INTERNATIONAL ARTISTS from Houston,
Texas is probably the most famous regional record label of the 1960s.
Among record collectors and fans of the esoteric, I A has been on the
map for many decades, and the legend shows no signs of fading. From the
initial burst of cult excitement in the mid-1970s, interest has
persisted and expanded, so that the spotlight now falls on a wider
circle than the two pyramids of weirdness that first drew people to I A;
Red Krayola and the 13th Floor Elevators. Today one may hear once
obscure I A bands like the Golden Dawn and Thursday's Children being
spoken of in an equally reverential manner as the Elevators and the
Krayola. There is something enigmatic in I A that keeps attracting new
generations of admirers.
The Coastliners
But let's begin at the beginning. International
Artists started out most humbly in 1965, founded in Houston by a young
music entrepreneur named Fred Carroll. The first release was the
Coastliners "Alright", which appeared in October 1965.
Although something of a garage classic today, the single didn't make
much impact. It seems Carroll lost
interest in his newly started label, and sold it to Bill Dillard, a
local lawyer who wanted to get in on the local music scene. For the
princely sum of $35 Dillard and his associates aquired International
Artists, which at the time consisted essentially of a printing die with
the familiar I A logo.
An I A corporation was formed, the owners being Dillard, his law firm
partner Noble Ginther, a former recording studio owner named Lester Martin, and one Ken Skinner, who would play a vital part in the early
days of the label. Skinner was mainly interested in making money fast
from the pop music business, and had already formed the Tapier Music
Corporation, a name recognizable to any 13th Floor Elevators fan.
Ginther and Martin remained in the background, while Bill Dillard and
Ken Skinner got involved with the hands-on business of the I A label.
During the first months of 1966 a series of unsuccessful 45 releases in
various (usually un-hip) styles followed.
Early 13th
Floor Elevators on stage
Then a series of events followed that would change I A forever. Skinner
& Dillard got wind of a local 45 from an Austin band, released on an
independent Houston label called Contact. The 45 was a big hit in both
Austin and Houston, and was making waves in other parts of Texas. The band name
was a little weird, the 13th Floor Elevators, but a lot of kids seemed
to love them. After some complex machinations, Contact and its owner
Gordon Bynum were muscled out, and International Artists signed the
Elevators around May 1966. The "You're Gonna Miss Me" 45 was
repressed with an I A label, and Ken Skinner celebrated this event by
crediting himself as "producer" on early runs (shown above -- Bynum was the
actual producer). From June and onwards the song began its second hit
run, this time breaking in several cities across the US, and peaking in
the Fall with a #55 position on Billboard and two Dick Clark
appearances.
The Elevators and "Miss Me" saga could fill a book on its own,
and apart from generating a lot of cash for the label, it brought
another important change - Lelan Rogers. The Houston-based I A owners
realized they were out of their depth with this potential hit single,
and thus Lelan Rogers was recruited from Los Angeles to handle promotion
and production. Lelan Rogers is probably the most mis-represented
character in the I A saga. Thanks mainly to his efforts the Elevators
broke nationwide, and he was instrumental in several other now legendary
acts getting signed.
It was also after the Elevators and Lelan came on
board that the label began to get a little� weird, shall we say?
Signings included an avant-rock group called Red Crayola (later Red
Krayola), a bunch of recently busted teenage drug fiends called Lost
& Found, and an ambitious but inexperienced band named the Golden
Dawn. The first Elevators album was an underground hit with highly
respectable sales figures for an independent, regional label, and the
coming year turned out to be very interesting for I A. Several 45s were
released, including classics by the Thursday's Children, although the 'second hit' after "You're Gonna Miss Me" proved
elusive.
