The Thunderbirds

The Tunderbirds from El Reno, Oklahoma

  The Thunderbirds - T Bird Rock (United Southern Artists 5-115), 1962
From the mid-1950s up to present days, there were probably hundreds of music groups using the name "The Thunderbirds." One of those groups always had my special attention just because of the raw demos they made. Their first demo record was on the Monette, Arkansas, based Buffalo label featuring "A Whole Lot of Shakin'" and "Flying Saucers." At the same time, there was a group of the same name that had an instrumental record out on United Southern Artists (from Hot Springs, Arkansas) and I always assumed this was the same band. I was surprised when I learned that this was not the case. Bassist Jack Heffron contacted me and fortunately brought some light on The Thunderbirds from El Reno, Oklahoma.

In the early winter of 1961, four young guys from El Reno, Oklahoma, got together and founded a band, calling them "The Thunderbirds." The line-up consisted of Kenneth "Gizz" Davis on rhythm guitar, Darrell Wiemers on lead guitar, Jack Heffron on bass, and Bob Garrett on drums. They organized teen hops in El Reno and the surrounding towns by renting halls and advertising their shows on newspaper and with posters. "Happy" Howard Clark, a disc jockey on WKY in Oklahoma City at that time, got word of the Thunderbirds and hired them to travel with him, playing dances all over Oklahoma.

Gizz Davis, who was handling the business issues of the Thunderbirds, somehow managed to secure a recording contract with United Southern Artists, a new label from Hot Springs, Arkansas. The Thunderbirds travelled to Hot Springs in order to audition for Carl Friend, A&R manager of the label. The band signed a contract and Friend soon set up a session at Echo Recording Studio in Memphis, Tennessee, where they cut "T Bird Rock" and "End Over End." Both instrumentals were released in either late 1961 or early 1962 on United Southern Artists 5-115. Billboard reviewed the single January 1962 in its pop segment.

Billboard January 27, 1962, review

The Thunderbirds had signed for two records and waited for Carl Friend's response but he never asked for a second record. Possibly it didn't sell. However, they did not make any more recordings. Cees Klop released a compilation on his Collector Records entitled "West Tennessee & Arkansas Rockin'" in 1998 that included "T Bird Rock" by the Thunderbirds as well as demo recordings of "Walking Down the Road," Warren Smith's "Ubangi Stomp" and "Blue Moon of Kentucky," also credited to the Thunderbirds. Either Klop miscredited those demos or the recordings were by another group of the same name. It's possible this second group was the same that recorded the demo record on Buffalo, mentioned earlier in the introduction. However, this has yet to be confirmed.

Shortly after the record, the band broke up. Davis and Heffron reformed the group again and played night clubs in Oklahoma City for a short time until the sudden death of Gizz Davis. He died in a car accident on March 20, 1963. Darrell Wiemers joined the Oklahoma Highway Patrol in 1964. His son remembers: "I remember as a kid listening to that record and thought it was so cool that Dad was in a band like that. He could really play and always regretted selling his SG." Jack Heffron now lives in Bethany, Oklahoma, while Bob Garrett resides in Washington and Darrell Wiemers already passed away on August 18, 1997. 

Discography

United Southern Artists 5-115

The Thunderbirds

End Over End (Davis-Weimers-Heffron-Garrett) / T Bird Rock (Davis-Weimers-Heffron-Garrett)

M8OW-8396 / M8OW-8397 (RCA)

1962

Recorded ca. late 1961 at Echo Recording Studio (14 North Manassas Avenue - Memphis, Tennessee) 

Darrell Wiemers (ld gtr), Kenneth Davis (rhy gtr), Jack Heffron (bs), Bob Garrett (dms)

Special thanks to Jack Heffron and Darrell Wiemers' son for sharing their memories with me.