Customer Reviews

Never Ever Land-International Artists Records

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More than just a expanded version of "Epitaph For A Legend" this is a 3 CD document of the short lived International Artists label which was home to the 13th Floor Elevators, Red Krayloa, Bubble Puppy and others groups involved with the emerging psychedelic scene in Texas. All the tracks have a better sound then previous releases but then sound quality was never IA's strongpoint. The first CD compiles almost every single from October 1965 to 1970. Therefore, as far as a cross section of talent it is very comprehensive. The second CD collects key album tracks from the main stable of artists. The third CD collects all the leftover miscellaneous items as well as IA's attempts in other music genres. The set also comes with a comprehensive booklet detailing most of the major artists and detailed discography. Also included is an in depth interview with producer and later owner of IA, Leland Rogers.

As with any anthology involving a label, there are a lot of hit and miss items here. In other words for every "Your Going To Miss Me' or "Hot Smoke And Sassafras" there is a "Quest For Beauty" but then again you can let your tastes be your guide.

Never Ever land is a three CD set of material release by the International Artists label during the mid to late 1960s. Based in Houston, Texas, IA issued 12 LPs and 89 45s during its three or so years of existence. Roughly a quarter of that output is presented here, with three bands dominating: the 13th Floor Elevators; the Red Crayola/Krayola and Bubble Puppy. This history of the label is probably typical for the genre. Started by folks who were either seeking to make money or music the label foundered as good material dried up. ..and as corporate rock exerted its domination of recorded music.

The set is heavily biased towards the aforementioned groups but does a reasonably good name-checking on the entire stable of artists. This approach means you get 10 or so gimmick songs that were typical of any label. This is particularly the case with the third CD which is advertised as such. The other two CDs are worth the price of admission alone. It never fails to amaze me just how good, how enduring, early psychedelic can be when its remains more on the bluesy side.

The overall quality of the recordings is very high. This may be due to the fact that Charly Records, the issuing company, purchased the entire catalog and is looking to issue more material by individual groups. That may have caused them to spend some bucks on cleaning up the source material.

One really personal note: the next to last cut on Disc Three is a KSAN broadcast from 1978 which is two (maybe more) DJs interviewing Roky Erickson. It's pretty clear that a) it's a moment when Erickson was less connected to reality and b) the DJs were mean-spirited. The only cut that should have left off.