The Thingies were a peripatetic band, settling and playing shows in a number of locations, and occasionally recording. A full story of the band is on the Cicadelic site. I wanted to include a brief post on the Thingies because of their single on Casino Records.
In late 1962, Larry Miller formed the TR4 while he was stationed with the Air Force in Topeka, Kansas.
The TR4 were:
Don Ferguson – lead guitar Dave Daws – organ Larry Miller – bass and vocals Joe Rodriguez – drums
The TR4 released a single in 1963, “Peter Rabbit” backed with a stomping instrumental, “Surfin’ TR” on Exclusive Records.
In 1964 the band added Phil Weaver as lead vocalist and changed their name to the Coachmen. Gordon Marcellus replaced Joe Rodriguez on drums.
By 1965 the lineup changed again along with the band name to the Thingies:
Fabulous Thingies at the Emporia Civic Auditorium, Nov 11, 1966
Phil Weaver – lead vocals John Dalton – lead guitar Ernie Swisher – organ Larry Miller – bass Gordon Marcellus – drums
They released “It’s a Long Way Down” / “Merry Go Round Of Life” on Casino in early 1966. The group played often in Omaha, Nebraska, where the band first learned about psychedelics. The West Coast Pop Art Experimental Band played at The Tiki Club in Topeka, and they helped the Thingies get a light show together according to Larry Miller.
In December, 1966, the Thingies recorded two original at Fairyland Studios in Columbia, MO, “English Eyes” / “No Matter What The World May Say” that were not released at the time, but “English Eyes” appeared on the CD “The Thingies Have Arrived” on Collectables. That CD also features one vocal and two instrumental takes of another original, “I’m Going Ahead”.
The Thingies spent the summer of 1967 in Miami, playing regularly at a huge teen club called The World.
Georgetown Megaphone Sept. 29, 1967
They went to Waco, where Phil Weaver had family, then moved to Austin, Texas in September. One of their earliest shows in Austin was at a Love-In at Zilker Hillside Theater on September 24.
In an article headlined Capital Cops Tops With Hippie Love-In, reporter Mary Callaway gets a little carried away, but still presents a great window onto the Thingies stage show:
Freak-out music dramas presented by the Thingies, a national psychedelic band.
Dressed in a collage of costumes from full monk garbe to Daniel Boone, the Thingies presented a trip experience in which an amber light caught on the jags and peaks of a lump of raspberry jello one into a dream of all worldly objects and abstract concepts merging into one single sound which becomes dust, spirals, and creates a new being. Then the drums and guitars pick up the poet’s rhythm and “Gloria” crashes in in full orchestra.
In “Suzi Creamcheez, What’s Got Into You” the female member of the band expresses a trip experience in which for twenty minutes, with wailing guitars, computer sounds, and aggressive band members, throw her absurd world into supersonic gear, and pathetically enough she screams frantically throughout the drama.
The Austin Daily Texan writer Merry Clark had a more sober account, and named the other bands on the bill:
The Jackels from Dallas began the afternoon playing a new sound for the group formerly known as the Chessmen. They were followed by the Austin Conqueroo …. then a newer Austin band composed mostly of University architecture students, Shiva’s Head Band … A group of men from Bergstrom Air Force Base called the Afro-Caravan [with] Robert King, the leader of the group.
The evening program began and ended with a light show, “Mothers of Invention” sound, and freak out of the Thingies band from Miami.
Austin Love-In with the Jackals, the Conqueroo, Shiva’s Headband, Afro-Caravan, and the Thingies, Austin Daily Texan, Sept. 26, 1967 Over the next six months, the Thingies would play many live shows at the Matchbox, the Vulcan Gas Company, the Pleasure Dome and other venues. Their manager (Night Productions) owned the 11th Street Folk Club, and the group recorded some live shows but the tapes have apparently been lost.
The band signed with Sonobeat, who recorded them at the Swinger’s Club during the club’s off hours, and did overdubs at KAZZ-FM studios. The single featured Gordon Marcellus and Larry Miller’s original “Mass Confusion” backed with Phil Weaver and Bob Cole’s “Rainy Sunday Morning”. Recorded in December, 1967, Sonobeat didn’t release it until the spring of 1968, by which time the Thingies had split up.
Unreleased songs from the Sonobeat sessions include “I Died”, “Mrs. Baker”, “Richard’s Song”, all without finished vocal tracks. You can hear “Mrs. Baker” on the Sonobeat page for the Thingies.
Gordon Marcellus passed away in 2004, Phil Weaver passed in 2014, and Larry Miller passed away at 74 in 2017.
Thingies at the Match Box, Austin Daily Texan, Nov 29, 1967
An additional source was Mojo Mills’ interview with Larry Miller in Shindig.
Night Productions: the Thingies management in Austin
The Thingies, partial gig list:
September 3, 1966 – at the Skyline Club, Manhattan, Kansas
November 12, 1966 – The Fabulous Thingies at the Emporia Civic Auditorium
June 30, 1967 – Atchison, KS Memorial Auditorium
September 24, 1967 – Zilker Hillside Theater, Austin, TX, Love-In with the Jackals, the Conqueroo, Shiva’s Headband and the Afro-Caravan.
