Category Archives: Sonobeat

The Thingies on Casino and Sonobeat

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.

Thingies Casino 45 It's a Long Way DownIn 1964 the band added Phil Weaver as lead vocalist and changed their name to the Coachmen. Gordon Marcellus replaced Joe Rodriguez on drums.

Thingies Casino 45 Merry-Go-Round Of LifeBy 1965 the lineup changed again along with the band name to the Thingies:

Fabulous Thingies Emporia Civic Auditorium Emporia Gazette Nov 11, 1966
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.

Thingies Love-In Georgetown Megaphone Sept. 29, 1967
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.

Jackals, Conqueroo, Shiva's Headband, Afro-Caravan, Thingies Austin Daily Texan Sept. 26, 1967
Austin Love-In with the Jackals, the Conqueroo, Shiva’s Headband, Afro-Caravan, and the Thingies, Austin Daily Texan, Sept. 26, 1967

Thingies Sonobeat 45 Mass ConfusionOver 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.

Thingies Sonobeat 45 Rainy Sunday MorningThe 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
Thingies at the Match Box, Austin Daily Texan, Nov 29, 1967

An additional source was Mojo Mills’ interview with Larry Miller in Shindig.

Thingies Night Productions Austin Daily Texan Sept. 24, 1967
Night Productions: the Thingies management in Austin

Thingies Pleasure Dome Austin Daily Texan Dec. 13, 1967

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” ?!

Thingies Fort Stockton Pioneer Nov. 30, 1967
Notorious even in distant Fort Stockton, TX, reported in the Pioneer, Nov. 30, 1967