Menu
Quite A Party! 24 Great Instrumental Bands Play the Fireballs (Ace
Records, UK, 2005)
Here we have a tribute album that's been a long time in the coming.
The Fireballs were a New Mexico band that got their start in '58
(pre-Ventures) and ended up becoming a major influence on both the
Ventures as well as the nascent surf genre (especially the Belairs
and the South Bay sound) with their early instrumentals which went
beyond Duane Eddy and relied much more on the Fender sound. They
also introduced a heavy dose of Mexicana to their tunes, which
clearly has also had a big influence on surf music. And their lead
guitar player George Tomsco penned some of the classic instrumental
tunes, such as Bulldog, Torquay and Quite a Party.
This is a fantastic tribute to the Fireballs' genius. It's quite
unique due to the fact that it includes both vintage covers of the
Fireballs tunes as well as modern tributes. Of the vintage tunes
there are many fine ones from bands like the Ventures, the Belairs,
the String-A-Longs, the Lively Ones (great cover of Rik-A-Tik), the
Challengers, Wes Dakus & His Rebels and my two favorites: Vaquero by
the Tornadoes (the surf band, not the Joe Meek band) and the still-
unmatched Find Me A Golden Street by the Shadows from their 1961
debut album. The Fireballs covers by all these bands are all
classics in their own right, and it's great to see them here, but
the new contributions, of which there are about a dozen, are a bit
more interesting. I think all the artists do a very good job on
these, though some are better than others. Probably my very
favorite on the whole CD is by our own couplets John Blair and Marty
Tippens they do an acoustic version of a rare (and somewhat
unfortunately named) track Clink Clink Classic. But man, it's just
beautiful! Their two acoustics mesh perfectly, and create a web of
warm sound that's thick enough to swim in, I swear. Really great
job, guys! (JB & Marty are currently building up their repertoire
and may even record a whole acoustic album of songs by the
Fireballs, which I think would be incredible. I hope it happens.)
Close behind this one is another duet, consisting of two more super-
talented chaps: Dave Wronski (damn, the guy's everywhere!) and Pete
Curry (Los Straitjackets, the Halibuts, Jon & the Nightriders, etc.,
etc.), who do a beautiful instrumental take on the big Fireballs
vocal hit Sugar Shack, with more than a passing nod to Motown,
believe it or not. The Torquays (who clearly took their band name
from a Fireballs tune) do a great job on a song Dumbo, previously
released on one of their cool albums. Other new versions of note
are 3 Balls of Fire (whose lead guitarist Mike Vernon produced this
whole release, and who have lately often been employed as George
Tomsco's backing band) who do a beautiful job on obscure Las Vegas
Scene; Paul Johnson's Fireball is a delicate masterpiece with at
least three interweaving guitar parts; the country/rockabilly
guitarist Bill Kirchen plays a faithful and lively reading of Quite
a Party, backed by 3 Balls of Fire; the Detonators do a chunky surf
version of Bulldog; and there are many other great songs by Jerry
MacNeish, the Knights, the Spartans, the Vibrants, etc.
There are only a couple of missteps on the entire CD: 1) The
Electras' Torquay is atrocious and only has novelty value (this was
Senator John Kerry's sixties band), and so becomes pretty grating on
repeated listenings; 2) The Nortons' Chief Woopin' Koff sounds like
they're about to fall asleep, very low energy Mike Vernon should
have used the Atlantics' rocking version of this classic Fireballs
tune; 3) using the recent rerecording by the Spotnicks of their
classic Moonshot (called Gunshot by the Fireballs) rather than the
fantastic original track was a mistake. Other than these three
problems, this is another great CD that I bet would be loved by many
people on this list, whether they've been fans of the Fireballs for
45 years or have never heard them before. I can't think of a better
introduction to them.
Wow...thanks Ivan for the recent round of reviews! I wish more people
did this! Now I'm off to buy some of those...
BN
And a good companion cd to go along with this would be the Ace
records Norman Petty Masters best of the Fireballs.
instead of any of the Sundazed reissues, which I'm sure are fine.
But this Best off covers almost all the basses you need.
Jeff(bigtikidude)
--- In , "ipongrac" <ipongrac@...> wrote:
>
> Quite A Party! 24 Great Instrumental Bands Play the Fireballs (Ace
> Records, UK, 2005)
>
> Here we have a tribute album that's been a long time in the
coming.
