Pat Thomas is a San Francisco-based musician,

music journalist Music journalism (or music criticism) is media criticism and reporting about music topics, including popular music, classical music, and traditional music. Journalists began writing about music in the eighteenth century, providing commentary on w ...

and compiler of music reissues.

Compilation

Thomas was the founder in 1988 of

Heyday Records Heyday Records is an independent record label founded in 1988 by Pat Thomas. ''Rolling Stone'' has called Heyday "one of the ten most adventurous small labels in the world." The label, later run by Ron Gompertz and Robert Rankin Walker, has rel ...

. He later moved on to Water Records, and currently compiles reissues at

Omnivore Recordings Omnivore Recordings is an independent record label founded in 2010. It specializes in historical releases, reissues and previously unissued vintage recordings, as well as select releases of new music, on CD, vinyl and digital formats. Omnivore Re ...

. Heyday Records leveraged the commercial success of Paisley Underground bands as a springboard for new artists who captured the flavor of the 1960s American and British folk scene, particularly local San Francisco artists such as

Barbara Manning Barbara Manning (born December 12, 1964) is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist whose albums blend elements of rock, folk, pop and proto-punk. She's also known for her cover versions of often obscure pop songs. In addition to an acclaimed ...

. Thomas also made pilgrimages to England, tracking down musical artists of the 1960s such as

the Incredible String Band The Incredible String Band (sometimes abbreviated as ISB) were a Scottish psychedelic folk band formed by Clive Palmer (musician), Clive Palmer, Robin Williamson and Mike Heron in Edinburgh in 1966. The band built a considerable following, esp ...

, Pentangle, Fairport Convention,

Shirley Collins Shirley Elizabeth Collins MBE (born 5 July 1935) is an English folk singer who was a significant contributor to the English Folk Revival of the 1960s and 1970s. She often performed and recorded with her sister Dolly, whose accompaniment on ...

Davey Graham David Michael Gordon "Davey" Graham (originally spelled Davy Graham) (26 November 1940 – 15 December 2008) was a British guitarist and one of the most influential figures in the 1960s British folk revival. He inspired many famous practitioners ...

, and

Wizz Jones Raymond Ronald Jones (born 25 April 1939), better-known as Wizz Jones, is an English acoustic guitarist, singer and songwriter. He was born in Thornton Heath, Surrey, England and has been performing since the late 1950s and recording from 19 ...

, before most had any of their music reissued on CD. While living in Germany for two years in the early 1990s, Thomas also promoted artists for Heyday and other labels. His credits as a compiler of reissue recordings also include albums by Aretha Franklin,

Dusty Springfield Mary Isobel Catherine Bernadette O'Brien (16 April 1939 – 2 March 1999), known professionally as Dusty Springfield, was an English singer. With her distinctive mezzo-soprano sound, she was a popular singer of blue-eyed soul, pop and dram ...

Television Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of television transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertisin ...

, and for Omnivore, artists such as Game Theory.

Writing

Thomas is the author of the book ''Listen, Whitey: The Sights and Sounds of Black Power'', a 2012 work of African-American cultural history centering on the Black Panther Party, with a concurrently released CD and double LP recording of speeches and

protest song A protest song is a song that is associated with a movement for social change and hence part of the broader category of ''topical'' songs (or songs connected to current events). It may be folk, classical, or commercial in genre. Among social mov ...

s. He is also known for his work as a music critic. He has written for

Bucketfull of Brains ''Bucketfull of Brains'' (also known as ''BoB'') was a London-based music magazine, founded in 1979 and published until 2015 . An associated record label was launched in 2010. History ''Bucketfull of Brains'' was founded by Nigel Cross in 1979, a ...

, The Bob,

Juxtapoz ''Juxtapoz Art & Culture Magazine'' (pronounced ''JUX-tah-pose'') is a magazine created in 1994 by a group of artists and art collectors including Robert Williams, Fausto Vitello, C.R. Stecyk III (a.k.a. Craig Stecyk), Greg Escalante, and Eric ...

, Crawdaddy and

Mojo Mojo may refer to: * Mojo (African-American culture), a magical charm bag used in voodoo Arts, entertainment and media Film and television * MOJO HD, an American television network * ''Mojo'' (play), by Jez Butterworth, made into a 1997 film * ' ...

and was editor of the last issue of ''

Ptolemaic Terrascope {{Infobox magazine , image_file = pto.png , image_size = , image_caption = ''Ptolemaic Terrascope'' logo , editor = Phil McMullen (1988–2005) Pat Thomas (2005-07) , editor_title = , staff ...

''.

Music

As a musician, Thomas has been drummer and percussionist for bands such as Absolute Grey, and presently for the musicians' collective

Mushroom A mushroom or toadstool is the fleshy, spore-bearing fruiting body of a fungus, typically produced above ground, on soil, or on its food source. ''Toadstool'' generally denotes one poisonous to humans. The standard for the name "mushroom" is ...

, which he founded. From 1987 to 1997, Thomas released five solo records. He has also recorded as Patrick O'Hearn. Thomas founded Mushroom in the

San Francisco Bay Area The San Francisco Bay Area, often referred to as simply the Bay Area, is a populous region surrounding the San Francisco, San Pablo, and Suisun Bay estuaries in Northern California. The Bay Area is defined by the Association of Bay Area Go ...

, in November 1996. The group's sound has been described as a "diverse and eclectic blend of

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a m ...

space rock Space rock is a music genre characterized by loose and lengthy song structures centered on instrumental textures that typically produce a hypnotic, otherworldly sound. It may feature distorted and reverberation-laden guitars, minimal drummin ...

, R&B,

electronic Electronic may refer to: *Electronics, the science of how to control electric energy in semiconductor * ''Electronics'' (magazine), a defunct American trade journal *Electronic storage, the storage of data using an electronic device *Electronic co ...