September 29 and September 30, 1967 – the IL Club, Austin, TX
October 3, 1967 – New Orleans Club, Austin October 20 and October 21, 1967 – The IL Club, Austin (“After Hours 1 a.m. – 4 a.m.”) October 31, 1967 – New Orleans Club, Austin (“Halloween Ball … wear mask”)
November 29, 1967 – The Match Box, Austin
December 15 and December 16, 1967 – The Pleasure Dome, Austin
December 29 and December 30, 1967 – Hilltop Club, Atchison, KS “The Thingies out of Austin … Just back from the Bahama Islands” ?!
Notorious even in distant Fort Stockton, TX, reported in the Pioneer, Nov. 30, 1967
Final poster for The Other Place, featuring the Huckleberry Mudflap
Once upon a dream, a sage became a bright butterfly and visited secret places in far-away lands. The dream was so real that, upon awakening, he wondered: am I now a man who dreamt he was a butterfly, or am I a butterfly now dreaming I am a man?
Thus read the legend on the most gorgeous concert poster from ‘60s North Carolina I had ever seen. In fact, the colors and lettering were so good that I spent the last several years with the image in the back of my mind with a mental footnote that it was probably a later reproduction. A magenta and aquamarine background camouflaged the face of a lovely woman peering down on a red-capped mushroom with white stalk, on which the opening paragraph was written sideways in small cursive script, while a large, ornate and matching red/white butterfly design drew the eye up and right. It was exquisite.
The design and color scheme was just what you hope for in a psychedelic piece of the era. It would have been good enough to announce the appearance of Jefferson Airplane and Moby Grape at the Fillmore West. Alas, this was no lost San Francisco concert herald. The headline in white against the red mushroom top in beautiful stylized lettering read, “The Other Place, The Huckleberry Mudflap, Monday Aug. 26 thru Saturday Aug. 31 at the Rec. Center near mile post 12 Nags Head.”
Huckleberry Mudflap was no mystery. They were a well-remembered group around eastern Carolina, hailing from Harkers Island, NC. Their two 45s are quite nice. “Blue Surf” is a mellow sunshine pop account of a stroll on the beach. “Goodnight Mrs. Kollendoffer (Wherever You Are)” is the more mind-bending side.
This venue The Other Place at the Rec Center was more obscure. The most popular concert club in Nags Head was The Casino, their equivalent of the Myrtle Beach Pavilion. That’s where all the beach circuit bands landed. In fact, whatever The Other Place had going during the summer of ’68 would have been up against some serious competition from the Casino calendar that season. No trip to Nags Head was complete without a visit to the Casino or so I’ve been told.
‘Fessa John Hook would be able to rattle off a string of artists that played the Casino. As a beach music expert and DJ, ‘Fessa (that’s professor in cool-speak) John is conversant in all things shag-worthy. So, when he asked me recently, on the reputation of my Facebook group Carolina Rock ‘n’ Roll Remembered, if I could recommend any interesting show posters, I immediately thought of the Other Place. I told him the provenance was still in question, the jury was still out, but they (I had an inkling of two other designs in the series) were beautiful and deserved more study. While they weren’t really for beach dance bands, the events, if they were genuine, in that location at that time would certainly have some overlapping interest. John agreed. I was on the case.
I shot Morris Willis of Huckleberry Mudflap a message. Did the show as advertised take place? If the poster were a fantasy piece, it’s possible the related content was dreamt up. Morris responded shortly and gave me my first glimpse inside The Other Place. It most certainly did exist and The Mudflap had played that week.
Third poster for the Other Place, featuring the Wild Kingdom and the Aliens, each playing a week
How about those posters, though? The thought still hung with me that someone had revisited an idealized version of their youth and designed these in more recent years, maybe to sell in gift shops up and down the Outer Banks. It wasn’t a bad idea. They were just too good and raised many unanswered questions. Who was capable of such a thing in 1968? Why would they be associated only with a tiny, forgotten club on the beach and feature small regional acts mostly unknown an hour’s drive away? They obviously represented considerable effort and skill. There was no immediate example of anything nearly so well-done in the region. There was one pretty cool pink and orange Janis Joplin poster from UNC the next year, but it was bland alongside The Other Place posters. Most of the Carolina concert posters of the era were boxing style “blanks,” a reusable standard layout that would have the name of artists and dates swapped out with little expense before the next printing. That was another head-scratcher. How were these minor works of art an affordable marketing tool?
Nags Head, NC Rec Center at milepost 12, April 1968.
Among the many questions, the one I hoped to answer next was, “Did these posters exist in 1968?” I turned to facebook. In an Outer Banks “remember when” group I ran across some mention of The Other Place and the Nags Head Rec Center, sometimes called the Mann’s Center after the family who managed it. Since the early ‘50s it had featured a revolving array of amusements; Bingo parlor, roller skating rink, duck pin bowling, dance hall, pinball and pool tables, snack bar and grill. It was built by Gaston Mann who also built the nearby fishing pier. By 1968 his son Bryan and daughter-in-law Blanche were overseeing the operation. Gaston’s wife Ella was still the grandmotherly matron of the place, running the popcorn and cotton candy machines. The Other Place occupied the north half of the large one-story building that summer. Folks in the facebook group remembered blacklights, strobes, day-glo body paint, far-out designs on the walls, even Huckleberry Mudflap, but no one would say for sure that they remembered the posters.
