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From: lee57
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  • c'mon Ladies , shake what yur momma gave ya 

  • That is some funky-ass bass!.. and he has the chicken neck going.. I am loosing my mind over here.

  • Esto sonaba cuando nacio Gerardo Rocha, mmmmm, muy sof, jajajaja

  • if you were lucky in those days , you had a transistor radio and you'd hear music like this. top forty stuff. really cool. then came underground FM radio which was cooler yet.

  • I just found out this was the number 1 song on the day I was born. It's about coffee. How appropriate!

  • @1963bikerchick  That is what I thought too surfgirl1963

  • @1963bikerchick Me 2

  • my aunt uncle were newlyweds at this time. The little address sign outside their little house mailbox read ...Ron & Carol's Sugar Shack

  • There uses to be a nice little club called The Sugar Shack in Columbus, Ohio. And Bob Seger and his band would play there for weeks at a time. In between sets when Bob and the band were taking a break. Only song you would hear from the juke box was this one. Awesome.

  • This song is so catchy. I think their outfits were funny for the era; the lead singer appears to have on leather or faux-leather pants, and the guitarist on the far right is wearing a sombrero? Hahaha.

  • My dad loves this song, Every time he hears it, He thinks of my mom(:

  • Its cool. the drummer Eric budd comes to my work place and i make his a carry out order every other day in kansas its really cool.

  • i lived in clovis awhile and the fireballs would come to my school and play for us it was sweet and i was in 5th grade.

  • i love this song

  • A #1 hit for Jimmy Gilmer and The Fireballs in October 1963. It also hit #1 on the Rhythm & Blues charts. During its run at the top of that chart, Billboard ceased publication of that chart. The R&B charts would be resurrected in January 1965. It was also the #1 song of 1963. Would they be the breakout stars of the sixties? I think that we know the answer to that. (The British Are Coming. The British Are Coming).

  • hanneke-you're so wrong...Go listen to your Biebs and let the rest of us enjoy the real music in peace.

  • Funny is, this song was #1 of 1963!!

    Goes to show that bad music is of all ages, and we don't really have it worse now ;)

  • which guitar is playing the piccolo part? :)

  • Even at age 10 I thought this had to be the worst song in history.  Had to come back and make sure. Yep, It still is. "How now brown cow," had nothing on this.

  • I want to go to the sugar shack.

  • This song sucks.

  • Sorry buddy, dont agree with you. Music in the 60s was a lot better then todays music, then you could understand the song, no sex or nudity like today, just clean cut fun, and songs that had a meaning. todays songs u cant understand, bring back the 60s

  • @egyptianwarlock1840 yeah the only decade where a Japanese singer could have a #1 hit in the U.S. sung entirely in Japanese Gotta love it!

  • @egyptianwarlock1840 Back in the day this song c/ its "beatnik" referrals was considered lowbrow, declasse, & a bit degenerative of the mind. Music for the white audiences had to be homogenised & pasteurised. Todays Soliquey of Sound groups- yo! Who can understand a Shakespehere sonnet. You don't have to understand it to dig it.

  • @Bitters lol well some people like it so shut the hell up

  • @SpunkBurnsTreesDaily It's just my opinion… but it's true

  • The bass player looks like he could set you up with some good drugs

  • This song is begging to be used in a movie where a gun fight happens.

  • I may have been born in the late 80s.. but music from the 50s and 60s is awesome

  • THIS SONG WAS THE COMPANIES THEME SONG, OUR COMPANIES NAME WAS SPRINGFIELD SUGAR, (SWEETLIFE FOODS) IN SUFFIELD CT.

  • i was in honolulu when i first heard Jimmy Gilmer and the Fireballs, whoah, like a chu chu train just choogin on down, oh yeah!!! awesome!!!

  • Does anyone know how that rubber band sound is created (best heard from 00:04 00:10)...is there a certain effect pedal being used or what?

  • @nimfenzwanner It's cause Fuzz, its a type of distortion, heavy fuzz would be like "spirit in the sky". On this song though, sounds like bass fuzz.

