Sitarswami's To Surfbeat & Beyond! Dept.

Dick Shawn & Barrie Chase Go Ape To Th' Swingin' Sounds O' Th' Fireballs (Possibly)!

Let’s say [sez Sitarswami - Ed.] you operate a respectable re-issue label with several different imprints. Four decades on you’ve performed a commendable, usually profitable, service keeping in print a wide assortment of 1950’s and 60’s hits & obscurities. Shouldn’t this be enough to deflect consumer criticism? Not likely.

New Mexico’s The FIREBALLS, aka Jimmy Gilmer or Jimmy Gilmer & the Fireballs, released 12 albums and 36 singles from 1958 – 1969. The 1950’s group was largely instrumental while sporadically allowing Chuck Tharp’s serviceable rockabilly vocals two minutes wax time. When Tharp went solo in 1960, Jimmy Gilmer joined as lead singer/rhythm guitar. With the smooth voiced Gilmer on board, vocals featured prominently, and the pop success of “Sugar Shack” (five weeks at #1 in 1963) ensured the instrumentals were eventually dropped. The only other personnel adjustment occurred in 1962 with a change in drummers.

Despite Gilmer’s apparent headliner status, lead guitarist/sometime songwriter George Tomsco and producer Norman Petty (see Buddy Holly) directed the show. Tomsco’s clean restrained style, with multiple overdubbed guitar parts, combined with Petty’s crisp, occasionally adventurous, production defined the group’s bright & tight sound.

Swami's comp cover!

The Fireballs, named after Jerry Lee Lewis’ Great Balls of Fire, were principally a studio group. Many regional (southwestern US), and a few national, artists recorded at Petty’s Clovis, NM studio, often backed by the Fireballs. Infamously, in the early and mid-60’s Petty used the Fireballs to provide posthumous backing for unfinished Buddy Holly demos – thereby setting an early precedent for raising money by keeping a dead guy on the charts.

So, what’s my beef with this upright re-issue label? I’m grateful they have kept all the issued, and many previously unissued, Fireballs tracks available – even if a lot of them are, well, marginal. Plus, they deserve kudos for releasing a various artists compilation, under George Tomsco’s name, of Fireballs-backed recordings which often showcase the limitations a good band faces with woeful west Texas frontmen. Unfortunately and inexcusably, and to my point, this ace label has also created six or more scattershot Fireballs’ compilations, chock full of holes and duplication, imaginatively titled Best of, The Definitive, Best of the Vocals, Best of the Instrumentals & Chuck Tharp, Best of the Rest of the Vocals, Great Lost Vocals. Yikes, please stop! All the Four or Five Guys© need is one single rest stop of a comp. And here it is.

Highlights are rumoured to include:

- Torquay, their first hit, an unabashed Tequila rewrite sans vocal exclamation

- two chartbusters: the irresistible Sugar Shack (including the first known reference to “espresso coffee”) and the folkrockin’ Bottle of Wine (written by Tom Paxton who gave us the fantastic oft- recorded Last Thing on My Mind)

- Can’t You See I’m Tryin’ a joyously imploring non-lp b-side which sounds like the best Sir Douglas Quintet song not found on the Mendocino lp, originally recorded & co-written by Glen Campbell as a follow-up to Guess I’m Dumb

- the A&B sides of the sole 45’s by both the Brentwoods (Alyse Paradiso, who wrote both songs, and Mike Burnett) and George & Babs (George & Barbara Tomsco, who co-wrote many of the Fireballs’ songs)

- the improbable psychedelic-pop stylings found on the Come On React and Bottle of Wine albums

- George T surfing the great kahuna on Bandit Boy, Wiping Out in grand & concise fashion

Competition disclaimer: All entries must be received by last week. First prize will be awarded on July 11, 1969 – winner will be notified by mail. All second prize winners receive a free download of this compilation. Act now.

Internet ADVISORY: earworms attached.