Customer Reviews

Sign of the 3 Eyed Men

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This could be the Holy Grail for psych collectors... You get each of the band's original 3 studio albums. Each of these also has another disc of alternate takes and mixes. Additionally, two live cd's, and two albums of otherwise unreleased songs and versions, some of which is also live, some studio. The sound quality on everything is better than I have heard previously. There is also a book included, and a package of posters, fliers, stickers, a copy of their manager's original business card. It all adds up to a rather overwhelming collection of music by one of the true originators of psychedelic music. I just got mine in the mail yesterday, and I have had a great time digging through assimilating the sights and sounds. My brain is dripping out my ears, and I have had no mind-altering substances except for what is included in the box set..... consciousness has shifted and life may never return to what it was before this trip!

Numbered limited edition of 4000.

*As of this writing, the amazing collection is currently in print, available at the official International Artists website. If you are interested, check it out, the price (while still in print) is much cheaper than that presently shown here. Price is 75 Pounds sterling (about $150), and worth every penny.

A big hearty thanks to the previous 4 reviewers of the box set. I had no clue this even existed !! I had been complaining for years about the crappy sounding Elevators CDs I had and stumbled onto this set while perusing Amazon. I looked at the prices ($445 to $585) and said forget it, too much money. Then I read the reviews (the Kevin Rathert one was especially excellent) and headed for the Burning Shed website last Sunday night. I ordered mine, total incl. shipping = 94£, or 157.00 US dollars. It showed up today, 5 days later !!! I was amazed at how heavy the package was, and after opening it I was speechless. 10 CDs, a gorgeous book filled with pics, lyrics, etc., and a large envelope with the International Artists logo containing all kinds of cool flyers, posters, glossies, and even a bumper sticker !! I played "The Psychedelic Sounds Of.." and the sound is awesome. I will be at home tonight listening to "Easter Everywhere" and some of the other discs in the set and going through the book. Like the above reviewers warn, if you want this set, you better act quickly. This is a limited edition of 4000, and I got an EMail this morning from Burning Shed stating "ONLY 500 LEFT... ORDER NOW TO AVOID DISAPPOINTMENT... AS THERE WILL BE NO REPRESSINGS..." Well, my copy was #3651, so do the math - only 349 left after mine. If you are a 13th Floor Elevator fan, as I have been for almost 40 years, grab this now, or else you'll be paying the big bucks that the speculators here are asking it for. They're going quick !! Believe me, you will NOT be disappointed !!
....And once again, a big THANK YOU to the previous reviewers for alerting me to the availability on the Burning Shed website !!!

I concur with everything P. Pennington says, especially when it comes to purchasing this. It seems to still be in print, it's about 150 bucks, go to the IA website for a short promotional video. I'd just like to add that the box itself is gorgeous, thick, will never fall apart, a work of art unto itself. And the book is worth half the price. It's an lp sized hardcover with glossy pages containing every bit of info on the recordings and the band that you need. It also collects tons of rare photos and posters. The music, is, of course, 10 cds worth of the most amazing rock you have ever heard, with the best sound available. Limited to 4,000 copies. Really, you will kick yourself if this goes out of print before you buy it.

It's churlish to give this box less than five stars, given that its target audience is extremely narrow. This is acknowledged by the limited run of 4,000 units -- though as I write these are not depleted, meaning there are less than 4,000 hard core Elevators fans (with money!) out there.

That target audience is true, dyed-in-the-wool Elevators fans (like me, I admit it) who have probably been through (in my case) two sets of LPs and two sets of CDs before buying this. This is, indeed, my fifth purchase of "Psychedelic Sounds" and "Easter Everywhere". But that's the point -- the box is huge, lavish and showy enough to demonstrate true fandom to themselves and to others. That's why you buy it, as much as the music. That's why you buy anything big, expensive and unnecessary -- it defines who you are.

Churlish to criticize that, as I said. But really, the box is TOO lavish, TOO inflated, TOO full of itself. Many fans would do better getting the two-CD sets that are promised to be extracted out of this material. So let's help you to define yourself as an audience.

