More than 30 years since Boar Family laun: ched the 'That'll Flat Git Ill series, late last year they issued the firet of two sets dedicated to material from the vaulte of Starday Records, Here's the second.
And just in case you thought they'd used all the best tracke on the first volume (see NDT 198), how's thie for a selection of rip-snorting bam-bumnere,..
Hal Harria: Vitterbop Baby' « one of the great: est recorde never releasedt Hale superlative guitar-playing adored countless Starday sides (he's all over thia CDI) but thie 1960 beauty somehow stayed in the archives for twe decades • until Ace unearthed it for their 10"
'Rockabilly Party' LP and 45 release coupled with another strong side also making ita debul, I Don't Know When', Badly, that len't here, which is a shame as there are a few poor / mediocre eute it could've replaced, But Jitter-bop Baby' stande out as a real jewel - a alap bass rockabilly of the highest order. (For more info on Hal Harris, see Dave Penny's In-depth study on hia life and career in NDT 438.)
Rudy Grayzell: 'Let's Get Wild' - his wildest outing by far. Leam all about the Chinese rumba and the Cuban cha-cha-cha as Rudy delivers some crazed warbling over zippy rock n roll backing featuring hot plane and guitar, as a vocal group try their beat to bring a touch of aanity to the proceedings.
Sonny Fisher: "Pink And Black, 'Rockin'
Daddy' and 'I Can't Lose' - a trio of hotsies that belong in every collection. 'Pink And Black' throbs with feeling as it mixes rockabilly with a Haley-type swing.
Sonny's original 'Rockin'
Daddy' isn't as polished as Eddie Bond's cover, but that's part of its appeal. The same goes for
'I Can't Lose'. All three feature slashing guitar from Joey Long.
Sleepy LaBeff: 'All Alone' - no Starday collection would be complete without the big man from Smackover. With strong
Johnny Cash
overtones, the booming 'All Alone' offers a nice change of pace.
Glenn Barber: 'Shadow My Baby' - a jivin' number in the 'Boppin' The Blues' mould but with added sax. Hal Harris is the axe man while Link Davis blows the horn. Speaking of whom...
Link Davis: 'Trucker From Tennessee' and
'Grasshopper Rock' - the veteran Cajun musician was just over 40 when he waxed these two gems with Hal Harris cutting loose on guitar and drummer Bill Kimbrough laying down a lovely crisp beat. 'Trucker From Tennessee' is a thinly veiled paean to the sideburned kid from Mum-fiss, while 'Grasshopper Rock' is about...rocking grasshoppers. Lovely nonsense lyrics.
Bill Mack: 'Big Fat Woman' and 'Cat Just Got In Town' - can you imagine someone in this day and age cutting a song titled 'Fat Woman'?!?
But this was a totally different time and folk weren't as up themselves as they are today.
Plus, of course, more people had a sense of humour back then. This and Mack's other selection, 'Cat Just Got In Town', have been cult faves - like so many tracks here - for aeons.
Both are sprightly rockers from the man who went on to write 'Drinking Champagne', which JLL immortalised in 1970.
Bob Doss: 'Don't Be Gone Wrong' - a co-write with Hal Harris (the undoubted star of this collection) who also contributes two hot solos to this rollicking rockabilly. If you want an example of the quintessential Starday rockabilly sound, play this.
Thumper Jones: 'Rock It' - ole George rocks his ass off here on a manic outing that will forever place him in the Rockabilly Hall Of Fame. He may have wanted to distance himself mou t ustance himself
from the Big Beat by using a moniker, but he'll be forever associated with it because of this record and its flip, 'How Come It' (on Volume 47).
Frankie Miller: 'True Blue' - another country singer slipping into rockabilly territory, this time with a far more melodious ditty than Thumper. It features some lovely twangy guitar and a nice line in expressive lyrics: "I got a little gal that weighs about a hundred pounds, she could
make a jackrabbit hug a hound."
Fuzzy Whitener: 'Sugar Buggar' - so simple but so effective call-and-response honky tonk rocker with wailing
piano and a steady backbeat. Daft but infec-tious.
Benny Barnes: 'You Gotta Pay' - he sings "You gonna pay", but let's not split hairs. A lovely controlled mover with a commercial feel to it; a million times better than his woeful 'Gold Records In The Snow.
And that's just the real cream covered. There are several other goodies too - Cliff Blakley, Cecil Bowman, Lou Walker etc. - but perhaps not quite as strong as those listed above, most of which have been well reissued through the years and have taken on a life of their own.
Leon Payne is featured twice. His 'Little Rock Rock' under his Rock Rogers pseudonym is (intentionally?) awful, whilst he sounds like a totally different singer altogether on the nondescript country number,
Love'. Rocky Bill Ford's 'Mad Dog In Town' from 1956 is a dirge that goes nowhere. Truitt Forse's 'Chicken Bop' is an acquired taste, too.
Fred Crawford's main claim to fame is that he recorded at Norman Petty's and The Crickets backed him on one release, but 'Rock Candy Rock' is no more than rock n roll by numbers. If you like Johnny Cash's 'Ballad Of A Teenage Queen' and 'Down The Street To 301', then you'll enjoy Phil Sullivan's 'You Get A Thrill'.
A handful of fillers make up the numbers, including tracks by The Raindrops, The Davis Twins, Rudy Gaddis, Utah Carl and Ray & Lindy. As with the previous volume, Bill Dahl's copious notes offer autobiographical, background and release details. What's left to say? Like its predecessor, there's enough classy bop here to make a jackrabbit hug a hound.
Trevor Cajiao
