George Tomsco

A 30-song anthology of Tomsco's career, culling together tracks by the Fireballs (including their first hit, "Torquay," and a raw previously unissued demo cover of Little Richard's "Rip It Up"), scattered cuts he did in the 1960s under his own name and as half of "George & Babs," and a wealth of items from the late '50s and '60s on which he worked as a session guitarist. The scope of this material is impressive; as a listening experience, it's inconsistent. At the top of the pile are Buddy Holly classics like "Crying, Waiting, Hoping" (the Fireballs posthumously overdubbed some Holly demos), Jimmy Gilmer's #1 1963 hit "Sugar Shack," Arthur Alexander's superb 1965 soul lament "You Don't Care," and a 1964 track by Carolyn Hester, "That's My Song," that was co-written by Tomsco and his wife. Much of this, however, is slight if inoffensive early-'60s style Tex-Mex vocal and instrumental rock. As for the highlights among the material that's hard to find otherwise, Jimmy Craig's "Oh Little Girl" (from 1959) is a close Buddy Holly soundalike, and George & Babs' "Come On Home" is a pretty decent mid-'60s-style pop-rocker. Everything here is from 1958-1969, with the exception of three tracks done by a reunited Fireballs in 1989. ~ Richie Unterberger, All Music Guide