Fact #189927
When:
Short story:
Jimmy Gilmer And The Fireballs reach No1 in the USA with Sugar Shack. It goes on to become the year's best-selling song in America.
Full article:
Keith McCormick (composer) : Didn't really think about it at all. I had just had this tune in my head, so I took a few things, made them into a song about a Sugar Shack. It was just one of those songs that jumped out at me.
I couldn't remember what you called those tight pants girls wore at the time (leotards) so I asked my aunt, and we kind of finished the song together.
It was too simple. I wasn't real proud of it … but after a while, as more and more people heard it, I started feeling OK about the song.
Norman Petty (producer) : Jimmy had heard Sugar Shack before we recorded it because he had become acquainted with Keith McCormick, one of The String-a-Longs, who had written the song. They had become acquainted during the recording of Wheels and some of the other instrumental things that the The String-a-Longs had done.
Keith McCormick : The Fireballs and Jimmy, we were all kind of like a big family back then. We were all playing songs back and forth, and Jimmy asked if I had any songs for him. I played Sugar Shack for Jimmy and he liked it.
Jimmy's father was kind of a big shot with Phillips 66. He was kind of a supervisor over a bunch of gas stations. He had to travel in the New Mexico-Texas-Oklahoma area and see these gas stations. So, whenever he got into a town, he'd drop by the local radio stations and plug Sugar Shack. They all knew who The Fireballs were, so whenever he said 'I've got a new Fireballs record here' he could get in the door. It was like having a personal promotions man. A dejay in Amarillo got behind the record from the first and made it No1 in that city.
Finally Norman (Petty) called Dot and told them 'Hey, we've got a hit here if you'll just get behind it.'
Norman Petty (record producer) : I worked with a man in Nashville named Noel Ball, a big rock And roll disk jockey who, at the same time, was doing some production with Arthur Alexander and some other people.
I'm not sure exactly where I met him but he became interested in our production. He said, 'Why don't you let me try something with you sometime, send me some of your things.' So Sugar Shack was on one of the things I sent him and he really believed in it. as a matter of fact, he did the mastering from tape to disk in Nashville.
Keith McCormick : I figure Sugar Shack has made about a half a million dollars over the past 30 years. I usually get a cheque for $500 or $600 a month.
(Source : not known)
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I couldn't remember what you called those tight pants girls wore at the time (leotards) so I asked my aunt, and we kind of finished the song together.
It was too simple. I wasn't real proud of it … but after a while, as more and more people heard it, I started feeling OK about the song.
Norman Petty (producer) : Jimmy had heard Sugar Shack before we recorded it because he had become acquainted with Keith McCormick, one of The String-a-Longs, who had written the song. They had become acquainted during the recording of Wheels and some of the other instrumental things that the The String-a-Longs had done.
Keith McCormick : The Fireballs and Jimmy, we were all kind of like a big family back then. We were all playing songs back and forth, and Jimmy asked if I had any songs for him. I played Sugar Shack for Jimmy and he liked it.
Jimmy's father was kind of a big shot with Phillips 66. He was kind of a supervisor over a bunch of gas stations. He had to travel in the New Mexico-Texas-Oklahoma area and see these gas stations. So, whenever he got into a town, he'd drop by the local radio stations and plug Sugar Shack. They all knew who The Fireballs were, so whenever he said 'I've got a new Fireballs record here' he could get in the door. It was like having a personal promotions man. A dejay in Amarillo got behind the record from the first and made it No1 in that city.
Finally Norman (Petty) called Dot and told them 'Hey, we've got a hit here if you'll just get behind it.'
Norman Petty (record producer) : I worked with a man in Nashville named Noel Ball, a big rock And roll disk jockey who, at the same time, was doing some production with Arthur Alexander and some other people.
I'm not sure exactly where I met him but he became interested in our production. He said, 'Why don't you let me try something with you sometime, send me some of your things.' So Sugar Shack was on one of the things I sent him and he really believed in it. as a matter of fact, he did the mastering from tape to disk in Nashville.
Keith McCormick : I figure Sugar Shack has made about a half a million dollars over the past 30 years. I usually get a cheque for $500 or $600 a month.
(Source : not known)