PHOTO GALLERY - BANDS AND ARTISTS

SWEET SMOKE - Ron Thibert-guitar,vocal / Gary Miller- hammond B-3,vocal / Ray Boe-bass,vocal / Sammy Boe- drums.

Mike Lowell writes: One of the all time big local bands of the area in the late 60's. They hit nationally but primarily were huge in this region. They played at the old Pusi-Kat and Love Street clubs. Originally from Mynot in North Dakota and transplanted to the Texas area by way of several name and location changes. They also went under the band name 'Tracers' for awhile.

(Contributed by Margaret Thibert) MT writes:"I'm the wife of Ron Thibert, who was lead guitar for Sweet Smoke. He died of lymphoma on March 4, 1998, in Fort Worth. I loved him very much. Ray Boe, the bass player, died of cancer also, the next year. I'm so happy to find this site."

Photo below L-R: Sammy Boe, Ron Thibert, Gary Miller, Ray Boe

(Contributed by Robin Overall) Robin writes: "In spite of only having a small amount of original tunes, these guys quite often got the call to open for major concerts in the area because of their great stage presence and their "tight" and explosive sound."

(Contributed by Gerry Thibert) GT writes: "My name is Gerry. I'm the brother of the late Ron Thibert of Sweet Smoke. .... we miss him very much. I have several 45's of them some of which are the hard copy right off the press. Also i have his Gibson 335 with Sweet Smoke on the pick guard. Hope to get any info (that anyone else cares to contribute about the band)."

Photo below L-R: Sammy Boe, Ron Thibert, Ray Boe, Gary Miller

Photos below: Deb Fox writes: Picture of Ron Thibert of Sweet Smoke at Teen Canteen. The date was January 1969.. Vel Espinoza writes: The second photo is Ron Thibert in front (on guitar singing); Garry Miller on keyboards and Alan Cooper is actually way in the back behind Garry.

Margaret Thibert adds: "Here's a little piece of trivia: the reason they settled on TryCerz was, when they couldn't continue to be Tracers, they decided to spell it the way it was pronounced around Amarillo and Oklahoma, where they were playing. A joke. Also, I have a little handbill, in terrible condition, with Led Zeppelin, Jethro Tull, and Sweet Smoke, all for $5.00. in San Antonio, but I can't remember where. Sammy Boe lives in Arlington; Garry Miller is in Murrietta, CA."

Photos Below: ML writes: Here are some hard to find photos of the powerhouse band Sweet Smoke from the late 60's. This appears to be at the Teen Canteen.

Photo Below left: Ron Thibert and Ray Boe.

Photo Below right: Deb Fox writes: This picture is of Alan Cooper of Sweet Smoke at Teen Canteen January 1969.

(Contributed by Debbie Fox) Deb Fox writes:"Alan Cooper (who was known as "Tiny" back in the old band days - because he's like 6' 6" tall) was also in Sweet Smoke. He lived with them in Fort Worth but was from San Antonio. He's now in Arizona. He went to Nashville with them to cut their album."

(Contributed by Alan Cooper) AC writes:"I joined Sweet Smoke after Gary Miller left the group. I played congas and sang. I was with them for two years. I was in the room when Flo Stone (Smokes manager) said 'No thanks' to Jimi Hendrix who wanted to put us on Reprise records and produce us. She told them we were going with someone else (there WAS no one else!) She didn't want to go with him because he was black. When I heard that I quit. One year later Jimi was dead. We also recorded an album in Nashville out of our pocket and she shopped it, turning down every offer, always wanting more. Ron left a short time later. Sam and Ray reformed the band with two more players and changed the name to Carriage Hill. So ended a great run."

Photos below L-R: Sammy Boe - drums / Ray Boe - bass,voc / Gary Miller - keys

(Contributed by Alan Neuberg) AN writes: "You know they say if you lived during the 60"s and remember anything, you didn't live during the 60's. After playing a short stint in Detroit with The Bob Seger Band (just before Ramblin Gamblin Man was released, I didn't think he had any writing talent so I quit), I returned to Dallas Texas (my home town). I can't remember how I joined Sweet Smoke, but I sure remember Flo & Sheriff Stone and their boys. I joined Smoke about a year before they recorded their album for Metromedia. As the keyboard player I remember a song I wrote called "With the Lord on my Right" that Flo liked. One show the band got me to play the song solo. Just me and my old Wurlitzer Electric Piano. Smoke was a hard driving band and this song had a Gospel sound to it. I remember many years of playing in bands, but I never remember being more scared then that night. Sweet Smoke was a very popular band and the crowd must have been very large. After I did my song, for the life of me, I can't remember if the crowd yelled or booed. Those were great days. Just to let you know about the 60/70's. Tiny was in the band the same time I was, and even though my name is Alan, He never told me his name was Alan as well. I only knew him as Tiny. I also remember recording with Mickey (Moody I think) We recorded a song of mine titled "It's Early in the Morning (and the Sun is going down). I didn't get to make the trip to Nashville to record the album, because my Ex-Wife and Flo had a run in (my ex called her to often on the phone). They did record "Early in the morning", and if anyone has a mp3 I'd love to hear about it. I'm sad to hear about the lost of Ron and Ray. I remember them as hard working Texas Rock Guys. May their memory live on in their music."

Photo below left: Sammy Boe with female fans.

Photo below right: Alan Cooper: "This picture was taken in Reynosa Mexico. People wanted their pictures taken with the hippies, (the painted donkey must have been asleep). The night before we headlined with ZZ Top in McAllen, Texas. Obviously before they hit. I remember Ron showing Billy Gibbons how to play Rattlesnake Shake by the original Fleetwood Mac lineup. Nice little memory." Left to right: Ron Thibert, Sammy Boe, Ray Boe and Alan Cooper.

(Contributed by Vel Espinoza) VE writes: "Hi! I just came across your website for band trivia while researching members of Sweet Smoke. They used to play at Project Y during Hemisfair. They usually also played Teen Canteen owned by Sam J. Kinsey here in San Antonio. I have a lot of photos of them. I even have some slides of them. My cousins, friends and I used to follow them around at most of their local gigs (circa 1968-1970) because we just loved the band. They were outstanding. Great band to watch on stage. They used to dress alike in various outfits. I remember one was snake-skin fabric and they each wore the same outfit but in a different color (I think I have photos of them in them). I have several of their 45s. Some of their 45s got airplay at local radio stations. One of their 45s was a song called, Morning Dew which got on the radio but it happened that Lulu also came out with the same song at the same time."

Led Zeppelin poster below: Margaret Thibert writes:"Sammy Boe is on the left, then Garry Miller, Ron Thibert, and Ray Boe".

Most photos taken by Vel Espinoza. Contributions also by Margaret Thibert, also Gerry Thibert. Additional photos supplied by Sam Kinsey.