> The Fireballs were a New Mexico band that got their start in '58
> (pre-Ventures) and ended up becoming a major influence on both the
> Ventures as well as the nascent surf genre (especially the Belairs
> and the South Bay sound) with their early instrumentals which went
> beyond Duane Eddy and relied much more on the Fender sound. They
> also introduced a heavy dose of Mexicana to their tunes, which
> clearly has also had a big influence on surf music. And their lead
> guitar player George Tomsco penned some of the classic instrumental
> tunes, such as Bulldog, Torquay and Quite a Party.
>
> This is a fantastic tribute to the Fireballs' genius. It's quite
> unique due to the fact that it includes both vintage covers of the
> Fireballs tunes as well as modern tributes. Of the vintage tunes
> there are many fine ones from bands like the Ventures, the Belairs,
> the String-A-Longs, the Lively Ones (great cover of Rik-A-Tik), the
> Challengers, Wes Dakus & His Rebels and my two favorites: Vaquero
by
> the Tornadoes (the surf band, not the Joe Meek band) and the still-
> unmatched Find Me A Golden Street by the Shadows from their 1961
> debut album. The Fireballs covers by all these bands are all
> classics in their own right, and it's great to see them here, but
> the new contributions, of which there are about a dozen, are a bit
> more interesting. I think all the artists do a very good job on
> these, though some are better than others. Probably my very
> favorite on the whole CD is by our own couplets John Blair and
Marty
> Tippens they do an acoustic version of a rare (and somewhat
> unfortunately named) track Clink Clink Classic. But man, it's just
> beautiful! Their two acoustics mesh perfectly, and create a web of
> warm sound that's thick enough to swim in, I swear. Really great
> job, guys! (JB & Marty are currently building up their repertoire
> and may even record a whole acoustic album of songs by the
> Fireballs, which I think would be incredible. I hope it happens.)
> Close behind this one is another duet, consisting of two more super-
> talented chaps: Dave Wronski (damn, the guy's everywhere!) and Pete
> Curry (Los Straitjackets, the Halibuts, Jon & the Nightriders,
etc.,
> etc.), who do a beautiful instrumental take on the big Fireballs
> vocal hit Sugar Shack, with more than a passing nod to Motown,
> believe it or not. The Torquays (who clearly took their band name
> from a Fireballs tune) do a great job on a song Dumbo, previously
> released on one of their cool albums. Other new versions of note
> are 3 Balls of Fire (whose lead guitarist Mike Vernon produced this
> whole release, and who have lately often been employed as George
> Tomsco's backing band) who do a beautiful job on obscure Las Vegas
> Scene; Paul Johnson's Fireball is a delicate masterpiece with at
> least three interweaving guitar parts; the country/rockabilly
> guitarist Bill Kirchen plays a faithful and lively reading of Quite
> a Party, backed by 3 Balls of Fire; the Detonators do a chunky surf
> version of Bulldog; and there are many other great songs by Jerry
> MacNeish, the Knights, the Spartans, the Vibrants, etc.
>
> There are only a couple of missteps on the entire CD: 1) The
> Electras' Torquay is atrocious and only has novelty value (this was
> Senator John Kerry's sixties band), and so becomes pretty grating
on
> repeated listenings; 2) The Nortons' Chief Woopin' Koff sounds like
> they're about to fall asleep, very low energy Mike Vernon should
> have used the Atlantics' rocking version of this classic Fireballs
> tune; 3) using the recent rerecording by the Spotnicks of their
> classic Moonshot (called Gunshot by the Fireballs) rather than the
> fantastic original track was a mistake. Other than these three
> problems, this is another great CD that I bet would be loved by
many
> people on this list, whether they've been fans of the Fireballs for
> 45 years or have never heard them before. I can't think of a
better
> introduction to them.
>
Thanks for the uplifting support you're giving to all of us, Ivan!
-Marty
PS: To Balboa Rich or anyone else fer that matter, don't go for the obvious
brazier joke.
----- Original Message -----
From: ipongrac
To:
Sent: Tuesday, February 07, 2006 2:00 PM
Subject: [SurfGuitar101] CD review: Quite A Party! (The Fireballs Tribute)
Quite A Party! 24 Great Instrumental Bands Play the Fireballs (Ace
Records, UK, 2005)
Here we have a tribute album that's been a long time in the coming.
The Fireballs were a New Mexico band that got their start in '58
(pre-Ventures) and ended up becoming a major influence on both the
Ventures as well as the nascent surf genre (especially the Belairs
and the South Bay sound) with their early instrumentals which went
beyond Duane Eddy and relied much more on the Fender sound. They
also introduced a heavy dose of Mexicana to their tunes, which
clearly has also had a big influence on surf music. And their lead
guitar player George Tomsco penned some of the classic instrumental
tunes, such as Bulldog, Torquay and Quite a Party.
