Category Archives: Casino

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

The Rockin’ Continentals “The ‘309’”, “Cobra 284” and “Count Dracula” on Casino

The Rocking Continentals, with Bill Doyle on drums. Photo courtesy of Bill’s daughter Tracy.

Rockin' Continentals Casino 45 The "309"The Rockin’ Continentals made two 45s for the Casino label in 1962 or 1963. The group came from Topeka, Kansas.

The original group were:

Johnny Thompson – lead guitar and vocals
Melvin Ralston – rhythm guitar
Chuck Dumerous – bass
Bill Doyle – drums

Rockin’ Continentals and the Fabulous Concepts at Township Hall in Valley Falls, August 10, 1963.
The Rockin’ Continentals’ first release was a great rockabilly song with fierce drumming and scorching guitar and piano breaks called “The ‘309’”, written by Johnny Thompson. The singer has a strong southern accent that doesn’t appear on their other songs. The original A-side was “2-3-4”, written by Melvin Ralston, which in comparison is simple riffing on blues changes.

Bill Doyle was 17 when he joined the group, and left the group near the end of 1963, when he married. Chuck Dumerous seems to have left the group around this same time.

The second version of group were:

Johnny Thompson – lead guitar and vocals
Melvin Ralston – rhythm guitar
Chuck Smith – bass
Bob Stanley – drums

Rockin' Continentals Casino 45 Cobra 289The Rockin’ Continentals second and last single was “Cobra 289” written by Ralph Sandmeyer in tribute to the Ford/Shelby AC Cobra sports car first manufactured in 1962. Bob says that “Ralph Sandmeyer was a songwriter and close friend of Johnny Thompson”.

“Count Dracula” is mainly instrumental with a spooky reverbed riff. Like “The ‘309’” it was written by Johnny Thompson.

Bob Stanley wrote to me:

I was the drummer for the Empalas band back in the early 60s. Melvin Ralston, the rhythm guitar player, wanted to know if I would drum for the Rockin’ Continentals. We began playing throughout Kansas for VanT car shows during the day and in the night we would play in their parks or auditoriums. From there we played the Municipal Auditorium in Topeka, Kansas City auditoriums and various other cities.

Rockin' Continentals Casino 45 Count DraculaI am playing drums on “Cobra 289” and “Count Dracula”. My stepfather financed the record and was repaid with the sales. Bob Bobo was the piano player on the record. Bob Bobo was not a member of the band but did guest appearances on the records on piano and recorded the records in his studio. Johnny Thompson played lead guitar and is the vocalist on both songs, Chuck Smith was the bass player. Melvin Ralston is the rhythm guitar player and is the laughing voice on “Count Dracula”.

The girls screaming in the background were girlfriends of the band members. The girls later bleached the band member’s hair. Mine turned out platinum because I was blonde, but Johnny’s turned out orange red, which made him extremely unhappy. It was comical, but not to him.

I did know the Jerms and their lead singer Bill Senogles who was a classmate of mine and later took on my guitar player, Russ Wilcox, from the Empalas when I went to the Rockin’ Continentals.

Bob Stanley left the group for Vietnam. In later years, the Continentals had regular gigs on cruise ships.

Rockin' Continentals Will Play At Council Grove Armory December 1963

The Good Time Trio photo, Kenny Stone, Johnny Thompson and Bob Stanley
The Good Time Trio: Kenny Stone, Johnny Thompson and Bob Stanley

Bob added:

Later on country became popular and Johnny started switching over and we became the Good Time Trio (Johnny Thompson, Kenny Stone on bass and me on drums). I also drummed for Dickie Lee (“Patches”) in Kansas City.

I still have the snare, sticks and drummer’s throne that I played when we recorded the records. At the end of “Cobra 289”, you will hear a drum run and fade out done with single stroke roll with rim shots.

Special thanks to Bob Stanley for contacting me with information on the Rockin’ Continentals.

Both Rockin’ Continental releases have been bootlegged, along with another Casino release, the Argons’ “Do the Dog”.

