Jimmy Gilmer, remembered by oldies fans as the singer of 1963’s “Sugar Shack” and known as a prominent song publisher on Music Row, died on Saturday, Sept. 7, at age 83.

Gilmer died in Amarillo, Texas while in hospice care. He had reportedly been suffering from Alzheimer’s Disease for two years.

Born in Chicago in 1940 but raised in Amarillo, Jimmy Gilmer became a session vocalist at Norman Petty’s studio in Clovis, New Mexico in 1959. The studio was the recording home of such hit makers as Buddy Knox, Roy Orbison and Buddy Holly. A local rock group called The Fireballs came to Petty’s place to record its top 40 instrumental hits “Torquay” (1959), “Bulldog” (1960) and “Quite a Party” (1961). The band’s membership changed in 1962, and Gilmer came on board as The Fireballs’ vocalist.

In 1963, Jimmy Gilmer & The Fireballs issued “Sugar Shack.” It rose to No. 1 on the pop charts and became the biggest selling single of the year. They followed that Gold record with the similar sounding “Daisy Petal Pickin,’” which rose to No. 15.

The group returned to the charts with 1968’s rocking top 10 hit “Bottle of Wine”.

At the end of the 1960s, The Fireballs called it quits. In 1970, Jimmy Gilmer relocated to Nashville. He was hired by United Artists Music, where he built a 30-year publishing career. Through a number of mergers and acquisitions, he rose to become a vice president at CBS Songs. plus successive executive positions at EMI and SBK.

Among the many songwriters he aided were Richard Leigh, Bobby Goldsboro and Pat Alger. He also signed Brad Paisley, whom he also managed through the early years of the star’s career.

Jimmy Gilmer retired in 2007, but continued to perform occasionally at oldies shows.

Jimmy Gilmer was Vice President of SBK SONGS NASHVILLE when I was a young writer with that publishing company in the late ‘80s. He was a great guy and an advocate of my work. Both videos shown above are essential contributions to the history of late 50s early 60s rock ‘n roll. I took this happy picture of Jimmy as we were headed out the door to a Nashville Sounds baseball game.