George Tomsco, Stan Lark, Jimmy Gilmer
Photo by Alan Clark
JIMMY GILMER & THE FIREBALLS
George Tomsco, Stan Lark, Jimmy Gilmer
Photo by Alan Clark
Hailing from Raton, New Mexico in the late 50's, The Fireballs were New Mexico's first Rock & Roll recording band to become internationally known. They are often hailed as being THE first instrumental rock & roll group.The group was christened The Fireballs after their standing ovation performance of "Great Balls of Fire" at the Raton, NM High School PTA talent contest in 1958. By the year's end they had auditioned for the late Norman Petty at his already internationally famous recording studio in Clovis, NM, where Buddy Holly, Roy Orbison, Buddy Knox and many others recorded their hits.
January 1959 found their first record released on KAPP records. "Fireball", a guitar instrumental, was the Billboard 'pick' which resulted in the first airplay and sales. Petty soon negotiated a contract for the group with TOP RANK records. As a result more chart instrumental singles and albums followed. "Torquay" , "Bulldog" , "Vaquero" which led to appearances on Dick Clark's afternoon American Bandstand shows, and his Saturday Night show, as well as various other national and regional shows.
Little did The Fireballs know by now that their guitar instrumental music was one of the foundational influences of the Surf music culture that was starting to make big waves.
Stan Lark, George Tomsco, Eric Budd, Jimmy Gilmer (front) - 1963
Coupled with Petty Studio vocalist Jimmy Gilmer, the Fireballs savored success in a new dimension. "Sugar Shack" on DOT records was a #1 hit and the largest selling single of the year 1963. More vocal singles and albums followed. It was a very unique transition in the music business for an 'instrumental guitar band' to become 'vocal' and retain prestige in both fields.Besides their own recordings, Petty recruited the Fireballs as studio musicians for other recording artist projects including the group enhancing the Buddy Holly 'apartment tapes' which surfaced after Holly's death.
The late 60's yielded more chart singles and albums. Gilmer's gutsy lead vocal along with the backup vocals from the Fireballs sang their way to another top 10 tune with "Bottle Of Wine" followed closely by "Come On React", of which albums were released under each of the titles.
Their recordings can be heard in the soundtracks for Forrest Gump, Mermaids, Congo, Dogfight, From Dusk Till Dawn, Box Of Moonlight, The Real Blonde, with others being negotiated for upcoming films.
In 1989 The Fireballs were inducted into the Norman Petty Studio Walk Of Fame and in 2001, were inducted into the West Texas Rock & Roll Walk Of Fame. A DVD documentary featuring their story is currently in production.
Jimmy Gilmer last performed actively with the group in 1969, then went into artist management in Nashville. He recently
retired from these duties in 2006, and once again is on stage with his buddies - and sounding as good as ever! We are proud
to make these crowd-pleasing hitmakers available for your next event!
THE HITS:
* Torquay (#35 - Sept.1959)
* Bulldog (#23 - Jan.1960)
* Vaquero (#100 - Aug.1960)
* Quite A Party (#57 - June 1961)
* Sugar Shack (#1 - Sept. 1963) Top Hit of 1963
* Daisy Petal Pickin' (#15 - Dec. 1963)
* Ain't Gonna Tell Anybody (#62 - March 1964)
* Bottle Of Wine (#9 - January 1968)
* Goin' Away (#58 - April 1968)
* Come On React! (#69 - Nov. 1968)
* Long Green (#43 - March 1969)