Deep in the recesses of the facebook group’s photo archive I ran across an image posted some years ago. It was an announcement for a couple of shows at The Other Place, The Swinging Machine and Willie T. & The Magnificents. It wasn’t quite as fancy as the posters I had seen. The Other Place lettering was similar and it did feature the same detailed butterfly design. Most importantly, it had yellowed tape in a couple of spots along the edges with the feel of age and authenticity. The print also featured a three-color fade effect I call “Neopolitan ice cream” that was common in North Carolina at the time, a technique overused by the Benton Card Co. of Benson, NC. I was feeling convinced that at least some elements in the posters were period accurate.
I turned back to my friends at Carolina Rock ‘n’ Roll Remembered on facebook with these developments and asked, “Does anyone remember these posters? Are they legit?” A few comments in, our Virginia expert Jack Garrett confirmed. He remembered one of the posters hanging on a friend’s wall when they were in high school. He knew they were for real the moment I posted, he said. “Because Jack said so,” is good enough for me, but I wanted to wave the smoking gun in people’s face.
Fourth poster for The Other Place, featuring the Swinging Machine for a week, followed by the Slithy Toves, both Virginia bands
Aside from Huckleberry Mudflap there were no band names I recognized on the posters. I didn’t think they were Carolina groups. I Googled The Swinging Machine and The Slithy Toves. They were Virginia groups. The Swinging Machine had been tackled here on Garage Hangover and both of those groups have facebook pages. The Slithy Toves soundcloud stream is impressive. I especially like their version of “Early Morning Fear.”
I dove into The Swinging Machine facebook page, reading comments on photos posted years before. I ran across a very cool amateur bit of psychedelia in the form of a flyer for a show at The Light House in Portsmouth, VA. Comments suggested it was the handiwork of band member Vince Screeney. It wasn’t on the level of The Other Place material, but the feel was there. These guys were undoubtedly a part of that scene and must know who was behind The Other Place posters.
Ron Primm, psychedelic artist, 1967.
Somewhere in the exchange of captions and comments on The Swinging Machine page I spotted a clue, a passing reference to a local psychedelic design artist named Ron Primm. Soon friend requests and follow-up inquiries were sent to Mr. Primm and the office of the Norfolk advertising agency bearing his name.
My message to Ron Primm was not much different than a dozen I had sent in recent days. Do you know anything about The Other Place or this Huckleberry Mudflap poster? I had also posted obsessively about The Other Place on my facebook profile for a few days leading up to this attempt at contact.
The next day when I logged on to facebook I found a notification that Ron Primm had accepted my friend request. Further, he had commented on my post about the Mudflap mushroom poster. “It’s the work of the artist Chas Ober,” was his brief answer, then another half-dozen comments, each containing an image of a different poster from The Other Place. I was gobsmacked.
Charlie Ober, in Travel Bureau t-shirt, intensely focused during an exhibition in New Jersey, 1967.Ernie Hamblin, technical engineer and spokesman for The Travel Bureau.
Shortly I found myself on the telephone with Ron and scribbled like crazy on a notepad for nearly an hour. He was the youngest, at 85, and only living member of an artist collective known as The Travel Bureau. He and Charlie Ober (1928-2014) were the trained artists in the group, but the troupe was very much a multi-media experiment.
Ernie Hamblin (1933-2011), who Ron credits as spokesman for the group, was billed in press of the day as technical engineer and visionary Bob Fischbeck (1922-1999) was described as a photographer and musician.
The Travel Bureau, l to r: Bob Fischbeck pours oil into a clock glass on an overhead projector while Ernie Hamblin, Charlie Ober and Ron Primm operate tandem slide projectors during an exhibition in Atlantic City, NJ, Oct 6, 1967.The Travel Bureau logo, by Ron Primm, circa 1967.
The Travel Bureau were a bit of a psychedelic circus, bringing liquid light shows and sounds to a number of venues and happenings along the east coast at least as early as the spring of 1967. I asked Ron if any in the group had ever experimented with hallucinogens. “We were too old for that,” he said, adding that he was the only one of the four who was even much of a drinker. They were curious professional types.
Ron worked for The Virginian-Pilot, a large circulation newspaper covering Hampton Roads. The paper was keenly aware of the changing youth culture and, in a bid to stay hip, published a weekly tabloid magazine insert for the teen set called Action. The paper sponsored a battle of the bands at the Virginia Beach Dome emceed by local radio personality Gene Loving. This was one of the first events the group undertook to make psychedelic.
from the Norfolk, VA Ledger-Star, Saturday Feb. 3, 1968: “A Compelling Show [at the Norfolk Museum].” Original caption reads, “The three men are, left to right, graphic artist Ron Primm, photographer Bob Fischbeck and graphic artist Charley Ober. They are members of ‘The Travel Bureau,’ a group which explores psychedelic effects.”Ron traveled to New York City and visited clubs in Long Island and Lower Manhattan that had already developed a reputation for the new look. He took what he observed back to Virginia and wrote about it for Action magazine. The Travel Bureau would soon apply some of these borrowed lighting techniques and gradually develop some of their own innovations. It was the first time most of the Tidewater kids had ever seen strobes or blacklights, let alone wet slide projections and color organs.
