Jimmy Gilmer
Best known for the US number 1 hit Sugar Shack, with the group the Fireballs in 1963, Jimmy Gilmer (b. 1940, LaGrange, Illinois, USA; piano/vocals) began singing as a child after his family moved south to Amarillo, Texas. He studied music at the Musical Arts Conservatory and in 1957 formed his own band while attending Amarillo College, where he studied engineering. While at Norman Petty's recording studios in Clovis, New Mexico, in 1960, Gilmer was introduced to the Fireballs George Tomsco, Stan Lark and Doug Roberts and soon replaced departing vocalist Chuck Tharp. Signed to Dot Records, and now billed as Jimmy Gilmer And The Fireballs, they recorded Sugar Shack in 1963, which hit number 1 for five weeks, becoming the year's most successful single. After a couple of follow-up singles, including the Top 20 Daisy Petal Pickin’, and six albums, the group reverted to the name Fireballs. Without Gilmer, they had another Top 10 single, Bottle Of Wine, in 1967 but by the end of the '60s they had disbanded.