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I A
dreaming of a second hit, November 1966 |
The label poured a lot of money into the Elevators, who were their
flagship act. The band was kept on a weekly salary (later deducted from
sales) and substantial investments in equipment and studio time were
made for the band's second LP, "Easter Everywhere". Although
hailed as a masterpiece today, the lack of hit 45 and a delayed release
meant that "Easter" generated only modest sales, and was never
reprinted. In 1968, as the weird mix of freak bands, blues, and pop acts
persistently failed to produce strong sales, the label began to behave
nervously.
Walt Andrus in his Houston
studio 1967, where several of I A:s best
releases were recorded
After some internal disagreements Lelan Rogers left I A in February '68, which didn't improve the talent scouting or level of
professionalism. In an ironic twist, I A:s original founder Fred Carroll
was hired to handle the production after Lelan left. The label kept
hoping for the Elevators to bring back the days of '66, but the
Elevators were falling apart too, with extended sessions at I A:s newly
purchased Houston recording studio (formerly Gold Star) producing little, and the desperate
45 picks doing poor, except locally. During the second half of 1968, the
end seemed to be approaching fast.
Early, pre-hit
Bubble Puppy gig at Vulcan Gas in Austin
Then fortune struck again, as I A in the middle of this mess managed to
come up with that second hit 45, even more unlikely than the first one.
Bubble Puppy was a young band from various parts of Texas with a fresh,
energetic sound that went over well with both teenyboppers and freaks.
Signed by I A early on, they moved to Houston and promptly delivered a
debut 45 "Hot Smoke & Sassafras" which became a national
hit on an even bigger scale than "You're Gonna Miss Me". This
stroke of luck poured gas into a tank that must have been running on
fumes, and several more 45 and album releases followed in 1969-1970 -
often weird and uncommercial, and none of them hits, but released they
were. The I A corporation also expanded by aquiring a record plant in
Nashville, where the later releases were pressed.
Ray Rush, one
of I A:s producers during the post-Lelan era
But there was no more "Sassafras" in store for I A, and the
activity fizzled out in 1970-71, with some dying gasp 45 and LP
releases, before the company filed for bankruptcy in April 1971 (I A
owner Bill Dillard blames the IRS for the label's downfall). In
ordinary cases, this would have been the last anyone ever heard of
International Artists, but I A was no ordinary label.
Only a few years later, a cult interest in the mysterious Houston label
began rearing its head. This early buzz emanated mainly from Texas and
England and, coupled with the revived 1970s careers of Roky Erickson and
the Krayola's Mayo Thompson, soon seeped into rock music publications
such as Bomp, Zig-Zag, and Dark Star. A Texas-based music fanzine, Not
Fade Away, devoted substantial parts of its contents to I A acts.
Ad in Not Fade Away magazine,
1975
An
"I A Fan Club" was founded, and in short time Lelan Rogers,
still in the LA music biz, caught wind of the interest. Lelan had
invested a lot of time and energy in his various I A projects in the
60s, not just the Elevators but also things like the Lightnin' Hopkins
album, which was a pet project of his. The I A magic had gotten to him
too, even as he helped to create it. In a rare move for the music
industry, Lelan decided to revive the I A label, only 6 years after its
demise. Although the commercial potential wasn't as great as the
enthusiasm in Texas and England suggested, this late 1970s resurrection
contributed lots to the growing legend of the label, and led to the
release of a 12-LP box set, reissues of the Elevators and Red Krayola by
Radar in the UK, and the archival "Epitaph For A Legend".
Promo ad (c1980) for what would become "Epitaph For A Legend"
In the 1980s, Lelan decided to move on, and began leasing I A:s music
catalog to Charly Records in England, which was followed by a formal
sales transaction in the 1990s. Lelan Rogers passed away in the early
2000s, reportedly bitter of the inaccurate slander and mud thrown at him
by misguided I A fans and writers during the 1980s-90s. Without Lelan,
the strange grandeur of International Artists wouldn't exist, and his
personal commitment to the label and bands went far beyond normal
business considerations.
Lelan
Rogers, 1928 - 2002
see
also:
International Artists
Discography
� PATRICK
LUNDBORG, 2007-2008
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