The Travel Bureau lenticular calling card, circa 1967.
And it wasn’t just the kids who were curious about the new light shows. Early Travel Bureau exhibitions were held in art galleries and at Norfolk Museum and written up in local art columns. The group booked events as far afield as Philadelphia and Atlantic City. The name Travel Bureau was not only a nod to their skill at providing drugless trips, it summed up their “have light show, will travel” dedication to exhibit on the move. Soon they would become artists-in-residence at teen rock clubs, where live music provided an important organic element missing from some of their early shows, which relied on recorded sound.
The first such club they were to design was The Light House in Portsmouth, VA. From the article “Psychedelic Light House Opens” in the July 9, 1967 edition of The Virginian-Pilot:
Psychedelic projection was developed locally by the Travel Bureau. These four have made over 1,000 color slides that project patterns of squares, circles and abstract images in-between at a rapid pace. Two projectors run at the same time, focused on the same screen — producing double images that jump, twist and gyrate in time to the loudest, wildest rock ‘n’ roll music that can be found in this area.
The bandstand will be lighted by no less than six projectors. The bands will actually be performing in the patterns of projection which will be thrown upon a large circular background — similar to a Cinerama movie screen. The rear wall of the Light House will be illuminated by strips of light eight feet high that will pulsate to the beat of the music. In addition to the projections, the band runway will have sound-actuated colored spotlights.
A seventh machine will project large abstract forms on a translucent screen which allows viewing from both inside and outside the building. The other wall will feature a mural of designs that fluoresce under strips of ultra-violet lights.
It is easy to see why the owners decided to name the place The Light House.
If they don’t blow a fuse on opening night, the place will be open from 8 until 11:30 o’clock Wednesday through Saturday nights. Opening on Friday will be The Swingin’ Machine and The Prophets in Flight with the Chaparalls. On Saturday night, the background noise-music will be provided by The Beechnuts and The Sound Effects. Coming soon will be Dennis and the Times, The Sheepherders and The Malibus.
Charlie Ober in booth at the Other Place
The Other Place, newspaper advertisement for opening weekend, May 31st, 1968.
In a preview press showing at the club, the effect could truthfully be said to be visually stunning. In other showings, F.D. Cossitt, The Virginian-Pilot’s art critic, called it “very sophisticated and often breathtaking visually.”
More than fifty years later, Ron Primm is still impressed by the symbiotic relationship their visuals shared with the music, pulsing light and color nestled into a heartbeat of sound. “It was pretty stimulating,” Ron reflects. And it was loud. From the article “Your Senses Deepen in Land of Psychedelia” in the September 8, 1967 edition of the Norfolk Ledger-Star:
Powerful amplifiers are a must, so that the music will blot out every other sound, and project physical vibration to the individuals assembled.
Ron Primm of Norfolk, a pioneer of psychedelic effects in the area, explained that the purpose is to “combine the effects on sight, sound, motion and touch to obliterate everything but the immediate activity.”
Second poster for The Other Place featuring the face of Swinging Machine vocalist Gary Richardson
The Swinging Machine would become a regular act at The Light House and, the next summer, The Other Place. Lead singer Gary Richardson would become the literal poster child of the scene. His face in blue stares out from one of The Other Place posters designed by Ron Primm.
The Swinging Machine from Portsmouth, VA, 1968. Gary Richardson front and center, just a month before his death.
Tragically, Gary died in July of 1968 while inhaling freon. While the band continued for a time with a new singer, “Gary was the soul of the group,” the way Ron recalls it. His death also hit his friends in The Travel Bureau hard. In Charlie Ober’s scrapbook there are several lengthy articles from the local press clipped and lovingly tipped in. He was the bright star that burned out too fast.
Ernie Hamblin applies a finishing touch in preparing to open The Other Place. Far out designs covered nearly any available surface.
The summer of ’68 found The Travel Bureau at the height of their achievement. Charlie Ober’s daughter Chris was 18 that year. She was “conscripted” by her father to work on The Other Place project. Ahead of the May 31st opening a complete interior redesign was in store for the north half of Nags Head Rec, by the pier near milepost 12.
Attention to detail; table tops in The Other Place featured the iconic butterfly logo and assorted psychedelic designs.The light and sound control booth at The Other Place.
First the walls were painted black. Then the new club logo, Ron Primm’s butterfly emblem, was screen-printed on walls, floors and table tops in a variety of bright day-glo colors. An assortment of necessary gear was installed in the light/sound booth to include the trademark overhead projector. It would be plied with shallow glass bowls borrowed from the faces of school clocks doused with colored oils, caressed and guided as the planchette on a spirit board until vibrant ghosts were summoned and cast eerily over the walls, the crowd and performers alike.
Opening poster for The Other Place featuring the Hang 5 Mann and Sheepherders International Trade UnionButterfly logo for The Other Place, by Ron Primm, 1968.