If you're new to the Elevators and uncertain (they're just another garage band, right?), you won't start here of course. My suggestion is to grab a copy -- almost any CD is fine -- of "Easter Everywhere".

If you're new to the Elevators and you know they're important, or if you're upgrading your old vinyl (or Collectables CDs!) then the 3CD box set "The Psychedelic World Of" is the thing you want. It contains all 4 Elevators albums, plus live material and much more, and it's amazingly cheap. You can pick it up for 10 dollars!

After that, your next purchase should probably be Paul Drummond's excellent book on the band, "Eye Mind". A superb rock biography and a labor of love in a field not known for its great journalism. Drummond did a fantastic job in "Eye Mind" -- and certainly he scorches some of the mythology that has grown up around the band and Roky in particular. (Now we just need someone to do the same for Syd Barrett, another so-called acid casualty universally misrepresented.)

Drummond is the driving force behind this box. It is, to all intents, a vanity release -- somehow he persuaded International Artists (their 14th release!) to manufacture this massive and expensive monument, presumably on the back of the success of the book. You shouldn't get the box without first grabbing the book, and here's where we start to run into problems.

What do you get in the box? It's a vast, over-vinyl sized box, beautiful to look at, containing a 72-page hard back book and a plain brown folder containing bits and pieces of "ephemera" -- small scale reproductions of posters, adverts, etc. This ephemera is pretty worthless, but the box isn't a box without something other than the book, I guess! The 10 CDs are in paper slip cases slotted into the book's end-papers, from whence you'll immediately remove them and put them elsewhere on your shelf for easy reach.

Labor of love this might be, but Drummond hasn't done too well. His text here is dreadful -- what happened? "Eye Mind" was terrific, but here the text is badly written and poorly typeset. (Is this a purposeful sneaky dig at IA's poor designs for the Elevators albums?) Moreover, Drummond designed the set, and his design skills are rudimentary to say the least. Sadly also, the set repeats many of the things that were in "Eye Mind", making this lavishness a little redundant. All you really need are the CDs, in fact.

And now the CDs. Well, the cost is a bit much for 10 CDs, given that (as I just mentioned) you get 3CDs for 10 dollars in "Psychedelic World". Happily, very little from "Psychedelic World" is repeated here. This set does NOT include the four albums you already know. The closest is a remastered copy of "Bull Of The Woods". The fake live album isn't here at all, though the source studio recordings are.

What you DO get are three CDs of live material (a ragbag of stuff you've heard and some things you probably haven't -- but it's not everything that's out there), a CD of the original early 1966 sessions for the (unreleased) first album, some of which were used in "Live", and a CD of some of Stacy's planned tracks and demos for "Bull" (NOT a full intended album, as it is implied -- just works in progress). You get a CD of the remastered "Bull" and two CDs each covering "Psychedelic Sounds" and "Easter". Each has a few bonus tracks of alternative versions, some of which repeat "Psychedelic World" tracks.

The most interesting stuff is likely to be the "Psychedelic Sounds" and "Easter" material. In each case, one CD presents a mono version of the album, which you won't have heard before, and the other a sort of alternative stereo version created out of alternative tracks, most of which are probably new to you too. The sound quality in the set ranges from excellent (the studio versions are very clear) to poor (much of the live stuff).

We can argue this case, but one interesting experiment was botched. We know that "Psychedelic Sounds" was released with the tracks in the wrong sequence. Most of us have probably burned ourselves a CDR of the album in the right sequence (as given by Tommy Hall's liner note on the back of the album). Drummond here presents the mono album in the released sequence, but the stereo off-cuts in the intended sequence. Personally, I would have done it the other way around.

Anyway, a huge set, over-lavish, over-priced, but with a specific target audience in mind. And for people like me, who need to fetishize their fandom, it is truly superb.

I've got #24-----started chasing it the minute I heard about it----valuable for the music and history---the book alone is invaluable----get it from the web-site while you can--none of it will come again.

