Nuggets: You’re Gonna Miss Me by The 13th Floor Elevators

Before he became Patti Smith’s lead guitarist, Lenny Kaye compiled Nuggets: Original Artyfacts from the First Psychedelic Era. Released in 1972, the two-LP set covered American garage rock and psychedelia from the years 1965-1968 and was a major influence on punk rock. Rhino Records reissued an expanded version of the set in 1998, with 118 tracks in total. I’m profiling and rating each of these 118 tracks, working backwards.

Track 14: You’re Gonna Miss Me by The 13th Floor Elevators
From: Austin, Texas
Rating: 9/10

YOU’RE GONNA MISS ME – The Thirteenth Floor Elevators [2:20]
(Roky Erickson)
Personnel/ROKY ERICKSON: vocals, guitar, harmonica * STACY SUTHERLAND: lead guitar * BENNY THURMAN: bass * JOHN “IKE” WALTON: drums * TOMMY HALL: electric jug, vocals
Produced by GORDON BYNUM
Recorded in Houston, TX
Contact single #5269 (1/66); IA single #107 (6/66); HBR single #492 (8/66); Pop #55

Surprisingly, the 13th Floor Elevators only have one song on Nuggets. They’re one of the most revered bands to feature on the set, with a catalogue that’s respected beyond a couple of fluke singles. 1967’s Easter Everywhere is strong, while Roky Erickson’s post Elevators work is also respected.

Erickson wrote ‘You’re Gonna Miss Me’ when he was only 15. He recorded an earlier version of the song in 1965, with his band The Spades. He rerecorded it as the first single with the 13th Floor Elevators.

The band have an unusual lineup, with an electric jug player. Tommy Hall’s electric jug is distorted, giving the song an unsettling psychedelic feel.

Erickson’s career was derailed by mental health issues and a drug bust. In 1968 he was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia and involuntarily received electroconvulsive therapy.

In 1969 he was busted for possession of a single joint. Facing 10 years (!) of incarceration, he pleaded insanity to avoid a jail sentence. During three years in care, he received more electroconvulsive therapy and Thorazine treatments.

Erickson sporadically recorded more records before he died in 2019. But it’s impressive that he was able to make music at all after his legal and mental health issues.

Read More

• Nuggets Song by Song
• 1960s Album Reviews

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