The first poster for the new venue featured the butterfly, The Travel Bureau logo, also designed by Ron, and the note “Under 20.” It was intended as a teen club. It was something new, an alternative to the usual shag dance, like the one happening the same night over at The Casino and featuring Bob Marshall & The Crystals. At least The Other Place had the novelty of something new on their side, and the cooler poster. It can be seen in situ posted on the wall outside the entrance in one of the color photos from Charlie’s album.
Entrance to the new teen club, The Other Place. Opening week poster is visible on the right.
What made these old guys pour everything into such a project? Ron talks about how much work went into preparing and operating the club that season. These family men would work their regular day jobs in Virginia, drive down to Nags Head, stay until midnight and drive back to Virginia, or sometimes stay over on the weekends. Chris Ober was their resident body paint artist. It was a family affair. For all the hard work, it must have held all the excitement of a brand new hobby. Even without beer sales, the lifesblood of most nightspots, Ron says the club managed to make a little money during that brief era which he described as “a hiccup in time,” when things were strange and novel for a moment.
The Mush Room inside The Other Place, Nags Head.
Bryan Mann was tolerant of what went on next door, but it was so loud he would occasionally stroll over and threaten to pull the plug if they couldn’t keep it down. The uneasy peace between two worlds about to collide was nothing new in Nags Head, or even on Mann’s property. I imagine the guys drinking beer and shooting pool were about as happy about the racket from The Other Place as they were about the surfers getting close to the pier while they were fishing. Some of the old surfers tell me it wasn’t the “Absolutely No Surfboarding” signs that kept them away from the pier. It was the singular experience of being pelted with 3-ounce lead weights by the angry fishermen.
Other Place interior double-exposure image
Bryan Mann’s daughter Anna said it was a thrilling time and place to be 13 years old. Her dad may have been concerned about ill-behaved hippies coming to town, but the band members were nice and got along with her parents and grandmother. She remembers one of the band members, though she’s not sure from which group, being very friendly and making conversation with the older Mrs. Mann. They must have talked about the music that was popular when she was a girl, because the band dedicated a pepped up version of “O Susanna” to her that night. I like to think it was Morris Willis from Huckleberry Mudflap, who told me The Other Place was one of their favorite gigs and they enjoyed everyone they met. Or maybe even Gary Richardson from The Swinging Machine who would be dead in less than a month but had an unmistakable charm that reached beyond his generation.
Second-to-last poster for the Other Place, with the Franklin Freight Train, The Genesis and The NyteThe Other Place large butterfly medallion, custom made for members of The Travel Bureau, 1968.
With the approach of Labor Day, The Other Place closed up along with the Nags Head Rec Center. The Travel Bureau had finished their last long-term installation. They discussed opening again for the 1969 season but the prospect of that tiresome commute and truly hard work was daunting. When they went down that spring and found everything packed up and ready to go, the decision was easy. The Other Place was done.
Very shortly The Travel Bureau as a group would write “finis” to the project that had brightened a lot of lives over the previous two years. Bob Fischbeck would buy out the other partners and keep the lighting equipment and continue to put on shows for quite some time. There was something profound about Bob’s passion for these things. He found a sort of mysticism surrounding their sensory experimenting. It can be said without slight that Bob had a special mind. He had received a serious head injury in an automobile accident and was thereby “freed from normal perception,” as one of Charlie’s children helped me put it into words when we discussed the matter.
Bob Fischbeck and Ron Primm turning a portion of the Nags Head Rec Center into The Other Place, May 1968.A new chapter opens, The Other Place, page from Charlie Ober’s scrapbook.
The pages of Charlie Ober’s scrapbook are filled with tantalizing items relating to a time and place virtually undocumented elsewhere. The Neopolitan ice cream Other Place announcements were postcards, a set preserved in Charlie’s album. Event pages from local newspapers announce concerts by famous traveling acts while Light House events took place on the fringe. It was a small and precious counterculture. Soon pop culture would embrace psychedelia and wear the novelty off.
Somewhere in that far off Other Place, half a century ago, the shutters are open to a salty ocean breeze and a glowing, translucent butterfly is winging in for a landing on a giant mushroom. Maybe it was only a hiccup in time, but, man! What a colorful hiccup!
Vance Pollock April 2020
List of bands at the Other Place, 1968:
Friday May 31, 1968 (Opening night) and Saturday, June 1: The Hang 5 Mann Friday, June 7 – Thursday, June 13: The Sheepherders Trade Union International Friday, June 14 – Thursday, June 20: The Swinging Machine Friday, June 21 – Sunday, June 30: Willie T. & the Impressions Monday, July 1 – Sunday, July 7: Wild Kingdom Monday, July 8 – Sunday, July 14: The Aliens Monday, July 15 – Sunday, July 21: The Swinging Machine Monday, July 22 – Sunday, July 29: The Slithy Toves Monday, July 29 – Sunday, August 4: The Huckleberry Mudflap Monday, August 5: Dividing Line Tuesday, August 6: Agents Wednesday, August 7: The Psychos Thursday, August 8 and Friday, August 9: The Sun Saturday, August 10 and Sunday, August 11: The Sassafras Tea Monday, August 12 – Sunday, August 18: Franklin Freight Train Monday, August 19 – Thursday, August 22: The Genesis Friday, August 23 – Sunday, August 25: The Nyte Monday, August 26 – Sunday, August 31: Huckleberry Mudflap
The Bourbons are something of a mystery group. I have never seen a photo of the band and don’t know most of the names of the group.
