International Artists Album DiscographyInternational Artists was an innovative label, releasing both early "psychedelic" music and also proto-industrial rock many years before that became a genre in vogue. From today's viewpoint, they might also be classified as garage bands or even early punk rock. They were active from 1965-1970. During that time they released 12 albums and 42 singles.
International Artists put out their first three singles in 1965. The first [IA 101] was "Alright"/"Wonderful You" by the Coastliners, followed by "You Done Me Wrong"/"Because You're A Man" by Ray Brooks [IA 102] and "Honey Child"/"Another Love" by Johnny Williams. These three singles garnered no particular notice by the record-buying public. Neither did the next three, by the She's, Kathy Clarke, and Tom Harvey [IA 104-106, respectively], released in early 1966.
It was the seventh single that put International Artists on the map. The story goes like this. An Austin,
Texas, based garage band called the Spades, fronted by vocalist/guitarist Roger "Roky" Erickson, was
formed in 1964, and in late 1965 cut a single called "You're Gonna Miss Me," which was released on
Zero 10002, going nowhere. Meanwhile, guitarist Tommy Hall, a college undergrad in Austin, was
running a band called the Lingsmen, and recruited Erickson for their lead singer. When Erickson joined,
the band name changed to the Thirteenth Floor Elevators, and the group recut "You're Gonna Miss Me,"
this time with the odd "electric jug" sound played by Hall that was to become the group's musical
trademark. The new version, produced and financed by Gordon Bynum, was issued first on Contact
5269, then reissued by HBR [HBR 492], a California label that was looking around in Texas for hits.
Finally, the song was picked up by its third label, International Artists, where it was issued as IA 107. It
jumped on the national charts, eventually reaching #55 in early Fall, 1966.
The other members of the Thirteenth Floor Elevators were lead guitarist Stacy Sutherland, bassist Dan Galindo, and drummer Danny Thomas. Lelan Rogers decided to promote them as a psychedelic band, even though their roots were folk and garage-type rock and roll. Hall's oddball electric jug (sounding almost, but not quite, like a rapidly picked guitar) gave the band a strange, unique sound. In addition to the title of their first album, The Psychedelic Sounds of the Thirteenth Floor Elevators, the liner notes included this "enlightened" screed: "Recently, it has become possible for man to chemically alter his mental state and thus alter his point of view (that is, his own basic relation with the outside world which determines how he stores his information). He then can restructure his thinking and change his language so that his thoughts bear more relation to his life and his problems, before approaching them more sanely. It is this quest for pure sanity that forms the basis of the songs on this album."
Fair enough; the drug culture in pop music had begun. But more than the drug references, the hit "You're Gonna Miss Me" became popular because, as Lelan Rogers put it, people kept asking, "What's that funny little noise in that record?" Indeed, "You're Gonna Miss Me" has become a rock and roll classic, undoubtedly selling many more copies over the years than it did when first released. As late as 2007, it was heard in the background of a commercial by (fittingly enough) Austin-based Dell Computer Corporation, who obviously is aware of the local music heritage.
The Thirteenth Floor Elevators' followup single, "Reverberation (Doubt)" [IA 111] scraped the bottom of the "Bubbling Under" chart at #129 for a week in November, 1966, then the band was done on the charts. But their albums have been heavily reissued over the years, both on vinyl and on CD. Apparently, the "funny little noise" was quite catchy.
Other singles issued by International Artists in 1966 included singles by Sterling Damon, the Disciples of Shaftesbury, Thursday's Children, and Frankie & Johnny.
At the beginning of 1967, IA tried another Thirteenth Floor Elevators single, "Levitation"/"Before You
Accuse Me" [IA 113], but it failed to chart. New artists with singles on the label in 1967 included Chayns,
Billy Wade McKnight, and Lost & Found. Lost & Found merited an album, as did two groups who had no
singles released, Golden Dawn and Red Crayola. In the latter's case, there was nothing even remotely
suitable for a single to be played on radio; the group played what has been described as a precursor to
industrial rock with the group members not exactly masters of their instruments. Also, as was to be
expected when the group name incorporates a trade-marked brand name, the group was legally forced
to alter their name to "Red Krayola." I'm sure the Crayola folks didn't exactly welcome the association
with an album of strange noise.
