella Rose, and The February Chorus’ Brandin Lea (ex-Flickerstick). Proceeds from the $7 cover charge will help fund the foundation’s mission of bringing music education and instruments to hospitalized teens. Zachary’s founder, pre-med student and singer-songwriter J Mack Slaughter, hopes to raise at least $1,000. Cook Children’s Hospital has already agreed to participate. Local musicians interested in contributing instruction time are encouraged to contact Slaughter via www.myspace.com/jmackslaughtermusic.
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