The Psychedelic Sounds of the 13th Floor Elevators & 10 Early Texas Psych Bands You Should Know

4. Conqueroo
Like Shiva's Headband, Conqueroo wasn't strictly a psychedelic band. Their sound was a fusion of acid rock, blues, jazz and folk. The group's style and sensibility was weird enough to make them a favorite at the Vulcan Gas Company, however, where they shared bills with pretty much everybody on this list at one time or another.

If YouTube isn't enough for you, you can seek out Conqueroo's album, From the Vulcan Gas Company, which was partially recorded in the club.

3. Josefus
Often tagged as Houston's first metal band, Josefus played a harder, darker brand of music closer to the acid-rock shenanigans of Iron Butterfly than the wild freakouts of the Elevators. The group came together over the course of a couple of gigs at Love Street, but legend has it that they were blackballed from the club after volatile drummer Doug Tull said some ungracious things onstage about the way International Artists treated its acts.

The best period recording of the band is 1970's independent release Dead Man. The record stood out enough to land the group a slot on a huge Grateful Dead bill at the Sam Houston Coliseum in 1969. If you'd like to delve a little deeper, pick up 2002's Dead Man aLive, which includes an hour of previously unreleased live and studio recordings.

2. Lost and Found
Houston's Lost and Found was another band in the Texas psych scene that was able to parlay a friendship with Roky Erickson into a deal with International Artists. After honing their sound during a a six-month residency at Houston's Living Eye Club, the band recorded its only album, Everybody's Here, in 1967. Wisely, it included a cover of the Elevators' "Don't Fall Down."

Like the Elevators, Lost And Found fancied themselves psychedelic explorers. According to some, one of the reasons the band signed with International Artists was because the label offered to have its lawyers help clear three of the band members of LSD-related charges.