This is the most thought out well put together collection of music i own. Everything you could possibly want from a band that only released 3 studio albums during its life time and more. Tommy Hall named the Box, it's approved by Roky's Trust, Roky even come back to the studio to help remix the Easter Everywhere (Alternative Stereo) mix, it's about as BAND APPROVED as you will ever be likely to get. Paul Drummond has set the bar high for band biographies included in box sets as this is by far the most informative, well documented booklet you will ever get. As for the music ,well, I will just say it's everything a Elevators fan could possibly want. From Stacy S being too Acid fried to play guitar on the DEATH IN TEXAS (live) and the band going ahead without him. The UNBELIEVABLE live versions of "Roller Coaster" and "You Don't Know" on LIVE IN CALIFORNIA and blistering remastered versions of ALL the studio albums in mono and stereo (*BULL OF THE WOODS is only a stereo version). Prices on Amazon are about as expensive as anywhere, i've seen cheaper on ebay. But either way if you get your hands on the "SIGN OF THE 3 EYED MEN" you will not be dissapointed.

Five Stars*****

For those that fear that this is a money gouging exercise hopefully the reviews hear will put those fears to an end. This is truly a joyous release providing not only fresh insight with a truly remarkable book, but most importantly 10CDs of music that has been lovingly put together.

The mono version of Psychedelic Sounds and Easter Everywhere are my personal highlights, but each disc is amazing.

Purchasing this is a big commitment for anyone coming in 'unheard' to the Elevators, and you might be better off with another compilation as a sampler. But for anyone else that has heard and loved the first two albums in particular it is time to put your money on the table. You wont be disappointed.

I concur with the above gentlemen. There are fewer than 1,000 copies left (mine was 3,085); the box actually sells for about $100, and the shipping boosts it to about $150, but I got it in less than a week. First, the goodies are fantastic: the book's beautiful and informative, and good luck not putting the bumper sticker on your car, collectors! Second, the sound is THE BEST I've heard with this stuff, and I've heard these tracks in numerous versions (it's neat that the original engineer came in and did the remastering, rather than Bill Inglot or some other expert). Third, while you DO have to deal with multiple versions/takes of single songs (they are often very different and equally excellent)--hey, it's a box!--what I really like about it is that, if, for example, you recently bought the superlative Roky comp I HAVE ALREADY BEEN HERE BEFORE, you don't have to go sell it, because this box doesn't render it superfluous (no Spades or Roky solo stuff at all--though it'd been nice to have the Spades stuff thrown in).