, ambient, Krautrock and

folk music Folk music is a music genre that includes traditional folk music and the contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be called world music. Traditional folk music has b ...

". Mushroom released its first recording in 1997, a 12" single called "The Reeperbahn," described by critic Fred Mills in ''Magnet'' as a recording that "could fool a blindfolded test applicant into thinking its 25-minute psych blowout was some long lost Krautrock epic from the early '70s. Let the band's wah-wah guitar, feedback violin, volcanic bass, jazzbo percussion, and tape loops take you down the fabled motorway, never to return to the place you once knew." "The Reeperbahn" provided the basis for CDs released in 1998 in the Netherlands and Germany. In 1999, the band released ''Analog Hi-Fi Surprise'' in the United States and Germany, followed by a European tour, by which time keyboard player Graham Connah had exited and was replaced by Michael Holt. Toronto music magazine ''Exclaim!'' wrote that the band "dish out the tastiest psychedelic funk you're ever likely to encounter. The groove's the thang as these tasty tracks cruise on Rhodes-driven jazz, ambient beats, surf riffs, and post rock textures. The band brew all these elements into a mixture that travels the outer realms of progressive funk. Like

Tortoise Tortoises () are reptiles of the family Testudinidae of the order Testudines (Latin: ''tortoise''). Like other turtles, tortoises have a shell to protect from predation and other threats. The shell in tortoises is generally hard, and like oth ...

jamming with the Grateful Dead or Soft Machine exploring the

Funkadelic Funkadelic was an American funk rock band formed in Plainfield, New Jersey in 1968 and active until 1982. The band and its sister act Parliament, both led by George Clinton, pioneered the funk music culture of the 1970s.John, Bush. Funkade ...

catalog, these loose open-ended excursions raise the art of fusion to a new plateau. While each track works a groove toward heady epiphany, the album as a whole refuses to stay locked into any one genre. Booker T-styled organ gyrations, rock guitar virtuosity, Bootsy Collins funk ups, ambient jazz, electronic beats, and Krautrock trance all make a stand, but the bottom line is that this is music that will move you, and then some." The band then recorded ''Foxy Music'' (2001), which included trumpeter Jon Birdsong (known for his work with Beck). '' Q'' magazine in England wrote, "On the ''Foxy Music'' CD, the band steer away from determined psychedelia in favor of a friendly looseness to their playing. Jabs of electro-trombone and flute cluster alongside churning organ and splintered Rhodes Piano. Beck's trumpeter Jon Birdsong also turns on a great big blubbery blast of tuba, while musical director Patrick O'Hearn's clattering drums have an automaton rotary action that sometimes recalls Can's

Jaki Liebezeit Jaki Liebezeit (born Hans Liebezeit; 26 May 1938 – 22 January 2017) was a German drummer, best known as a founding member of experimental rock band Can. He was called "one of the few drummers to convincingly meld the funky and the cerebral". ...

." As of 2015, the members of Mushroom were Thomas (congas, bongos, drum kit), Ned Doherty (bass), Erik Pearson (flute, violin, effects, acoustic and electric guitar, electric sitar), Dave Brandt (congas, bongos, vibes, djembe, gongs), Josh Pollock (acoustic guitar, vocals, megaphone electronics), Alison Levy (vocals), Ralph Carney (woodwinds/horns), Graham Connah (keyboards), Matt Cunitz (keyboards), Tim Plowman (guitar), Dan Olmsted (guitar), and Dave Mihaly (vibes, percussion). Mushroom's current label is 4 Zero Records.

Discography

;Solo * ''Too Close to the Ground'' (Didi Music) * ''It's a Long, Long Way to Omaha, Nebraska'' (1989,

) * ''St. Katharine'' (1994, What's So Funny About) * ''Fresh'' (1995, Strange Ways) * ''New Directions in Music By Pat Thomas: Valium'' (1997, Strange Ways)

With Mushroom

Albums

* ''Cream of Mushroom'' (1998, Normal) * ''Alive and in Full Bloom'' (1998, Inbetweens) * ''Analog Hi-Fi Surprise'' (1999, Clearspot; 2002, Weed) * ''Hydrogen Jukebox'' (1999, Timothy's Brain) * ''Compared to What'' (2000, Weed) – with Bundy K. Brown, Faust, Gary Floyd * ''Leni Riefenstahl'' (2000, Aether) * ''Foxy Music'' (2001, InnerSPACE) * ''Oh, But They're Weird and They're Wonderful'' (2002, Return to Sender) * ''Mad Dogs & San Franciscans'' (2003, Black Beauty; 2012, A Records) * ''Glazed Popems'' (2004, Black Beauty) * ''Really Don't Mind If You Sit This One Out'' (2006, 4 Zero) * ''Joint Happening'' (2007, Hyena) * ''Yesterday, I Saw You Kissing Tiny Flowers'' (2007, 4 Zero) – with

Alison Faith Levy Alison Faith Levy is a San Francisco-based musician and songwriter, known as a pop and jazz performer on keyboards and vocals, most notably as a member of power pop group The Loud Family, as well as for her later work as a children's musician i ...

* ''Naked, Stoned & Stabbed'' (2010, 4 Zero) * ''I Don't Remember Yesterday. Today It Rained'' (2011, 4 Zero)

Singles and EPs

* "The Reeperbahn" (12" single) (1997, Belmondo) * "Gas, Grass Or Ass - Nobody Rides For Free" (CDr single) (2007, 4 Zero)

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Thomas, Pat American music journalists American music industry executives American writers about music 1964 births Living people Musicians from San Francisco Drummers from San Francisco Writers from San Francisco 20th-century American drummers American male drummers 20th-century American male musicians