Ultimate Spinach-Behold & See (1968)

Rating: 9 out of 10

Band Lineup:

Ian Bruce-Douglas-guitar, harmonica, keyboards, vocals

Richard Nese-bass

Geoffrey Winthrop-guitar, vocals, sitar

Barbara Hudson-guitar, vocals

Keith Lahteinen-drums, vocals

Track Listing:

Side One

1. Gilded Lamp of the Cosmos (Bruce-Douglas)

2. Visions of Your Reality (Bruce-Douglas)

3. Jazz Thing (Bruce-Douglas)

4. Mind Flowers (Bruce-Douglas)

Side Two

5. Where You’re At (Bruce-Douglas)

6. Suite: Genesis of Beauty (In Four Parts) (Bruce-Douglas)

7. Fifth Horseman of the Apocalypse (Bruce-Douglas)

8. Fragmentary March of Green (Bruce-Douglas)

This is a really great album. I absolutely don’t care what all the big shot critics say. While Ian Bruce-Douglas may be a kindred spirit of Frank Zappa, I don’t see any way that a critic can see this album as a cash in or Frank Zappa rip off. The emotion that is present in Ian’s lyrics is just too strong. Unfortunately, this album is labeled as such due to a poorly run marketing campaign to promote the “Bosstown Sound” of Boston area psychedelic bands run by their record label. Please don’t let that campaign continue to tarnish a great album over forty years later. Give it a fair listen with an open mind. You just might like what you hear… 

“Gilded Lamp of the Cosmos”: A stunning, though quite dark, opener featuring Barbara Hudson on lead vocals. Just like every other song on this album, “Gilded Lamp of the Cosmos” exudes a bad trip feel, as Ian’s lyrics denounce phoniness both in straight society and amongst the counterculture (similar to Frank Zappa and the Mothers’ We’re Only In It For The Money), and also deal with the psychological damage such a phony society can cause. Barbara’s voice works great on this song, as it oozes with a sort of sneering darkness. I don’t care what the critics say about this being a cash-in or a Zappa rip off, this is brilliant.

“Visions of Your Reality”: Another great song, continuing the same themes established in “Gilded Lamp of the Cosmos,” although Ian takes over the lead vocal duties here. Again, the instrumentation is fairly spacey and subdued, putting the emphasis on the lyrics, which again show Ian’s disillusionment with the “shallowness” of society.

“Jazz Thing”: Another Ultimate Spinach classic in the same vein as the first two tracks on the album. Ian is again on lead vocals. There isn’t much else to say, since this song is pretty similar thematically and stylistically to the first two songs, so just sit back and enjoy it.

“Mind Flowers”: This is the masterpiece that all of side one has been building up to. Lyrically, it is similar to the other songs, but it is much more spacey, and the tempo is slower. The length of the song also allows for some breaks so that the band can show off their instrumental prowess. Ian again sings lead, with a slow, spacey voice, and maintains that feeling when he performs a spoken bridge in the middle of the song. The spacey mood of “Mind Flowers” is heightened by the use of echo on some of Ian’s spoken piece and the strange electronic noises that crop up throughout the song. This is an excellent conclusion to side one of the album. 

“Where You’re At”: Side two begins just like side one, with Barbara Hudson singing lead. The theme of the song is the same as those on side one, as Ian’s lyrics denounce phony spacers and people who attempt to make everyone feel sorry for them. There is some nice, driving guitar work in this song, and the tempo is a little faster than most Ultimate Spinach songs, making this an excellent opener for side two.

“Suite: Genesis of Beauty (In Four Parts)”: This is definitely the centerpiece of side two, and another of Ian’s masterpieces. “Genesis of Beauty” actually is a long suite made up of four distinct parts. The first part features Barbara on lead vocals singing in a very classical, almost church choir, style. Part two has Ian taking over the lead vocal duties and sounds like a typical Ultimate Spinach song (albeit a very good one). The third part is an instrumental, featuring some cool keyboard work by Ian, showing that he was more than just a talented singer and songwriter. Part four is a reprise of part one with Barbara again singing choir-like vocals. This is a great track and the four parts flow seamlessly into one another, creating an absolutely beautiful piece.