  • @MammaleousMaximus Thank very much for your help! Your example of 'spirit in the sky' is also very striking! It doesn't sound like a regular fuzz, or maybe one with a very low sustain...i'm no expert though. Perhaps if i let an 'octaver' pedal (something like an Boss OC-3) run through a to a Big Muff...might do the trick (of a guitar sounding like the bass in this song), gonna check it out as soon as i get my hands on an octaver :) Thanks again!

  • @nimfenzwanner Actually ya, low sustain, possibly even lightly muted bass with some and just picked hard. This is really reminiscent of Larry Graham in the song "dance to the music".

  • Something about this song makes me think the B-52's must've liked it - A LOT!!!

  • During lunch from high school I went to the grill across the street and played this on the jukebox. 3 plays for a quarter.

  • Wooooo Hoooooo what a great sing.

    Got to like Sugar Shack

    thumbs up

  • The Bass Player was way ahead of his time...He Rocks

  • my name is john gilmer my sister is Samantha gilmer

  • A silly and Corny Song. But I guess Jimmy Gilmer and those instruments were the best they could put out back then.

  • @MsPerogi - Whoa there! This song rocks out. I grew up loving the Stones, Kinks, Beatles, etc., but this song has STUCK in my memory ALL THESE YEARS. I mean....40 years plus. He musta had SOMETHING going on...it's a great track...melody, beat, lyrics, a great hook, has it all....

  • @tennis11ish

    I agree, this is my all time favorite song, can't say why, it just makes my toes tap and I smile all the way through it

  • pre Starbucks (sugar shack) advertisement! :)

  • I wonder which planet they are going to beam to.

  • The Bass player must shop at the same place Jimi Hendrix Shops.Look at that hat Looks like Jimi's hat

  • Tell me if I'm wrong, but I think the lineup is (left to right) Dan Trammell (rhythm guitar), Jimmy Gilmer (acoustic guitar & lead singer), Doug Roberts (drums), George Tomsco (lead guitar) & Stan Lark (bass guitar).

  • I dig this song, can't get much lower on the bass guitar! Ha!

  • Thumbs up if you found your way here through Forrest Gump.

  • ah yes, the days of the coffee house's and beatniks. yes beatniks, the forerunners of hippie's, LOL!

  • i could listen to this all day

  • This was DA SHIT...

    RIP soldiers... this was one is for you !

  • Many thanks to George & Paul of Sydney's 2UE954 for reminding me of this song from my childhood. Good one boys!

    Ian

  • I was 11 years old and you couldn't turn the A M radio on without hearing this. A well written and extremely well sung, light hearted love song. One of my all time favorites. What memories!!. Thanks for posting.

  • This came out the week I was born. Nice huh? See that guitar player?  He's jammin' baby!

  • This was the first album my dad ever had, he won it from a pinball machine or some kind of game when he was 14 or so!

  • toas all the way baby you know it rock on cuz

  • New Mexico brothers be proud!

  • New Mexico brothers be proud!

  • this was a person in my family i am his great great neise im samantha gilmer

  • @mejohnny88 if your samantha gilmer, why is your username mejohnny88?

  • yeeeeeeee haaaaaaa

  • Ladies and gentlemen.. He went on to have a great job in the executive suite of United Artists for their record labels division.. But two fun hits.. This one was Billboard's number ONE hit on the singles chart for 1963! Bottle of Wine was a party hit on the radio and charts in 1968......

  • WHAT BETTER SHACK COULD YOU ASK FOR AND IN THE MIDDLE OF A SHANTY TOWN WOULD BE AS GOOD AS STICK IN THE WOODS,OR A PIG IN THE MUDS;-)

  • music from a much more innocent time (we were nieve, distracted, sheltered, and in love). we were feelin groovy. ramalamadingdong papa ou mow mow surfer girl

  • Today the Sugar Shack would be put out of business by Starbuck's.

  • That is my favor song of all times.

  • I remember dancing around my livingroom to this, I must of been about 4 or 5....lol

  • This week this song hit number one on the top 100 hits in America this week back in 1963. Can you believe it?

  • Only three guitar chords were used in this song: G, C, and D7 and C on the bridge.

