RIP Stan Lark - Fireballs bassist

[jsrstereo]

Stan Lark, original and long-time bassist for the Fireballs & Jimmy Gilmer and the Fireballs, died this past Tuesday, Aug. 4, 2021. He was bassist on the many classic George Tomsco-penned guitar instrumental tracks (Torquay, Bulldog, Yacky Doo, Rik-A-Tik, Panic Button, Footpatter, Vaquero, Chief Whoopin' Koff, Quite A Party, Gunshot, et al) and the Jimmy Gilmer vocal tracks (Sugar Shack, Bottle of Wine, Come On React, et al), all recorded at Norman Petty's Clovis NM studio.

He was also bassist on Norman Petty's Buddy Holly overdubs in the early '60s.

THE FIREBALLS - Official website of THE original Fireballs (Since 1958)

 

[~dave~~wave~]

This video about Raton, NM about six minutes in has Stan & George sharing memories of the glory days.

https://fasttvnetwork.com/main-street-america-1

 

[Gimme 4]

Man The Fireballs takes me back to my childhood, 5th grade, 1961. After school one day a buddy and I went by the local AM Top 40 radio station KBOX 1480 that was about 6 blocks from my house. We found a trashcan full of 45s! Among those was a 45 with Rick-A-Tik and Yacky Doo on Warwick. Still have that 45.

Meantime, I have my "The Best Of The Fireballs: The Original Norman Petty Masters" CD playing.

 

[GOS]

Man The Fireballs takes me back to my childhood, 5th grade, 1961. After school one day a buddy and I went by the local AM Top 40 radio station KBOX 1480 that was about 6 blocks from my house. We found a trashcan full of 45s! Among those was a 45 with Rick-A-Tik and Yacky Doo on Warwick. Still have that 45.

Meantime, I have my "The Best Of The Fireballs: The Original Norman Petty Masters" CD playing.

So, why were those 45's in a trashcan?

 

[Gimme 4]

So, why were those 45's in a trashcan?

Radio stations got so many promo copies of new releases they would run out of room. So once in a while they would have a house cleaning.

 

[jsrstereo]

Man The Fireballs takes me back to my childhood, 5th grade, 1961. After school one day a buddy and I went by the local AM Top 40 radio station KBOX 1480 that was about 6 blocks from my house. We found a trashcan full of 45s! Among those was a 45 with Rick-A-Tik and Yacky Doo on Warwick. Still have that 45.

Meantime, I have my "The Best Of The Fireballs: The Original Norman Petty Masters" CD playing.

My first exposure to the Fireballs was in the late '50's when I heard "Footpatter" playing on KIBL radio in my hometown of Beeville TX - I was just starting on guitar and was floored - couldn't believe how good electric guitar & bass could sound on record (as recorded by Norman Petty). Later I discovered "Torquay", "Bulldog", "Vaquero" and other George Tomsco classics. Dang.

 

[quadsearcher]

Radio stations got so many promo copies of new releases they would run out of room. So once in a while they would have a house cleaning.

It's cool to hear someone else ran across that. Local FM station in 1979 had phone contests and I won a record (Rumors?) and asked if they had any others they didn't want. They showed me to a shed bigger than a two car garage where they were stacked flat, randomly, about two or three feet high across the floor, like they threw them in there. I got as much as I could carry. Not much of interest though, but it was fun.

Back to the Fireballs, a high school friend had his older sister's 45s and Bottle of Wine was in there.