JIMMY GILMER AND THE FIREBALLS
The Fireballs, sometimes billed as Jimmy Gilmer and the Fireballs, were an American rock and roll group, particularly popular at the end of the 1950s and in the early 1960s. They reached the Top 40 with the singles “Torquay” (1959), “Bulldog” (1960) and “Quite a Party” (1961). In the early 1960s, the Fireballs added Jimmy Gilmer to the group. Billed as Jimmy Gilmer and the Fireballs, the group reached number 1 on the Billboard chart with “Sugar Shack”, which remained at that position for five weeks in 1963. (More from Wikipedia)
“Johnny No” by the Primitives is identified by Mal Ryder and others as being a cover of “Thunder and Lightning”; I have been unable to find the connection, however. Most of the songs called “Thunder and Lightning” that are mentioned on the Internet were released long after this song.
The only song that I know of which (barely) predates “Johnny No” is “Knock on Wood” (written by Eddie Floyd and Steve Cropper) that features the dramatic lyric: “It’s like thunder . . . lightning / The way you love me is frightening”. Otis Redding, David Bowie and Eric Clapton all recorded versions of this song; however, “Knock on Wood” doesn’t sound at all like “Johnny No” to me. (I finally thought to track it down through the songwriting credits; “Johnny No” is based on a 1963 Hoyt Axton song that I did not know called “Thunder N’ Lightnin’” that Jimmy Gilmer and the Fireballs also released as a “B” side).
(May 2015)