1968 brought International Artists several new artists. Texas-based bluesman Lightnin' Hopkins recorded an album for the label, from which the single "Mr. Charlie"/"Baby Child" [IA 127] was drawn. Other newcomers were Beauregard and Rubayyat, who each merited one single. Three more singles by the Thirteenth Floor Elevators again failed to chart.
In late 1968, International Artists signed
what would be their most commercially successful band, the Bubble Puppy (the band's name derived
from a children's game in the novel Brave New World by Aldous Huxley). The Texas-based band
— originally formed in San Antonio, then moved to Austin, then relocated to Houston after signing with IA
— consisted of Rod Prince (vocals/guitar), Todd Potter (guitar), Roy Cox (bass) and Dave Fore (drums).
Their first single, "Hot Smoke & Sasafrass" [IA 128], reached #14 on the pop charts in the spring of
1969. The title of the song came from a comment on the Beverly Hillbillies television show when
Grandma said, "Hot smoke and sassafras, Jethro, can't you do anything right?" The followup, "If I Had a
Reason" [IA 133], however, only reached a disappointing #128 after its May release. Two additional
singles in 1969 failed to make the national charts at all. Their album A Gathering of Promises
was the only International Artists album to make the Top 200, reaching #176.
Other new artists for 1969 were Sonny Hall, the Shayds/Shayde, and Endle St. Cloud-In the Rain (a trio who also had an album released in 1970). The year 1970 was the last active year for the label, with singles by new artists Ginger Valley and Arnim & Hamilton.
All of the original pressings of the albums command premium prices today. Original copies of these twelve albums had either green labels with yellow print (mono), or green labels with silver print (stereo). Second pressings had yellow and blue labels, then all-yellow labels (similar to the 45 labels shown below). The label became inactive in 1970. In 1978-79, International Artists re-activated itself to re-issue their catalog. They reissued the albums with an aqua blue label, with "Masterfonics" in the runout grooves.They also reissued all twelve albums in a box set and in 1980 issued a thirteenth album, a 2-LP various artists set with many of the previously-non-LP singles. IA also reissued them in the UK on the International Artists/Radar label. Radar also issued an interesting two-song promotional flexidisc and a four-song EP (shown below).
Sometime in the 1980s, the label's masters were in the hands of the Charly label in the UK, who reissued many of the albums on their Decal subsidiary. Today, many if not most of the albums are available on CD, including a 6-CD box set from Collectables.
IA-LP-6 - Free Form
Patterns - Lightnin' Hopkins [1968] There were two covers for this album. The first showed
a photo of Hopkins, while the second (right) was a "psychedelic" cover. Mr.Charlie/Give Me Time To
Think/Fox Chase/Mr. Ditta's Grocery Store/Open Up Your Door//Baby Child/Cooking's Done/Got Her
Letter This Morning/Rain Falling/Mini Skirt
IALP - 13 - Epitaph for a
Legend: International Artists Story - Various Artists [1980] (2-LP
set) Issued in the UK as Decal LIKD 52, with a different cover (shown at right). Disc 1: Night
Time - Chaynes/In My Own Time - Patterns/I Tried So Hard - Chapparrals/A
Part of You - Thursday's Children/If I Were a Carpenter - Electric Rubayyat/Poor Planet Earth - Sonny
Hall/Communication Breakdown - Inner Sense/Hurricane Fighter Plane - Red Krayola/Pink Stainless Tail
- Red Krayola/Nickle Niceness - Red Krayola/Vile Vile Grass - Red Krayola/Transparent Radiation - Red
Krayola/I Want My Woman - Emperors/25 M.P.H. - Lost & Found; Disc 2: Breakfast in Bed - Big
Walter/C.C. Rider - Dave Allen/Saturday A.M. Blues - Dave Allen/Conversation with Lightnin' Hopkins -
Lightnin' Hopkins/Black Ghost Blues - Lightnin' Hopkins/Excerpts from Interview With Roky, KSAM
4/1/78 - Roky Erickson/You're Gonna Miss Me - Spades/We Sell Soul - Spades/Splash I - Roky & C.
Hall/Right Track Now - Roky & C. Hall/Wait for My Love - 13th Floor Elevators/60-Second Radio Spot for
Bull of the Woods - 13th Floor Elevators/Fire Engine - 13th Floor Elevators