See my article for more information on the Casino record label. Thank you to Volker Houghton for contributing the Valley Falls show ad.

comparison of original pressing to bootleg reproduction of Casino 1010, the Rockin’ Continentals “Cobra 289”

The Casino record label of Topeka, Kansas

Gerald Dyche (aka Jerry Dyke) in the Emporia Gazette, February, 1958
Gerald Dyche (aka Jerry Dyke) in the Emporia Gazette, February, 1958

The Casino Records label started in 1957 with a single of Jerry Dyke singing two songs written by Bob Bobo and Carl Lewis for Southern Belle, BMI, “Deep Within My Heart” and “My Empty Heart”. That release, Casino 1001/1002 had a gothic style font for Casino and an address on McGavock St. in Nashville, Tennessee.

In a comment on the Rockin’ Continentals page, Jerry Dyke notes that he designed the original Casino label.

An article in the Emporia Gazette from February 1958 discusses how Jerry Dyke was the stage name for Gerald Dyche, a student from Topeka who was singing songs written by Topekan disc jockey Bob Bobo for demos to be sent to Southern Belle publishing in Nashville, which led to the Casino single, presumably recorded in Nashville. Although the article makes something of the Casino Recording Corporation of Nashville, Bob Bobo and Carl Lewis were at least part owners of Casino. They produced the Jerry Dyke single on their own hoping for attention for their song writing.

Bobo seems to have recorded all the Casino records in the basement of his house on SE Ohio Street.

Dyke does not seem to have worked with Bobo after this single. Bobo started working with Ronnie Pearson of Osage City. Pearson’s first single on the Herald Label in April of ’57 included Bob Bobo’s song “Hot Shot”.

Bobo would place other songs in the late ’50s, including “I Close My Eyes” (co-written with Lewis) for the Wilburn Brothers on Decca in August of ’57, “The Answer” and “Warm as Toast” (co-written by Lewis) for Russ Veers on the Trend label, and “Let Me Go to the Hop” (co-written by Russ Veers) by the Sweethearts on Power.

By the early 1960s, Bobo seems to have stopped pursuing a career as a song writer, but kept the Casino label active. I don’t know what Casino 1003/1004 is, but 1005/1006 is the Nubbins doing two standards, “The King’s Highway” / “Stormy Weather” with a different font for the logo and no address.

The Rockin’ Continentals “The ‘309’” from 1962 is numbered 1007/1008. This and all future release feature Kansan artists; there is no longer any Nashville connection that I know of.

Casino 1001/1002 – Jerry Dyke – “Deep Within My Heart” / “My Empty Heart”
Casino 1003/1004 – no release (?)
Casino 1005/1006 – The Nubbins – “The King’s Highway” / “Stormy Weather”
Casino 1007/1008 – The Rockin’ Continentals – “The ‘309’” / “2-3-4”
Casino 1009/1010 – The Rockin’ Continentals – “Cobra 284” / “Count Dracula”
Casino 1011/1012 – The Argons “Spiked” (Bryson, Myers) / “Do The Dog” (Mikkelsen, Wilcox) 1964
Casino 1321/1322 – The Jerms – “That Word” (G. Senogles) / “Love Light” (Sept. 1965)
Casino 2305/2306 – The Thingies – “It’s a Long Way Down” (L. Miller, Dalton) / “Merry Go Round of Life” (August 1966)

One interesting oddity about the Casino discography is that the RCA code for the Jerry Dyke single, HO8W-0066/67 would be adapted for later releases, even though most later releases were not pressed at RCA but at Wakefield Manufacturing in Phoenix, AZ. Another code on the 45s, 2 AFM also increases with each release, though I’m not sure the meaning of that code.

Bobo also owned a restaurant called Bobo’s Drive In in Topeka from 1948 until he passed away sometime in the 1980s. Bobo’s Drive In remained open under that name until recently.

I want to thank the discussion of Casino on 45Cat, which gave me some leads to follow up and confirm.

Both Rockin’ Continental releases have been bootlegged, along with another Casino release, the Argons’ “Do the Dog”.

comparison of original pressing to bootleg reproduction of Casino 1010, the Rockin’ Continentals “Cobra 289”