Lee Poundstone is the Lee credited with writing the songs on their only single.
Ricky Jones left a comment below saying he played keyboards with the group.
I’ve found two notices for one of the Bourbons rare live shows, at Teen Town on 3524 S. New Braunfels in San Antonio on October 21, 1966. Their single on Royal Family 45-267 dates to March, 1967 according to Teen Beat Mayhem. I suppose the 267 release number must fit into Bob Tanner’s TNT pressing plant list, as TNT Music published the songs.
At The Casket in Kerrville – same band?Both sides are classic Texas garage, “A Dark Corner” having a guitar line something like the Elevators’ “Roller Coaster” but with more menace to it.
“Of Old Approximately (A Time for a Change)” has a great sound, from the wailing harp to the buzzsaw guitar.
I found another notice for the Bourbons playing at The Casket in Kerrville, an hour’s drive north west of San Antonio in July, 1967. It’s possible this is not the same group.
If anyone has a photo of the group or knows something about the Bourbons, or the other groups on these listings: the Gothics, the Aggressors, the Catalinas, the Spidels, Mods and the Sound, please contact me.
Ricky Jones told me “the Aggressors morphed into Band Ayd after Terrell O’Neill (of the former Cave Dwellers) joined the band as lead singer.” I am hoping Ricky will provide more info and some photos of the band.
Lee Poundstone has a credit for playing bass on Rosalie Sorrels LP on Sire, Travelin’ Lady, though I don’t know if this is the same person.
Here is a truly unknown single by the Odyssey, “Just to Be” b/w “Sunday Time” on Yorkshire Records YO 154. I’m not sure of the pressing date, but Leonard Novarro registered “Sunday Time” with the Library of Congress in July, 1968.
I couldn’t find a Library of Congress registration for “Just to Be”, but BMI lists the song as “Just to Be the Way I Want to Be” with Warner-Tamerlane.
Leonard Novarro, Vincent Leary and Richard Nusser co-composed the song.
Richard Nusser may have been the columnist for the Village Voice.
Vincent Leary may be the same Vinny Leary who played guitar with the Fugs on their earliest albums, and again in the mid-80s. Vinny Leary was also an engineer at Variety Recording Studio. This was one of only two song-writing credits he has on BMI, the other being co-composer of “Virgin Forest” with Ted Berrigan and Lee Soren Crabtree; there is also a “Benson Leary” credited on the Fugs’ “Doin’ All Right”.
David Gornston’s name appears as publisher. Ten years prior Gornston published a number of Big Bob Dougherty’s songs on Golden Crest: including “Honky”, “Squeezer”, “Lover’s Love” and “Lorelei”.
Golden Crest was based in Huntington, NY. I’m not sure where Yorkshire Records was located, but the label produced other good singles by the Dolphins, from Larchmont, and the Saxons, from West Palm Beach.
Leonard A. Novarro registered many other copyrights. Although the Odyssey labels spell his name as L. Navarro, it seems Novarro is correct. So far I haven’t discovered if any of the following were recorded:
In August 1967, Novarro registered “Don’t Disturb the Artist” and “Gypsy Man”.
In January 1969, using the pseudonym Gideon, Novarro registered “Candy Buttons”, “Dusty Shoes”, The Homecoming”, “Lady Liar”, “Sweet-Talkin’ Child”.
In May of 1970, he registered “Baby’s Sleeping”, “Sunny Day Woman” and “Time Again”, and in August “Hear My Warning” and “Legend of a Love Child, Linda” (echoes of Donovan on this title).
Thank you to J.W. Honeycutt for alerting me to the Odyssey single. Some info on Vinny Leary came from Mr. Smith, the Sybarite Who Also Was a Teacher by Warren Allen Smith.
Here’s an odd single by The Pottery Outfit, which seems to be Randy Fuller collaborating with Howard Steele on one side and Johnny Daniel on the other.
“Captain Zig-Zag” is an unabashed tribute to rolling papers: “the happy paper maker, makes the paper to make you merry, accompany you to the land of mari…” and “this paper will help you ease your mind”.
The R. Fuller – H. Steele credit suggests Randy Fuller and bassist Howard Steele. Publishing through Brave New World, but I can’t find any record of copyright registration.
The music backing is excellent, possibly featuring Mike Ciccarelli on lead guitar and DeWayne Quirico on drums.
Between the suggestive lyrics and trademark issues, it’s no surprise this was not released beyond a few white label 45s with a blank label B-side.
In 1966, Randy released his first single under his own name, “It’s Love Come What May” / “Wolfman” on Mustang Records 3020. He recorded two songs for a follow-up single on Mustang 3023, which never saw release. One of these, “Things You Do” showed up as the B-side of the 1967 UK release of “It’s Love Come What May” on President Records PT 111.