This is a fantastic tribute to the Fireballs' genius. It's quite
unique due to the fact that it includes both vintage covers of the
Fireballs tunes as well as modern tributes. Of the vintage tunes
there are many fine ones from bands like the Ventures, the Belairs,
the String-A-Longs, the Lively Ones (great cover of Rik-A-Tik), the
Challengers, Wes Dakus & His Rebels and my two favorites: Vaquero by
the Tornadoes (the surf band, not the Joe Meek band) and the still-
unmatched Find Me A Golden Street by the Shadows from their 1961
debut album. The Fireballs covers by all these bands are all
classics in their own right, and it's great to see them here, but
the new contributions, of which there are about a dozen, are a bit
more interesting. I think all the artists do a very good job on
these, though some are better than others. Probably my very
favorite on the whole CD is by our own couplets John Blair and Marty
Tippens - they do an acoustic version of a rare (and somewhat
unfortunately named) track Clink Clink Classic. But man, it's just
beautiful! Their two acoustics mesh perfectly, and create a web of
warm sound that's thick enough to swim in, I swear. Really great
job, guys! (JB & Marty are currently building up their repertoire
and may even record a whole acoustic album of songs by the
Fireballs, which I think would be incredible. I hope it happens.)
Close behind this one is another duet, consisting of two more super-
talented chaps: Dave Wronski (damn, the guy's everywhere!) and Pete
Curry (Los Straitjackets, the Halibuts, Jon & the Nightriders, etc.,
etc.), who do a beautiful instrumental take on the big Fireballs
vocal hit Sugar Shack, with more than a passing nod to Motown,
believe it or not. The Torquays (who clearly took their band name
from a Fireballs tune) do a great job on a song Dumbo, previously
released on one of their cool albums. Other new versions of note
are 3 Balls of Fire (whose lead guitarist Mike Vernon produced this
whole release, and who have lately often been employed as George
Tomsco's backing band) who do a beautiful job on obscure Las Vegas
Scene; Paul Johnson's Fireball is a delicate masterpiece with at
least three interweaving guitar parts; the country/rockabilly
guitarist Bill Kirchen plays a faithful and lively reading of Quite
a Party, backed by 3 Balls of Fire; the Detonators do a chunky surf
version of Bulldog; and there are many other great songs by Jerry
MacNeish, the Knights, the Spartans, the Vibrants, etc.
There are only a couple of missteps on the entire CD: 1) The
Electras' Torquay is atrocious and only has novelty value (this was
Senator John Kerry's sixties band), and so becomes pretty grating on
repeated listenings; 2) The Nortons' Chief Woopin' Koff sounds like
they're about to fall asleep, very low energy - Mike Vernon should
have used the Atlantics' rocking version of this classic Fireballs
tune; 3) using the recent rerecording by the Spotnicks of their
classic Moonshot (called Gunshot by the Fireballs) rather than the
fantastic original track was a mistake. Other than these three
problems, this is another great CD that I bet would be loved by many
people on this list, whether they've been fans of the Fireballs for
45 years or have never heard them before. I can't think of a better
introduction to them.
.
Visit for archived messages,
bookmarks, files, polls, etc.
SPONSORED LINKS Guitar music theory Stringed instruments Guitar music book
Guitar sheet music Guitar music sheets Guitar technique
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
YAHOO! GROUPS LINKS
a.. Visit your group "SurfGuitar101" on the web.
b.. To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
c.. Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of Service.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
__________ NOD32 1.1398 (20060207) Information __________
This message was checked by NOD32 antivirus system.
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
You're very welcome, Marty - thanks for the great music! Looking
forward to hearing more from you two.
Ivan
--- In , "Marty Tippens"
<mctippens@...> wrote:
>
> Thanks for the uplifting support you're giving to all of us, Ivan!
>
> -Marty
>
> PS: To Balboa Rich or anyone else fer that matter, don't go for
the obvious brazier joke.
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: ipongrac
> To:
> Sent: Tuesday, February 07, 2006 2:00 PM
> Subject: [SurfGuitar101] CD review: Quite A Party! (The
Fireballs Tribute)
>
>
> Quite A Party! 24 Great Instrumental Bands Play the Fireballs
(Ace
> Records, UK, 2005)
>
> Here we have a tribute album that's been a long time in the
coming.