    I remember the song came out on the Dot Record label on a 45 single, same label as Lawrence Welk's at the time.

    Probably a one-hit wonder, and definitely a timeless hit of music.

  • GOOD SONG

  • Great song. One of those that you remember all the words even 40 yrs later lol Happy music. We need more of it.

  • Great song, Just heard this song this morning while I was making coffee.

  • great song is my fav of all time

  • great song 

  • An all-time favorite.

  • This group recorded at Norman Petty studio in Clovis, New Mexico right up the road from E. New Mexico University in Portales. Buddy Holly and the Crickets, also recorded there as well.

  • Does anyone else but me think the set for this performance of "Sugar Shack" look an awful lot like the set of the original "Star Trek"'s Enterprise? No, wonder that bass player looks like he's on drugs -- he probably just saw Mr. Spock walk by with some Tribbles! -:)

  • I've always had a fondness for this tune since it was the #1 tune, in the U.S., according to Billboard Magazine's HOT 100 charts, on the day I was born, November 8, 1963.

  • i want whatever the bass player is on

  • They used a hammond solovox to recode the organ part

  • My grandparents had this song on 8 track in their motorhome.

  • I,m in Peckham watching Tony Millett and his Sister Carol dancing to this at La Disque .

  • It's 1963 and I'm at the Senior prom, El Dorado High School in Placerville California. My first dance with my steady girl and this is the song, not a real romantic song but I'll never forget it.

  • cool organ lick and best bass sound-dampened strings maybe?

  • Comment removed

  • I want an old boat of a car with big fins whenever I hear this song. Proof that all you need to make great music is a simple, catchy melody and lyrics. The stuff they make today - even the stuff I like, oddly enough - is 180 degrees from this type of music. It's almost scary how different it is, almost like not from the same planet. Compare this to the loud, angry tunes blaring from most cars and living rooms. Sure, life only looked more innocent back then, but the music really was.

  • @chainbluelightning1 IS my imagination or are the songs of today,like rap, which is not music are just full of hatred violance

  • OMG!

  • ok so, I Swear this is the Truth .. Keith McCorMack that Wrote Sugar Shack at one time lived Near Springfied, MO.. I also live near Springfield and years ago Keith was my neighbor and he played in a few night clubs that I went to and well .. in my humble opinion he sang Sugar Shack better than JIM Gilmer omg I MISS YOU KEITH LOL ... if you read this ... this is the Stud_ette of Ramone's that knew Paul. Hope the state of Texas is treating you Well .. :)

  • These guys make 2:06 like 2 hours...

  • Couldn't wait to be old enough to drink espresso coffee, whatever in the hell that was.

  • Such an adorable oldie! Wish I could see them when they released this song. Here, they look like a 70's cover band doing the song. Love the getup the guy in the hat is wearing.

  • right on jojo048. the sugar shack is whatever you want it to be. But it is the place to meet your baby

  • Expresso coffee houses were considred subversive because of the beatniks that often gathered in them. There would be poets who would recite their poems while punctuating there verses with bongo beats or acoustic guitar chords.

    These poems were often about social injustice, foreign entanglements, sexual repression. Subjects thought to be anti American.

  • @honypoboy Beatniks were the hippies of the time

  • No, it wasnt about drugs, the place was a coffee house, just like it says in the song. I remember people thinking the song was immoral, I dont get that. He met a waitress at a coffee house and they got married, end of story.

  • so ??? What was the Sugar Shack ?

    The Heroine / Shoot up flop house ?

  • Bring on the memories, thanks for posting.

  • I remember this song when I was in the 8th grade...after school stroll over to the Burger King and keep feeding the dimes to this song. No real meaning,...just a good tune we all enjoyed. Waiting for things to happen.

  • Now this is what I call rock and roll at its finest, It would reach to the top of the billboard charts in 1963 and make Jimmy Gilmer a household name. thanks for posting and for the memories!!

  • Hey, maybe that is why I like coffee.

    I useto sing this song alot,

    Memories,just me and you go back

    to our sugar shack,Smile & Peace

  • One of my old favorites,remember this song when i was a little girl. Remember really singing,dancing like a crazy little girl.

