13th Floor Elevators – Bull Of The Woods

I 've got a copy of this, a 1969, International Artists – IA-LP 9, but the labe colour is slightly different, kind of green instead of blueisch. Anyone has a clue about this copy, which I bought in Florenz about 20 years ago?

No matter what you do you can’t correct the clustered reverb less horns that are clearly out of tune.
This record is very low on the scale of 1969 engineering prowess.
The guy just died who produced it, Ray Rush…buddy holly connected

This is the true sunbaked Texas psych record... The first two LPs justly deserve their reputations due to Roky's deranged wolf boy howl and psychotic lyrics... But the utterly obsessive "slather reverb all over the guitars and then leave the vocals clear" production, the fact it seems like it was mastered strictly as an afterthought, and the whole incomparable vibe of this record makes it truly the head's choice. Tell me "Scarlet and Gold" isn't their best song... And the finale "May the Circle Remain Unbroken" may be the most psychedelic song of all time... This thing is a glorious haunted wreck, it makes Skip Spence's "Oar" sound like Sgt Peppers...

I do not see the "masterfonics" matrix version listed here, but I can confirm it exists. Unfortunately, I sold my masterfonics when I got a better original pressing, and would not be able to confirm whether it sounded worse, the same way the other masterfonics versions of the first two LPs all do, than the original LP. I believe they may have had it access to the unmolested original tapes of this album when they released those other masterfonics in the late 70's. Reason I say this is I don't recall the same sense of Revelation I had when I finally heard original pressings of the first two albums... Those first two albums were obviously out of phase, with added reverb, etc, on the masterfonics issues...and that's the versions we hear to this day... You've never heard the 13th Floor Elevators until you've heard those original pressings on the first two albums, both stereo and mono. The masterfonics version of "Bull of the Woods" had a fairly heavy pastedown cardboard sleeve, and I seem to recall it was pretty much the same weight and printing quality as the original pressing.

Don't listen to the sheeple! This is the one that gets played all the time around here... For about 40 years now... You can trust me on this one... And speaking of Texas, let's talk a little bit about Jandek...

Recently came across a copy missing the jacket. If anyone happens to have a spare jacket that they would like to sell please let me know.

It’s not often said but this record is local level sound wise and even BELOW that composition wise..it should never have come out in the first place. It’s a shockingly drastic deterioration from the majesty of the debut and Easter everywhere. It is a sonic blemish on the legacy. Tommy Halls lectures don’t save it. You could almost call it a parody if it wasn’t so tragic. A lot of these are barely held together crap tunes sorry but it has to be said.

I have a sleeve of this record I picked up for a buck, in VG condition. If anyone needs a cleaner copy of the sleeve just let me know, happy to let it go for the buck I paid plus shipping to another fan.

This may be my favorite ever Elevators album. It's just brilliant from start to finish full of great music.
You can put this on without skipping any tracks from start to finish.
As much as I love the first two elevators albums, this one is like the 'ugly duckling' of the pack which is why I'm fond of it.
There's also a weird bluesy psychedelic feel to the whole thing, Sutherland's guitar playing is exceptional on this record and you can hear him cutting loose much more here. Lysergic lead lines with awesome reverb capture that stoned acid zone out feel.
This LP is most appropriate for taking psilocybin to.

On “Bull of the Woods,” Stacy Sutherland took over most of the songwriting and vocals for the Elevators with amazing results. Stacy’s style mixes the bluesy with the transcendental, resulting in fuzzy cosmic honky-tonk jams that drip with the weird melancholy of a weary traveler to other dimensions. “Til Then” features some brilliant slide-guitar playing that outshines anything Sterling Morrison ever did for the Velvet Underground. “Scarlet and Gold” may be the best song on the album--shimmery guitars chime sadly while Sutherland recounts a folksy and laconically existential narrative of a lonely man trying to save his soul. The chorus is downright ghostly, with Sutherland intoning “And our tired eyes will cease their burning/When the devil’s bones lay parching in the sun/And the night man is waiting at the station/Gathering all the stops one by one/I suggest that you make a reservation/before all these things are done,” a bleak, countrified vision of the apocalypse that gives way in the bridge to some incredibly tranced-out & bluesy soloing. “The Rose and the Thorn” is another one of the album's many standout tracks. The song starts off slow with start-stop drum rolls before building up to a soaring melancholic crescendo that’s easily one of the most chilling moments in the Elevators' music. It’s as if you can hear Stacy slipping into the spirit world while he sings. The song totally eschews a verse-chorus-verse arrangement, opting instead for a constantly changing structure that’s almost like an epic Amon Düül II jam condensed into a three-minute pop song. The few appearances Roky makes on the album are all mesmerizing, especially his subdued and otherworldly performance of the reverb-drenched mantra “May the Circle Remain Unbroken,” which closes the album on an almost ritualistic note. “Bull of the Woods” is one of the most visionary psychedelic rock albums, as well as one of the darkest.