“Fifth Horseman of the Apocalypse”: The only instrumental on the album turns out to be a decent track with some pretty passages and a chance for all the instruments to get a little solo time, but is overall unremarkable. There is nothing bad about this track, and there are some nice guitar solos and even some bits with harmonica, but it is just not as memorable as the rest of the material on this album.

“Fragmentary March of Green”: This album ends with another gem entitled “Fragmentary March of Green.” It is in the same vein as just about everything else on the album, and denounces the constrictions of straight society. The song ends with a chant of “insanity, reality,” repeated numerous times, which is actually an excellent summary of the themes running throughout this album. Overall, this is an excellent closing track.

Hopefully you enjoyed the trip, and have emerged a much wiser, if somewhat more pessimistic listener. Despite its cynical theme, I do feel that Ian offers a message of hope for emancipation from the snares of this world in many of the songs, so hopefully you can take away some hope along with a heavy dose of realism. This is truly an exquisite and ambitious album, and one of my absolute favorites. I was very close to giving it a 10, but felt that my apathy towards “Fifth Horseman of the Apocalypse” along with the overall lack of stylistic variation made it better suited for a very strong 9. If you are interested in this album, I recommend purchasing the cd reissue on the Iris Music Group label, as many of the songs are edited (read butchered) on the Big Beat version. I hope you enjoy.

And links to the songs:

Gilded Lamp of the Cosmos

Visions of Your Reality

Jazz Thing

Mind Flowers

Where You’re At

Suite: Genesis of Beauty (In Four Parts)

Fifth Horseman of the Apocalypse

Fragmentary March of Green

13th Floor Elevators-Easter Everywhere (1967)

Rating: 10 out of 10

Band Lineup:

Roky Erickson-guitar, lead vocals

Tommy Hall-electric jug, vocals

Stacy Sutherland-lead guitar, vocals

Dan Galindo-bass

Danny Thomas-drums, vocals

Track Listing:

Side One

1. Slip Inside This House (Hall, Erickson)

2. Slide Machine (Powell St. John)

3. She Lives (In A Time Of Her Own) (Hall, Erickson)

4. Nobody To Love (Sutherland)

5. Baby Blue (Bob Dylan)

Side Two

6. Earthquake (Hall, Erickson)

7. Dust (Hall, Erickson)

8. Levitation (Hall, Sutherland)

9. I Had To Tell You (Hall, Sutherland)

10. Postures (Leave Your Body Behind) (Hall, Erickson)

The second album by the 13^th Floor Elevators is truly one of the greatest psychedelic albums to ever be produced. And to think that they came from Austin, Texas! This album has many strengths, starting with its diversity. A whole range of styles are covered here (and quite well at that), ranging from psychedelic garage rock to solo acoustic ballads to folk rock influenced philosophical meditations to spooky blues. Tommy Hall is one of the absolute best lyricists of the era, and his weird electric jug takes the listener on an incredible trip. Stacy Sutherland provides excellent (and also otherworldly) guitar, and Roky’s vocals are also immaculate. This album is one of the greatest lost gems of the psychedelic era.

“Slip Inside This House”: An incredible opener that might be the best song the Elevators ever recorded (and that’s saying a lot!). The lyrics highlight why Tommy Hall is considered to be one of the greatest psychedelic poets, and seem to be somewhat Dylan influenced, which comes as no surprise as the Elevators cover Dylan’s “It’s All Over Now, Baby Blue” later on this album. However, the lyrics also espouse the Elevators’ unique philosophy of spiritual enlightenment through the medium of LSD. The lyrics are not the only element that show a Dylan influence, as the structure of the song is evocative of Dylan’s longer material from around the same time, such as “Desolation Row” and “Sad Eyed Lady of the Lowlands,” in the lengthy, folk-influenced style of having a multitude of verses with the song structure remaining constant throughout. The trippiness of the lyrics is heightened by some great, spooky guitar from Stacy Sutherland and the strange, otherworldly sound of Tommy Hall’s electric jug. As always, Roky’s vocals are great. This is an amazing song and should not be overlooked by anyone who is interested in psychedelic rock.

“Slide Machine”: One of the weakest tracks on the album, which is saying a lot since it’s pretty darn good. This is a love song, albeit a weird enough one to be played by the Elevators, written by the Elevators’ friend and occasional songwriting collaborator, Powell St. John. The weirdness found more subtly in the lyrics is heightened by Tommy’s electric jug playing and Stacy’s exquisite guitar work, which make this song work well on the album.

