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Various Artists - That'll Flat Git It, Vol.11 - Mercury (1959)

Track listing:
  1. Rockin' Daddy Eddie Bond 2:02
  2. All The Time Sleepy Labeef 1:52
  3. Love Bug Crawl Jimmy Edwards 2:00
  4. That's My Reward Billy Wallace And The Bama Drifters 2:22
  5. I've Changed My Wild Mind Johnny T Talley 1:59
  6. You're My Big Baby Now Roy Moss 2:21
  7. Slip Slip Slippin' In Eddie Bond 2:09
  8. Done Gone George & Earl 2:14
  9. Draggin' Curtis Gordon 1:49
  10. What I'll Do Billy Wallace And The Bama Drifters 1:52
  11. You Don't Know My Mind Roy Moss 2:11
  12. Let's Get Wild Rudy Grayzell 2:46
  13. Flip Flop Mama Eddie Bond 2:08
  14. Yes I Do Royce Porter 2:10
  15. You're The One That Done It Thomas Wayne 1:55
  16. Burning The Wind Billy Wallace 1:45
  17. Mobile Alabama Curtis Gordon 1:55
  18. Corrine, Corrina Roy Moss 2:01
  19. Boppin' Bonnie Eddie Bond 2:05
  20. Lonesome Train Johnny T Talley 2:10
  21. I Can't Help It Bing Day 1:51
  22. Mean, Mistreatin Billy Wallace And The Bama Drifters 2:24
  23. Better, Stop, Look And Listen George & Earl 1:45
  24. Maybelle Jackie Cray 2:05
  25. Sitting On The Top Of The World Curtis Gordon 1:50
  26. Born To Love One Woman Don Johnston 1:56
  27. Rock A Bye Baby Rock Connie Dycus 1:52
  28. Sugar Doll Johnny Jay 1:57
  29. You Nearly Lose Your Mind Roy Moss 1:57
  30. Liters The Hi 2:12

Notes

Another entry in Bear Family's excellent label by label retrospective of rockabilly's best, this one featuring 30 tracks of ground-floor boppin' billies from the stable of Mercury Records. Unlike Sun records (and few others), there was no defined sound or production to the label's rockabilly output; masters came from Memphis, Chicago, Nashville, Houston, Fort Worth and even New York City on this collection. Mercury never really had a strong commitment to their country division, and as rockabilly was the rhythm branch of that division, none of these records even remotely became hits. Eddie Bond and Roy Moss end up being the big names here, with each artist represented by four tracks each, accounting for over 25% of the album's content. But stellar one-offs by Thomas Wayne ("You're the One That Done It"), Rudy Grayzell ("Let's Get Wild"), Sleepy LaBeef ("All the Time"), Curtis Gordon ("Draggin'"), Billy Wallace ("That's My Reward"), the Hi-Liters (the explosive "Dance Me to Death") make the rest of this volume equally as noteworthy. Every volume in this series is a winner for quality content, but this one ups the ante and then some. Not rockabilly's greatest, just some of its very best. Excellent liner notes and information from Bill Millar top this stellar package.

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.