Blank label plays Randy Fuller’s “Now She’s Gone” The other song from that unreleased Mustang single, “Now She’s Gone”, appears on the blank-label B-side of the Pottery Outfit. Randy Fuller and John Daniel co-wrote both “Things You Do” and “Now She’s Gone”. John Daniel’s full name appears in BMI as John Calvin Daniel.
Released on Edsel 777, the Pottery Outfit has Δ69864 in the run-out of both sides, dating it to January or February 1968 (possibly December 1967).
I’ve read that “Now She’s Gone” is on the B-side of his second single on Showtown, “1,000 Miles into Space”, but I haven’t actually seen a label with that song. I’ve only seen promo versions that have “1,000 Miles into Space” on both sides – can anyone confirm this?
The Four of Us came from Queens, NY, though I’m not sure which neighborhood.
“I Don’t Need No One” is good tough garage with sax, written by Joseph Guido, Stephen Guido, and Jose Maldonado, all probably members of the group.
“I Don’t Need No One” was reviewed as the top side in Cash Box in January, 1966: “Raunchy funky shouting tune based on an everpresent solid beat. Strong guitar and hard vocal work could start this one off toward being a biggie.”
The flip is the more pop “Iga Diga Doo”, technically the A-side, written by Harold Onderdonk, George Bonetti, Tom Cox, and Jim Carrick. Merrimac Music Corp. published both sides. This team also wrote “Stomp ‘Em Out” for the Exterminators on Chancellor CHC 1148, the flip to “The Beetle Bomb”, but were not credited on the label. Ding Dong Music Corp published “Stomp ‘Em Out”, registering copyright in April, 1964 (March, 1964 for “The Beetle Bomb”).
The Four of Us was released on Brunswick 55288. Producer Harry Goodman was Benny Goodman’s brother.
I would appreciate more info or photos of the group.
Joey Guido and Jose Maldonado (as Jose Mala) formed the Koala with Anthony Wesley, Joe Alexander and Louis Caine, releasing an album & single on Capitol in 1969 featuring all original songs by Guido and Maldonado. In 1974, Jose Mala replaced Eric Emerson in the Magic Tramps.
The Venetian Blinds released a great double-sided record in August, 1967, “Just Knowin’ You Love Me” and “Quit Your Belly Achin’ Baby”.
The band came from Atlanta, Georgia.
Members were Ric Jansen, Steve Abstance, Lance Adams, Mike Nolen, and Bill Allen.
On November 11, 1967, the Atlanta Constitution ran a short profile of the band headlined “‘Venetian Blinds’ Are Rolled Out”, written by Charlie Burks.
DJ Don Rose came up with the band’s name on his WQXI show when he said “The Doors, The Electric Prunes, The Strawberry Alarm Clock … Next it’ll be The Chairs or The Tables or The Venetian Blinds.”
The article mentions a second recording, “Bad News Girl” / “What’s His Face” and says “it has psychedelic overtones and should hit the charts.” I wonder if these songs exist on acetate or tape.
The Grudge Records label has an address of 470 Springwood in San Antonio, Texas. I don’t know why the group had their single released with an obscure Texas label. The article has no mention of Texas. That San Antonio address led to some confusion. Doug Hanners and Dave Shutt listed the band in the 2nd edition of Journey to Tyme, and the Eva label included “Quit Your Belly Achin’ Baby” on Texas Punk From The Sixties (vol. 2), released in 1985.
Ric Jansen wrote both songs, with arrangement help by Mike Nolen on “Just Knowin’ You Love Me”. Neither name shows up on other records in either Atlanta or San Antonio, to my knowledge, nor have I found another release with “A Ric Jansen Production” credit.
The publisher, Margie Music was associated with Atlanta Sound Recording Studios and the Gaye label, like the Mondels, Red Beard & the Pirates, etc. Furthermore, though this may have been a Rite account, the deadwax includes NRC for the National Recording Corporation, an Atlanta pressing plant.
The article mentions the Venetian Blinds appeared on a local TV show, and that Merv Griffin showed interest in featuring the band on his show.
The Lorey’s (or Lorries) came from Sparta, Ohio, a small town northeast of Columbus.
Original members included:
Ted Fuller – vocals John Boston – lead guitar Murv Mast – rhythm guitar Ernie Duncan – keyboards Larry Roades – bass (replaced by Bob Steinbrink) John Hinkle – drums
The group competed at the Northland Shopping Center 3rd Annual Battle of the Bands in 1967, and though they did not place in the competition, their song “Don’t You Dare” appears on the album.
The lineup changed often, eventually replacing every member but the rhythm section of Steinbrink and Hinkle:
Steve Baker – vocals Aaron Kerns – lead guitar Herb Sample – rhythm guitar Ed Hartman – keyboards Bob Steinbrink – bass John Hinkle – drums
Steve Baker wrote two original songs, “Goin’ Downtown” / “Ready to Go” which found release on Cathay Records. Both songs were registered for copyright in February, 1969.
Cathay was named after Kathay Whitney, who was president and manager of Monte Verde Publishing. Billboard listed Monte Verde with a South Charleston, West Virginia address in 1969, then a Watsonville, CA address in 1970 and ’71.
The Loreys release on Cathay has an address of Rimrock Records in Concord, Arkansas, but most others on the label list Nashville and at least one notes Flint, Michigan. It was primarily a country label.
