The Fireballs
This New Mexican group was the primary exponent of the Tex-Mex sound in the instrumental rock & roll of the late '50s and early '60s, landing three Top 40 hits, "Torquay," "Bulldog," and "Quite a Party." Paced by the clean, economic guitar lines of George Tomsco, their moody, laconic arrangements and dextrous picking was similar in essential respects to the Ventures. The Fireballs, who used the same Norman Petty-run studio in Clovis, NM, as Buddy Holly, had a much more prominent "border" music feel to their melodies than the Ventures. The Ventures, on the other hand, had a much more full-bodied and versatile attack, accounting to a large degree for the Fireballs' comparatively slight place in history.
The Fireballs, who occasionally sang on their recordings, are actually much more famous for their controversial contributions to the Buddy Holly legacy. In the early '60s, in association with Petty (Holly's former producer and manager), they overdubbed some of Holly's demo tapes for posthumous release. Some Holly fans claim that these performances should have been left to stand as they were; Petty, and others, have claimed (dubiously) that they were only salvageable for commercial release via such overdubs.
In 1963, the Fireballs hooked up with singer Jimmy Gilmer. As Jimmy Gilmer & the Fireballs, they had one of the biggest hits of 1963 with a number-one smash lightweight-pop ditty, "Sugar Shack." A similar follow-up, "Daisy Petal Pickin'," made the Top 20, but the British Invasion wiped them out immediately. The Fireballs, sans Gilmer, made one last unexpected comeback in 1968, when their "Bottle of Wine" (featuring vocals by the group themselves) made the Top Ten.
© Richie Unterberger /TiVo
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Bulldog (Billboard Hot 100 - No. 24)
Pop - Erschienen bei Music Manager am 19.12.2018
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Anthology: The Deluxe Collection (Remastered)
Rock - Erschienen bei Master Tape Records am 18.06.2021
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
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The Fireballs
Pop/Rock - Erschienen bei Music Manager am 01.01.2011
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
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Firebeat! The Great Lost Vocal Album
Pop - Erschienen bei ACE RECORDS am 24.04.2006
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Sugar Shack & Torquay (Remastered)
Rockabilly - Erschienen bei Old Europe am 15.02.2019
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
The Best of the Rest of the Fireballs' Vocals
R&B - Erschienen bei ACE RECORDS am 31.10.1994
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Instrumental Rock and Roll, Vol. 5
The Fireballs, The Rock A-Teens
Rock - Erschienen bei Documents 2 am 13.01.2017
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Nightingale
Rock - Erschienen bei oldies and hits for future am 07.05.2019
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Cry Baby
Jazz - Erschienen bei Black & Partner Licenses LLC am 25.08.2019
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
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The Lp Library
Rock - Erschienen bei old library records am 10.01.2016
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Lets Have A Drink
Pop - Erschienen bei obligat music am 20.11.2015
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Surfer´s Paradise, Vol.3
World Music - Erschienen bei Hawaian Sounds am 13.09.2013
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Vaquero (Cowboy) (Billboard Hot 100 - No 99)
Rock - Erschienen bei Music Manager am 05.11.2020
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Quite A Party (UK Chart Top 40 - No. 29)
Soul - Erschienen bei Music Manager am 19.12.2018
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo