The Fireballs Quotes

Just anywhere. We do casinos. We do one-nighters. We do any kind of shows where our music is bookable. We're not restricted to any kind of thing. We do Fairs...just about any kind of configuration that we can book. 
George Tomsco

Gilmer stayed with us for ten years, from '60 to '70. But, what happened to curtail our run was of course The British Invasion. The Beatles mainly. Then, we didn't have much. We had some chart action. But, finally in '68 we had "Bottle Of Wine" and that was by The Fireballs. But see, Gilmer is singing on that. He's our lead singer. See, what Norman did is; we started out as The Fireballs. Then with "Sugar Shack" it was Jimmy Gilmer And The Fireballs. Well, if you think back, "That'll Be The Day" was out by what name? The Crickets. Ok. Then what did you see? Buddy Holly and The Crickets. So, it was a Norman Petty marketing angle that he was trying to do the same with Jimmy Gilmer that he did with Buddy Holly. But, he was successful with Holly, just simply because of the timing, the way the map laid down there. But, by the time of Jimmy Gilmer And The Fireballs, there were some Jimmy Gilmer records. Then it went back to The Fireballs by "Bottle Of Wine". He was trying to market Jimmy Gilmer as a solo artist out of The Fireballs group. Just to sell some more records, like he was successful with Holly and The Crickets. 
George Tomsco