> The Fireballs were a New Mexico band that got their start in '58
> (pre-Ventures) and ended up becoming a major influence on both
the
> Ventures as well as the nascent surf genre (especially the
Belairs
> and the South Bay sound) with their early instrumentals which
went
> beyond Duane Eddy and relied much more on the Fender sound.
They
> also introduced a heavy dose of Mexicana to their tunes, which
> clearly has also had a big influence on surf music. And their
lead
> guitar player George Tomsco penned some of the classic
instrumental
> tunes, such as Bulldog, Torquay and Quite a Party.
>
> This is a fantastic tribute to the Fireballs' genius. It's
quite
> unique due to the fact that it includes both vintage covers of
the
> Fireballs tunes as well as modern tributes. Of the vintage
tunes
> there are many fine ones from bands like the Ventures, the
Belairs,
> the String-A-Longs, the Lively Ones (great cover of Rik-A-Tik),
the
> Challengers, Wes Dakus & His Rebels and my two favorites:
Vaquero by
> the Tornadoes (the surf band, not the Joe Meek band) and the
still-
> unmatched Find Me A Golden Street by the Shadows from their 1961
> debut album. The Fireballs covers by all these bands are all
> classics in their own right, and it's great to see them here,
but
> the new contributions, of which there are about a dozen, are a
bit
> more interesting. I think all the artists do a very good job on
> these, though some are better than others. Probably my very
> favorite on the whole CD is by our own couplets John Blair and
Marty
> Tippens - they do an acoustic version of a rare (and somewhat
> unfortunately named) track Clink Clink Classic. But man, it's
just
> beautiful! Their two acoustics mesh perfectly, and create a web
of
> warm sound that's thick enough to swim in, I swear. Really
great
> job, guys! (JB & Marty are currently building up their
repertoire
> and may even record a whole acoustic album of songs by the
> Fireballs, which I think would be incredible. I hope it
happens.)
> Close behind this one is another duet, consisting of two more
super-
> talented chaps: Dave Wronski (damn, the guy's everywhere!) and
Pete
> Curry (Los Straitjackets, the Halibuts, Jon & the Nightriders,
etc.,
> etc.), who do a beautiful instrumental take on the big Fireballs
> vocal hit Sugar Shack, with more than a passing nod to Motown,
> believe it or not. The Torquays (who clearly took their band
name
> from a Fireballs tune) do a great job on a song Dumbo,
previously
> released on one of their cool albums. Other new versions of
note
> are 3 Balls of Fire (whose lead guitarist Mike Vernon produced
this
> whole release, and who have lately often been employed as George
> Tomsco's backing band) who do a beautiful job on obscure Las
Vegas
> Scene; Paul Johnson's Fireball is a delicate masterpiece with at
> least three interweaving guitar parts; the country/rockabilly
> guitarist Bill Kirchen plays a faithful and lively reading of
Quite
> a Party, backed by 3 Balls of Fire; the Detonators do a chunky
surf
> version of Bulldog; and there are many other great songs by
Jerry
> MacNeish, the Knights, the Spartans, the Vibrants, etc.
>
> There are only a couple of missteps on the entire CD: 1) The
> Electras' Torquay is atrocious and only has novelty value (this
was
> Senator John Kerry's sixties band), and so becomes pretty
grating on
> repeated listenings; 2) The Nortons' Chief Woopin' Koff sounds
like
> they're about to fall asleep, very low energy - Mike Vernon
should
> have used the Atlantics' rocking version of this classic
Fireballs
> tune; 3) using the recent rerecording by the Spotnicks of their
> classic Moonshot (called Gunshot by the Fireballs) rather than
the
> fantastic original track was a mistake. Other than these three
> problems, this is another great CD that I bet would be loved by
many
> people on this list, whether they've been fans of the Fireballs
for
> 45 years or have never heard them before. I can't think of a
better
> introduction to them.
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> .
> Visit for archived
messages, bookmarks, files, polls, etc.
>
>
>
>
> SPONSORED LINKS Guitar music theory Stringed instruments
Guitar music book
> Guitar sheet music Guitar music sheets Guitar technique
>
>
> -------------------------------------------------------------------
-----------
> YAHOO! GROUPS LINKS
>
> a.. Visit your group "SurfGuitar101" on the web.
>
> b.. To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
>
>
> c.. Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms
of Service.
>
>
> -------------------------------------------------------------------
-----------
>
>
>
> __________ NOD32 1.1398 (20060207) Information __________
>
> This message was checked by NOD32 antivirus system.
>
>
>
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>
