From:   "Dik de Heer" 
Date:  Wed Apr 24, 2002  1:15 am
Subject:  Born To Be With You : George Tomsco
 
GEORGE TOMSCO

Born 24 April 1940, Raton, New Mexico

Guitarist, leader of the Fireballs.

Formed in the autumn of 1957, in Raton, New Mexico, the Fireballs
comprised George Tomsco (guitar), Chuck Tharp (b. 3 February 1941;
vocals), Danny Trammell (b. 14 July 1940; rhythm guitar), Stan Lark
(b. 27 July 1940; bass) and Eric Budd (b. 23 October 1938; drums).
The group placed 11 singles in the US charts between 1959-69,
including the Top 10 hits "Sugar Shack" (as Jimmy Gilmer and the Fireballs)
and "Bottle Of Wine", under their own name. Tomsco and Tharp formed the
foundation of the group after meeting in high school. After the others came
in, they rehearsed and won a talent contest in January 1958. After a shaky
start that found members leaving for college and then returning, they
recorded at Norman Petty's studio in Clovis, New Mexico in August 1958.
After several failed singles, they recorded the instrumental "Torquay" in
early 1959, which scraped into the Top 40. After two other minor chart
singles on Top Rank and one on Warwick (as well as several non-charting
singles on other labels and a Warwick album), Tharp left the group and was
replaced by Jimmy Gilmer. During 1961 the group was used to overdub music
behind unfinished tapes recorded by Buddy Holly before his death in 1959.
In 1962 the Fireballs were signed to Dot Records, where they recorded the LP
"Torquay", after which Budd went into the army and was replaced by Doug
Roberts. In early 1963, now billed as Jimmy Gilmer and the Fireballs, they
recorded "Sugar Shack", using an unusual keyboard called a Solovox to give
the record a distinctive sound. The result was one of the best-selling hits of
1963. "Sugar Shack" stayed at number 1 for five weeks late in the year. An
album of the same title also charted. Although several other singles and
albums were released, the group was unable to capitalize on that success;
the follow-up, "Daisy Petal Pickin'", made number 15. Such efforts as "Folk
Beat", a 1965 album crediting only Gilmer, were unsuccessful. By the
following year, Dot was sold and in 1967 the Fireballs signed to Atco Records.
Before Christmas that year they recorded a Tom Paxton song, "Bottle
Of Wine", which reached number 9 in early 1968. There would be three other
minor chart singles by the end of 1969, including the politically-charged
"Come On, React!", but the Fireballs' time had clearly run out, and they
disbanded in the seventies. The current reformed Fireballs (a four-piece
outfit) still include George Tomsco and Stan Lark

CD recommendation: The Best of the Fireballs : The Original Norman Petty
Masters (Ace 418).
Fireballs website: http://www.fireballs-original.com/index.html