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Various Artists - That'll Flat Git It, Vol.07 - Mgm (1959)

Track listing:
  1. Rockin`rollin`stone Andy Starr 2:49
  2. Rock And Roll Fever Cecil Campbell 2:28
  3. Mr. Blues Marvin Rainwater 2:28
  4. Watchin`the 7 10 Roll By Buck Griffin 2:35
  5. Rootie Tootie The Berry Kids 2:13
  6. My Square Dancin`mama Bob Gallion 2:13
  7. Rock Doll Bernie Earley 2:08
  8. Long Black Train Conway Twitty 2:46
  9. The Rocking Guitar Cecil Campbell 1:53
  10. Go, Go, Go The Berry Kids 2:22
  11. Rockin`cair Rusty Wellington 2:36
  12. Round And Round Andy Starr 2:10
  13. Your Kisses Kill Me Bernie Early 1:59
  14. Latch On Ron Hargrave 2:03
  15. Country Cattin` Jimmy Swan 2:22
  16. Love Me, Love The Berry Kids 2:17
  17. Dixieland Rock Cecil Campbell 2:25
  18. Hot And Cold Marvin Rainwater 2:09
  19. Stutterin`papa Buck Griffin 2:59
  20. There`s Good Rockin`tonight Billy Jack Wills 2:42
  21. Baby, Love Me Bob Gallion 2:21
  22. Big Money Paul Davis 2:05
  23. Buttercup Ron Hargrave 2:22
  24. You`re My Teen Age Baby The Berry Kids 2:09
  25. Cuddle Lovin`baby Charley & Junior 1:41
  26. All She Wants To Billy Jack Wills 2:19
  27. Let`s Go Rock & Roll Frank Sandy 1:57
  28. I Wanta Walz Thelma Blackmon 1:59
  29. Drive In Movie Ron Hargrave 2:38
  30. Rockin`and Rollin`with Carson Robison 2:40

Notes

Culled from the vaults of MGM Records, That'll Flat Git It, Vol. 7 is very similar to the Decca volumes in Bear Family's arcane rockabilly series. The disc is divided between rock & rollers who sound like weirder versions of Elvis Presley and country artists trying to hitch their wagons to the rockabilly bandwagon. By and large, the MGM artists aren't as strong as those on Decca, although Marvin Rainwater handled rockabilly better than many of his country counterparts. For fetishists, the bizarre backwoods boogie of Jimmy Swan ("Country Cattin'"), Bernie Early ("Your Kisses Kill Me"), the Berry Kids ("You're My Teen Age Baby"), Ron Hargrave ("Drive-In Movie"), Bob Gallion's "My Square Dancin' Mama," Buck Griffin ("Stutterin' Papa") and Carson Robison ("Rockin' and Rollin' With Grandmaw") is prime material, but the best music on the collection arguably comes from Rainwater and Conway Twitty, who have stronger voices and material than most of their peers on this collection.

Rockabilly collectors are a hearty, fanatical breed with little compunction about seeking out rare, rarely heard singles based on legend or label. Not everybody has the time or patience to find original pressings, even if they love the music, so for the average collector, Bear Family's multi-volume That'll Flat Git It! series is the way to dig deep into the rockabilly arcana. The series is divided by label, spotlighting the forgotten sides and smaller hits for labels as well-known as Decca and RCA, along with lesser-known regional labels. This is not everything that was released on a label, of course, but it is a fairly thorough overview of what kinds of rockabilly the label released, and it hits almost all of the high points, at least as far as rockabilly collectors are concerned (and when the label can't fit everything on one disc, it breaks it up in two parts). Like many multi-part series, this is strongest on the earlier volumes, but if you're a dyed-in-the-wool collector, any of these volumes are worthwhile. Some of them are loaded with generic mediocrities, but they all have a couple of dynamite gems, plus they're presented lovingly, with wonderful sound and detailed, well-researched liner notes. This is essentially a collector's series, but it's a collector's series in the best sense — filled with rare gems worth seeking out and presented in a luxurious fashion.