At long last the holy grail of psychedelic rock, the long awaited, much anticipated, gigantic 10cd "Sign of the 3 Eyed Men" is here. This is by far the most comprehensive anthology of the larger than life innovators and many would rightly argue inventors of "psychedelic rock" Roky Erickson and the 13th Floor Elevators. Available only through International Artists via Burning Shed distributors UK and on the Charly imprint, the massive box set is reminiscent of a Bear Family box set in that it contains not only a massive amount of Elevators tracks, 154 total spread over the 10 discs, but also a 72 page hardbound 12 x 12 inch book written by official Elevator biographer Paul Drummond, as well as a package of memorabilia including handbills and other assorted goodies. The box, years in the making, was lovingly compiled by Brit Richard Allen, former owner of the world renowned Freak Emporium, and Cliff Dane of Snapper Music under the supervision of executive producer Jean Luc Young. The above mentioned Mr. Drummond spent six years, 2003-2009 compiling, researching, and producing "3 Eyed Men." Elevators original sound engineer Walt Andrus lovingly remixed and remastered the tracks. The discs are conveniently stored in individual cardboard miniature lp sleeves tucked within the book, 5 discs inside the front cover, 5 inside the back cover. Disc one contains pre-International Artist Elevator recordings including an early version of their lone hit "You're Gonna Miss Me" in its only true stereo version. Many of the tracks were later released with overdubbed audience applause on the "Live" album, which was obviously not recorded live at all. Disc two "Live In Texas" contains 20 truly live recordings including the above mentioned hit, plus such wonders as a rave up version of the Kinks "You Really Got Me" which believe it or not beats the Brits at their own game. Two versions of Them's smash "Gloria" are also heard here. Discs three and four contain mono and stereo recordings of the Elevators debut album "The Psychedelic Sounds Of" each adorned with bonus tracks, including the mono single mixes of "Reverberation" and its b-side "Fire Engine." Disc five contains tracks recorded live in California in 1966. Highlights include well known tunes "Splash 1" and "Fire Engine" as well as another reounding take on "You Really Got Me." Discs six and seven are dedicated to mono and stereo verisons of the bands second lp "Easter Everywhere" including the lyrics from the album and each disc again supplemented by bonus tracks, especially noteworthy are the mono single mixes of a-sides "I've Got Levitation" "She Lives (In A Time Of Her Own" and "Slip Inside This House" as well as b-sides "Before You Accuse Me" and "Baby Blue" the latter two cover versions of tunes by Elias (Bo Diddley) McDaniel and Bob Dylan. Disc eight titled "A Love That's Sound" contains eight songs recorded for a never released third Elevators lp heavily weighted by lead guitarist Stacy Sutherland compositions, as well as four bonus tracks. Quite an interesting look into the vision Sutherland held for future Elevator recordings. Disc nine contains the third Elevator lp "Bull Of The Woods" supplemented here by five bonus tracks, including mono mixes of the single a-side "Livin' On" and b-sides "Scarlet and Gold" and "May The Circle Remain Unbroken." The massive box set ends with disc ten titled "Death In Texas" containing 15 live tracks, nine from 1967, five from a 1973 reunion, and a final track from a 1984 reunion. The book is organized in ten loving chapters, and is absolutely chock full of color and black and white photos, session information, full track annotations, and housed in a heavy carboard 12 x 12 inch box with an informational paper wrap to seal the box and the deal. What an undertaking, and what a job well done. That said, there are some issues with the sound quality of some of the audio source materials. Unfortunately there were some people trying to sell bogus Elevator source tapes for unbelievable prices. Richard Allen told me that one individual offered a "source" tape for the paltry sum of $250,000. Not only was the offer declined, but Richard told me it was totally bogus. Texas pscy sites, however, and Roky Erickson's Fan Club in particular, do have real honest to God source tapes of higher quality than those included in this legitimate release. To their credit the Fan Club have never allowed bootlegging for profit of the recordings and in fact have banned profiteers from their website and audio torrents. The occasional sound issues aside, this is truly the "Holy Grai" of pscychedelic rock that we Elevator fans have dreamed of for so many years. Limited to 4,000 copies world wide, I pre-ordered my copy in early March and received it totally out of the blue, (thank you madmam postal delivery person), finding its way to my front door in early June. I received copy number 132, and whie the price has varied as currency exchange rates vary, I paid $140US for my copy and at last glance the current price was $155 including insured shipping. Unfortunately, the box is available solely from Burning Shed and must be ordered from the International Artists website, while the discs bear the Charly (UK) imprint. There are copies still available, surprisingly. I thought the box would surely sell out on pre-orders. Perhaps the (relatively) high retail price and convoluted ordering process contributed to the unexpectedly (in my mind) number of pre-ordered copies. Regardless, this box is worth whatever effort it takes on your part to obtain. I notice new copies listed at nearly $600 and used copies at around $450. No doubt this is a collectors item intended for full fledged psych fans such as myself. But if you are able to raise the funds and have real interest in psychedelic rock essentials, this massive work of love is an absolute must. Order it now, before it is too late. I promise you will be pleasantly surprised regardless of how high your expectations. This is truly the nearest to a "Holy Grail" of pscyedelic rock served up Texas style. Everything is bigger in Texas and in this case bigger truly is better.

an awesome achievement..mindblowing set ... presentation out of this world..borrowed it from Edinburgh Music Library for 3 weeks..hire charge £1.20 ..well worth it