“She Lives (In A Time Of Her Own)”: A fantastic song about a girl, featuring great guitar work from Stacy with more rock overtones reminiscent of his work on their first album rather than the spookiness that dominates much of this album. Tommy’s electric jug is again out of this world, and Roky’s vocals are strong, as usual. What is unusual for an Elevators song is harmonizing on the chorus, which actually works quite well. An excellent track and one of the highlights of this incredible album, which is strengthened by the stylistic diversity amongst its tracks.

“Nobody To Love”: A rare Stacy Sutherland penned song, which again serves to highlight the diversity of the Elevators’ repertoire (it always helps when you have three good songwriters who can write in any combination or alone). Stacy’s lyrics are much simpler than those written by Tommy, but they work great for this bluesy song about loneliness, on which Stacy also takes on the lead vocals, which works well with his more bluesy voice. His guitar work, dominated by spooky blues riffs, is also stellar.

“Baby Blue”: I’m typically not much of a fan of covers, especially when I like the original version a lot, as in this case. However, the Elevators’ version of Bob Dylan’s “It’s All Over Now, Baby Blue” (simply title “Baby Blue” on their album) is a major exception, and is also rumored to be Bob’s favorite cover version of this song. It probably works so well because they didn’t try to remake the original, but did it in their own style. The tempo is slowed down from Bob’s original, and the instrumentation, especially Stacy’s guitar, is downright spooky and otherworldly. An excellent conclusion to the first side of this album.

“Earthquake”: Side two opens with “Earthquake,” which hearkens back to the rockier sound of their debut, both lyrically, as the lyrics are slightly simpler and more straightforward than those on much of this album, and rhythmically. However, the relative simplicity does not mean that this is not a great song. The rhythm section lays down an especially strong performance, highlighted by Dan Galindo’s bass lines, to produce an earthquake sound that pounds throughout the song.

“Dust”: Probably the most unique song on the album, as far as showing the Elevators’ mastery of diverse styles goes, and as much because of its jolting rhythm as the fact that it is a solo acoustic piece. This is essentially a Roky solo song, as he sings and plays an acoustic guitar, which dominate the song. However, Stacy can occasionally be heard playing a few spare notes on an electric guitar and Tommy’s jug can be heard faintly in the background throughout the song. Nevertheless, “Dust” is a great song, though it can take some getting used to, as it sounds slightly out of place given the up-tempo, electric nature of the Elevators.

“Levitation”: “Levitation” hearkens back to the Elevators’ garage-rock roots, similar to much of the material on their first album. It is very raw sounding, but this actually works quite well, and reminds listeners that despite the Elevators’ forays into a wide variety of genres, they could still rock.

“I Had To Tell You”: Another solo acoustic Roky track, this time featuring almost no accompaniment, although Roky does play the harmonica in addition to his acoustic guitar. The strong emotions felt in this song through Roky’s voice are truly beautiful and moving.

“Postures (Leave Your Body Behind)”: The Elevators end the album in the same way they began it, with a longer song filled with their psychedelic, drug infused version of philosophy. Just like “Slip Inside This House,” this is a really cool song, at least for those of us that like this kind of stuff. The vocal tradeoffs on alternating lines between Roky and the rest of the band create a cool call and response feeling. Overall, a great ending to a fantastic album, that is truly one of the best and most unique albums to emerge from the entire American psychedelic scene.   

As I’ve said dozens of times already, this album is unbelievable. However, many of the older cd versions suffer from poor sound quality. I would recommend getting the new cd version on the International Artists label that is due to be released this year, as it will contain a plethora of bonus tracks, and the sound should be quite good, since the sound on this material on their now out of print, limited edition box set, The Sign of the 3 Eyed Men is the best I’ve ever heard this material sound.

As always, here are links to the songs so that you can have a listen before you decide to purchase the album for yourself.

Slip Inside This House

Slide Machine

She Lives (In A Time Of Her Own)

Nobody To Love

Baby Blue

Earthquake

Dust

Levitation

I Had To Tell You

Postures (Leave Your Body Behind)