5. Fireballs Legend George Tomsco

Route 66 Podcast

English - October 23, 2016 04:17 - 59 minutes - 27.1 MB - ★★★★★ - 41 ratings
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Previous Episode: 4. Dylan Wallace Mural Artist

Next Episode: 6. NPS Route 66 Corridor Preservation Program

As a high school teenager in 1958, he entered a talent show and played Jerry Lee Lewis' Great Balls of Fire. The unexpected happened.... he won and didn't know how to play any other songs.

One year later, he would call Buddy Holly's manager and ask for an audition without even having an original song to play. The unexpected happened, he got the audition and wrote the song in the back of the car on his way to the audition.

Join host Anthony Arno talk with Route 66 legend George Tomsco, founder of the Fireballs. According to Dick Clark, the Fireballs created the Surf Sound, a term that Tomsco never had even heard of.

George talks about his earliest memories along Route 66, letting fate guide his musical career, his reaction to Buddy Holly unknowingly play his guitar, having the number one song in America just before the Beatles arrived, and his latest musical pursuits.