    Brings back good memories,

    Smile & Peace

  • It's not an organ (and B-3s were not really portable--they weigh 400 pounds).  It's a potato (potatoe if you are Dan Quayle).

  • That "Ricky" bass sounds frickin' awesome. Dude looks like Billy Jack.

  • The quality of the people we have in the military today, far exceeds anything you would know anything about. I am sorry for your lose, but that does not excuse your idiotic statement that only stupid people join. Now, don't go away mad, just go away.

  • @azcactus2008

    You've got to be brain damaged to voluntarily join the military. It's an awful life.

  • Back in the 60s it was a common practice for a judge to tell some low life, they have a choice of going to prison or going to the military. It sounds like that is the military you know about. Like I said before; I'm sorry for your lose.

  • @azcactus2008 , how does this song have anything to do with the military?

    this thread puzzles me.

  • @Aliendear I was replying to someone who went on a rant about how bad the military is. This song reminded him of some old buddies who died.

  • I heard this song with my buddies at a club before I left for Vietnam...They never came back. I speak for them from their graves...Stay away from the military. Do not join.

  • @SuperSweaterVest You're right about that Brother.

  • @SuperSweaterVest

    I was in the Canadian Military for 12 years, and they were the best years of my life. We also lost a few, but always remember we are the strong and free.

    1991 Gulf War Veteran

  • @Laner39 - great respect for you....from another Canadian.

  • @SuperSweaterVest Thank God the Veterans of the Second World War didn't think like you !! Sometimes for whats right and important the ultamate sacrafice has to be made. R.I.P. our Heros.

  • @SuperSweaterVest they went into a losing war

  • Was memories of 1963 - 64 that brought me to this vid. Can still remember being in the backseat of a plymouth, the family cruising down dusty prairie roads and this coming on the radio.

  • I love the pants... pleather? leather? plastic? Too fun, what would it have been like to sit on the plastic couch covers of that day in those pants?

    LOL :D

  • They arent lip synching  they are really singing

  • You don't see the organ because this isn't a live performance. They are air playing and lip synching to the record, which is why it sounds exactly like the record. This also explains why you can hear him singing with out a microphone. :D

  • sweet!

  • Sugar Shack with Jimmy Gilmer and his group was one of the BEST songs. They were clean guys.

  • I hAVETHEorig 45....will not part my older sibs moved out they left the 33 and 45 so I took em.............nasty arent I?? But gawd wait ti thier 30th!!

  • These guys are from my hometown! George gave me a ticket and let me video tape one of their last performances in their hometown of Raton NM a couple years ago. It was the last show with their original guitarist he had to leave the stage after the first couple songs due to his problems with cancer. It was awesome seeing them play on the same stage they did in high school and won the talent show that launched their star in rock n roll history it was of my greatest memories.

  • omg i love this song and was just elk hunting in raton and didnt even know they were from there

  • The Marines down here love this song I swear if' that's a flute in the background it gets them going! BOMB ass song!

  • The bass player was doing some good drugs.

  • @gregtthomas Who wasn't?

  • @gregtthomas I'm not sure, but I think that may be Waylon Jennings on bass. He played some bass for Buddy Holly back in the day. He could've sat in on this.

  • @gregtthomas nuh uh, he just had a groove goin'

  • Oh man, what an awesome vintage Rickenbacker 4001 bass!!!!

    Dig that crazy see-thru finger rest! Stock of course.

  • Sugar Shack still a great song 1963 a banner year i rocknroll. MEGAHIT catchy tune as i recall . this doo wop rocknroll historian recalls. thanks Fireballs. by far the best song you ever did. its immortal. TOMK

  • The last great doowhopper!

  • This is from when music was good. They talent, it was not redone with effects.

  • Sugar shack a classic from 63. i recall it well. 1963 a banner year in rocknroll. this is 63 all over again. so young fun, catchy lively beat. it beats their later song Bottle of Wine in fact youd never guess the same group sang both songs. regardless thanks for this gem. bless you. TOMK

  • like it but i like ac/dc better

  • Also what type of guitars are they all playing?

