Great Balls of Fire (Remastered) - Single

Great Balls of Fire fills a specialized niche by concentrating on Georgia Gibbs' rock-oriented recordings, bringing together oddities such as the title track, several low-charting hit singles, and many teen-oriented pop songs. The collection serves as an excellent adjunct to The Best of Georgia Gibbs: The Mercury Years — only a few songs overlap, and Great Balls of Fire includes a few Top 40 hits that the other collection omits (namely "Tra La La," "Rock Right," and "The Hula Hoop Song"). Gibbs' rendition of "Great Balls of Fire" is really exciting, which seems to contradict the commonly heard claim that she was out of her element when doing rock and R&B covers. Some of Gibbs' '60s recordings are unusual, such as the rock remake of her hit "Kiss of Fire," titled "Kiss of Fire '66," that borrows the riff from Roy Orbison's "Pretty Woman." "Tater Poon" is nonsensical rather than suggestive, and "I Wouldn't Have It Any Other Way" is Gibbs' foray into the girl group sound. The back cover lists 28 songs, but there are 27 — the song "Sugar Candy" does not actually appear on the disc. A handful of Gibbs' biggest hits are included for those who don't already own a conventional best-of, but Great Balls of Fire functions better as a rarities set than a greatest-hits collection.