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The 1966 - 1967 Unreleased Masters

CollectionDisc 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 inthe 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 aredifferent 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 ofRokys 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 songthat so far is unique to this set, but its very lo-fi. Hopefully

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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 exceptfor 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.