  • Rickenbacker 4001 / Fender Jazzmaster / Gibson ES-135

  • I'm trying to figure who's playing what sound on the guitar. The bass player is easy but the other guitarists it's difficult to pinpoint who's playing what sound.

  • what is the tie thing called??

  • It's called a neckerchief. Very popular in the sixties.

  • his guitar is broken look at the tuner key when he moves its hanging by the string......

  • The string isn't broken. It was popular in the sixties to have a length of un-wound string hanging loose near the machine heads.

  • i remember it when it was new and liking it but seeing this videoized a few years later seems kinda' creepy...almost sinister-ish

  • great song, but one bad memory attached-it was the song playing on my Mom's car radio when we heard about JFK assasination.

  • these guys were managed/produced by Norman Petty, the guy who worked w/Buddy Holly in Clovis NM. After Holly's death, Petty took unfinished Holly tapes and made a fortune dubbing them w/live Fireballs background music.

  • not a flute, its a synthesizer. great song

  • # 1 for 5 weeks in 1963, and went on the #1 song for 1963 - GREAT song!

  • great dance song .. at La Disque in Peckham...

  • Hehe, I like that grin at 0:48

  • My fondest memory of this song was when our "good old Southern Baptist preacher" got up one Sunday morning and preached to the teenagers on the evil music we listened to on the radio. He used Sugar Shack as an example as he preached about wild and lustful teenage romances and sinful relationships. Half of us hadn't even heard Sugar Shack but the next day we all hurried down to the local record shop and bought up all the copies. Loved that music ,1963 what a year. Sweet Memories!

  • LOL!! Awesome story. Thanks for sharing! :)

  • That's funny!

  • @jojo048 Love your story! I wish life was still that simple. Getting into mischief was on a whole different level!

  • @jojo048 Inspiring story you told me here. I'm all ears to it.

  • @jojo048 Yes, those were the good days!!!

  • @jojo048

    I recall a strip bar in Chicago called the Sugar Shack.

  • How come I don't see anyone playing the flute?

  • who cares! GOD I LOVE THAT FLUTE! :) :) :)

  • The flute is actually an organ. It's Norman Petty's contribution to the song, according to Norman Philips' biography of Buddy Holly. Whatever you think of Norman Petty, he had some real genius in the recording studio.

  • how come you never see the organ in the video? do you have complete list of instruments used? What kind of organ wind or electric?

  • I can't be sure why that is because I haven't seen that explained anywhere. My best guess is that the organ doesn't make for good TV. He's probably backstage somewhere. Norman Petty's probably playing it and I'm betting Norman Petty doesn't make for good TV either by this time. Gotta be electric organ...gotta be portable. Unless there's some kinda portable organ I know nothing about.

  • Hammond B3, Farfisa, Eko. There were a fair number of good portable electronic organs in the early 1960's. Can't imagine the Beach Boys or The Doors without their Farfisa organs.

  • One of my favorite songs from my grade school days...I think I wore out my 45. Remember their follow up hit, "Daisy Petal Pickin'"? And yes, I remember "Come On, React!" very well. This was one of the best Top 40 hits of the 60's.

  • Maybe you should shove it in your brain!

  • Get over it!

  • Phish played this tonight 6.7.09 in Camden NJ

    courtesey of Mike Gordon's thick freakness bass

  • Nice.

  • This is not the Sugar Shack that Phish played. Phish wrote a song with the same name.

  • Yes! SUGAR SHACK!!! Another Classic!! I'm Lovin' It!

  • Shal-bim-bi-do-bim-ba-bi-dopes­! Shhhhh shhhh sugar shack! Love this feel great song! Thanks 4 sharing and have a tremendous day!

  • There is a song called "Come on React" that may be on You Tube for a day or two.

  • Does anyone out there have a copy of this group's "When My Tears Have Dried"? Would really appreciate receiving a copy by e-mail.

  • Does anyone 'out there' remember the song 'Come On, React' by this great group?!? Would love to see &/or hear it again!!!

  • Love that song. One of my favorite singles.

  • Good song