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Various Artists - That'll Flat Git It, Vol.04 - Festival (1959)

Track listing:
  1. They Call Me Willie, The Wild One Bill Barry 2:15
  2. My Love Is True Bill Barry 2:32
  3. Baby Bill Barry 1:55
  4. I'm A King Bill Barry 2:08
  5. Weepin' And Wailin' Bill Barry 2:21
  6. Oh, No! Bill Barry 2:12
  7. I Love You Now Bill Barry 2:12
  8. Do The Oop Ronnie Dio 2:10
  9. Love Pains Ronnie Dio 1:43
  10. Motorcycle Billy Balls 3:10
  11. Till Time Stands Still Charlie Starr 2:44
  12. Sick And Tired Charlie Starr 2:22
  13. You Ain't My Number One Charlie Starr 2:09
  14. Black Jack Joey Charlie Starr 2:22
  15. Chrismas Twist Charlie Starr 2:12
  16. One Broken Heart For Sale Otis Blackwell 2:01

Notes

Like the previous three volumes of Bear Family's That'll Flat Git It, the fourth installment contains a welath of obscure, and frequently bizarre, rockabilly. For Vol. 4, Bear Family reached into the vaults of Festival Records, a label that had no stars or hit singles to speak of (although songwriter Otis Blackwell did record a handful of singles for the label). Almost all of this disc is solely of interest to fetishists — after all, it features seven tracks from Billy Barry, five cuts by Charlie Starr, two songs by Ronnie Dio, and "Motorcycle" from one Billy Balls — and even then, much of this music is only of passing interest. While That'll Flat Git It, Vol. 4 does have a handful of good cuts (Barry's "The Wild One," Starr's "You Ain't My Number One," and Blackwell's "One Broken Heart for Sale"), it remains a lesser entry in the series.

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.