THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD
1,152) The Fireballs — “Groovy Motions”
In the 60s, squares sometimes tried their hand at psychedelia and the results were expectedly awful, but sometimes they were positively groovy. There’s a whole CD comp — Marshmallow Skies — featuring both varieties. This ’68 B-side is of the latter kind — it is “far out”! (liner notes to the CD comp Soft Sounds for Gentle People: Far-Out and Beautiful Tracks from California and Beyond, 1966 to 1971) Larry describes the song perfectly:
[“Motions”] is a prime example of what one might consider to be “opportunistic” garage/psych. I use that term, as opposed to fake or bogus because the example in question manages to work in spite of its decidedly non-garage roots. . . . “Groovy Motions” is the kind of thing, that presented in a slightly lower fidelity, would have fit right in on a volume of Pebbles. . . . It features fuzz guitar, thumping bass, psychedelic phasing, electric sitar and trippy lyrics . . . and . . . resides just short of the real thing (if you take a look at video of the Fireballs from the time period, they look like they haven’t experienced anything more psychedelic than reruns of ‘Laugh-In’). It’s a wild record, which unfortunately made no impact at all when it was released, though it’s extremely sappy A-side ‘Goin’ Away’ was a minor hit.
https://ironleg.wordpress.com/2016/03/06/the-fireballs-groovy-motions/
As to the Fireballs, Richie Unterberger tells us:
This New Mexican group was the primary exponent of the Tex-Mex sound in the instrumental rock & roll of the late ’50s and early ’60s, landing three Top 40 hits, “Torquay,” “Bulldog,” and “Quite a Party.” . . . similar in essential respects to the Ventures. . . . [but with]. much more prominent “border” music feel to their melodies . . . .
The Fireballs . . . are actually much more famous for their controversial contributions to the Buddy Holly legacy. In the early ’60s, in association with [Norman] Petty (Holly’s former producer and manager), they overdubbed some of Holly’s demo tapes for posthumous release. Some Holly fans claim that these performances should have been left to stand as they were . . . . [T]he British Invasion wiped the[ Fireballs] out immediately. . . .
[I]n the mid-’60s they recorded some singles credited to Jimmy Gilmer & the Fireballs. These were distinguished from most other Fireballs records in that they were vocal numbers, not instrumental, Gilmer (who was second guitarist in the Fireballs) being the lead singer. [They] had a monster number one single in late 1963 with “Sugar Shack,” a light pop/rocker dominated by the vibrating sound of a primitive precursor to the synthesizer, the Solovox. . . . Gilmer and band made the Top 20 one more time with “Daisy Petal Pickin’,” a transparent “Sugar Shack” soundalike . . . . They cut various flops . . . in the mid-’60s . . . . [I]n 1967, the Fireballs had another Top Ten hit with Tom Paxton’s “Bottle of Wine,” without giving top billing to Gilmer, although he was still in the band.
https://www.allmusic.com/artist/jimmy-gilmer-the-fireballs-mn0000358957#biography, https://www.allmusic.com/artist/the-fireballs-mn0000069645#biography
“Groovy Motions” was also a track on the Bottle of Wine LP.
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