The Fabulous Chevelles cut this one record in the spring of 1965. The singer on “I Want a Girl for My Birthday” asks for a girl who “is on the ball” and “on the square”; he’s even willing to let his mother choose the girl for him.
On the flip, “She Loves Me”, he pleads that his girl is faithful, despite reports to the contrary.
Copyright registration from April, 1965 shows James Frederick Brumfiel and Ed Breeden wrote both songs.
I can find both Jim Brumfiel and Ed Breeden listed in the National Road Traveler newspaper of Cambridge City, Indiana, but no mention of the Fabulous Chevelles. Cambridge City is 15 miles west of Richmond, Indiana, and an hour’s drive east of Indianapolis.
It looks like the band released the single on their own Flip Records 45-100 with a terrific cartoon logo.
Edwood Music published the songs, and Edwood Publishing still exists in Cincinnati. BMI’s database lists “I Want a Girl for My Birthday” as by Deacon Brumfield, but I believe that is a mistake, as Deacon was a bluegrass Dobro guitar player and certainly older than the teens who made this record.
I’m not familiar with Parker Records, Dist. of Richmond, Indiana.
Cash Box March 5, 1965I have to thank Lee Bryant for tipping me on to Jim Weatherly’s stomping single, “I’m Gonna Make It” on 20th Century Fox 565.
J.D. Lobue and Leland Russell wrote “I’m Gonna Make It”. Jim Weatherly wrote the B-side, the Elvis-sounding “Wise Men Never Speak”, which he copyrighted in April, 1964.
Lobue and Russell had a band with Jim since their days at the University of Mississippi, where Jim Weatherly was a star quarterback. After college they moved to Los Angeles to try to succeed in the music business.
On March 5, 1965, Cash Box announced “The grid star kicks off his disk career with a driving rocker”. It would be three years before any further releases, or any press would mention Jim Weatherly or his group, who would eventually be named the Gordion Knot.
In February, 1968, Cash Box reported the Gordian Knot had signed to Verve for four singles and an album. A short article in Record World in April listed the Gordian Knot’s members as: Pat Kincade, guitar; J.D. Lobue, organ; Leland Russell, bass; Dulin Lancaster, drums; and Jim Weatherly, piano. I am not sure if Pat Kincade and Dulin Lancaster also played on the 20th Century Fox single, but the article notes notes the band “have been working together for five years” and that John Babcock was their manager.
There were a number of songs copyrighted that do not seem to have been recorded and/or released:
Weatherly and Pat Kincade published “Just Another Day” in March, 1964.
In June of 1966, Jim Weatherly registered eight songs with a solo writing credit, none of which were on the Gordion Knot album, Tones: “I Can’t Be Hurt Any More”, “Mama, Your Daddy’s Come Home”, “The Morning After Rain”, “She Belongs to Yesterday”, “Sorrow’s Child”, “Turn Him Away”, “Waiting For the Day”, and “You Were Never Mine”, all published by Vivace Music.
The only song registered in June of 1966 that would show up on the Gordian Knot LP was “It’s Gonna Take a Lot” by Weatherly and Pat Kincade.
The Gordian Knot pursued a lighter pop direction on their two singles and album; “The Year of the Sun” (written by Leon Russell) is a good example of their sound. The flip, Jim Weatherly’s “If Only I Could Fly” is one of their more rocking songs.
In retrospect, “I’m Gonna Make It” is a very good single, and it’s surprising how little known it is. The single also seems to be rare now. I wonder if there are other recordings from the early days of the band that would show their development or directions they didn’t pursue.
Jim Weatherly of course would go on to have a long career as a hit songwriter and performer, but that is covered in depth elsewhere.
This is not the same Jim Weatherly who recorded with the Mozark Music Makers on the Mozark label of Springfield, Missouri.
Anyone have a photo of the group before they became the Gordion Knot?
This site is a work in progress on 1960s garage rock bands. All entries can be updated, corrected and expanded. If you have information on a band featured here, please let me know and I will update the site and credit you accordingly.
I am dedicated to making this site a center for research about '60s music scenes. Please consider donating archival materials such as photos, records, news clippings, scrapbooks or other material from the '60s. Please contact me at rchrisbishop@gmail.com if you can loan or donate original materials
In 1964 the band added Phil Weaver as lead vocalist and changed their name to the Coachmen. Gordon Marcellus replaced Joe Rodriguez on drums.
By 1965 the lineup changed again along with the band name to the Thingies:
Over the next six months, the Thingies would play many live shows at the Matchbox, the Vulcan Gas Company, the Pleasure Dome and other venues. Their manager (Night Productions) owned the 11th Street Folk Club, and the group recorded some live shows but the tapes have apparently been lost.
The band signed with Sonobeat, who recorded them at the Swinger’s Club during the club’s off hours, and did overdubs at KAZZ-FM studios. The single featured Gordon Marcellus and Larry Miller’s original “Mass Confusion” backed with Phil Weaver and Bob Cole’s “Rainy Sunday Morning”. Recorded in December, 1967, Sonobeat didn’t release it until the spring of 1968, by which time the Thingies had split up.
