The detail-crammed title alone signifies that this is a disc for the hardcore collector of artists (
the Fireballs and
Jimmy Gilmer) who do not exactly have huge fan bases or receive glowing retrospective appreciations even in collector's magazines. As a functional fill-in-the-gaps collection that assembles 30 songs (all vocals, none instrumental) that never appeared on LP and have never before appeared on CD, it certainly does have its use to that small audience who wants a complete
Gilmer/
Fireballs library. (Point of clarification to those confused by the nebulous
Gilmer/
Fireballs association: nine of these cuts are credited to
the Fireballs, 13 to
Gilmer as a soloist, and eight to
Jimmy Gilmer & the Fireballs.)
Gilmer and
the Fireballs, whether working together or separately, weren't terribly notable or creative. As this is the odds and ends of their catalog (all taken from 1959-1969 singles), it doesn't even stand up too well in comparison with their other anthologies. It's fairly limpid
pop/rock, often borrowing heavily from trends of the period, as
the Fireballs do on the light
British Invasion rip-off
"Baby What's Wrong," the stiff
hot rod music of
"Yummie Yama Papa," and the
"Hang on Sloopy" rewrite
"Say I Am." On
Gilmer's part,
"Break His Heart for Me" is an obvious derivation of
Roy Orbison songs like
"Candy Man," "Sugar in the Woods" is tepid late-'60s
swamp rock, and
"Model Child" contains some of the chintzier sitar-ish sounds in late-'60s
rock. There are occasional efforts that are better than others, like the
country blues groove of
Gilmer's
"I'm Gonna Go Walkin'"; the "slow 45 version" of
Gilmer's
Buddy Holly cover,
"Lonesome Tears"; and the gentle, bluesy
folk-rock of
"Ain't That Rain" (with
Gilmer and
the Fireballs together).
The Fireballs' 1965 single
"Beating of My Heart" is a surprising oddity as an American cover of an obscure
Joe Meek song, though the
Meek-produced original (by British teen idol
Heinz) is much better. ~ Richie Unterberger
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