Texas Platters

Quite a Party!

24 Great Instrumental Bands Play the Fireballs (Ace)

Their biggest hits were popcorn: 1963 No. 1 "Sugar Shack" and '67 boozer's cartoon "Bottle of Wine," both with singer Jimmy Gilmer. Yet the Fireballs' best recordings – and there were dozens, including "Torquay," "Bulldog," "Gunshot," and "Vaquero" – were pioneering electric-guitar classics, mostly written by lead guitarist George Tomsco, with a dry-plains economy and open-road reverb that reflected the band's New Mexico origins and set the trebly agenda for contemporary twang as far away as Malibu Beach and London's Abbey Road Studios. Named after a 1961 single and curated by Austin guitarist Burnin' Mike Vernon, Quite a Party! is a unique successor to Ace's 1990s reissue of the Fireballs' Fifties and Sixties studio labors for producer Norman Petty: two dozen covers, ancient and modern, mixed together with surprising cohesion. The big difference between the now wow – Bill Kirchen's alarm-clock Telecaster in the title song; the Nortons' sprint through "Chief Whoopin-Koff"; Vernon's Fender-bending of "Las Vegas Scene" with 3 Balls of Fire – and early-Sixties tracks like the harmonized double-lead sparkle of the Lively Ones' "Rik-a-Tik" is technology. The fresh stuff has a crispness that highlights the almost vocal quality of Tomsco's melodies, but the jubilant ruggedness of period tracks such as "El Ringo" by the Canadian combo Wes Dakus & His Rebels – a Fireballs homage that they covered in turn – beats studious respect almost every time. Exception: the '61 "Torquay" by the Electras, an amateur's romp notable only for the bassist, failed presidential candidate John Kerry. Better to spend that time with "Eight Miles Down" from 3 Balls of Fire's own fine release, Chrome and Water – it sounds like the Byrds underwater. (13 Guitar Rumble: A Tribute to Link Wray burns Wednesday, April 26 at Antone's with Mike Vernon, George Tomsco, the Ventures' Bob Spalding and many, many more.)