Vol. 13 in Bear Family's excellent
That'll Flat Git It! series chronicles ABC's attempts to cash in on the rock & roll craze. The 30 tracks were recorded between 1956 and 1962 and contain a very high ratio of hot rocking tunes. Most of the artists never made the big time, but that doesn't mean they weren't good. Some of the highlights of the set are
Joe Bennett & the Sparkletones' romping "Black Slacks,"
Jackie Lee Cochran's wild "I Want You," the Satellites' primitive "Rockateen,"
Jo Ann Campbell's rip-roaring "Boogie Woogie Country Girl,"
Vince Everett's "I Ain't Gonna Be Your Lowdown Dog No More," and the Dusters' lo-fi rockabilly-doo wop rocker "Pretty Girl." Among the obscure artists are a couple of folks who made a name for themselves further down the road:
George Hamilton IV delivers two songs from the mid-'50s when he was just beginning his career, and a very young
Wayne Newton rocks out with his brother Jerry on the very cool "Baby, Baby, Baby." He isn't exactly
Elvis but
Wayne rocks surprisingly hard for a goofy-looking kid. There are also a couple of solid tracks from rockabilly royalty;
Ronnie Self's tough as nails "Pretty Bad Blues" and
Jack Scott's pounding rockers "Baby She's Gone" and "Two Timin' Woman" give ample proof as to why they were royalty. Their tracks stand head and shoulders above the rest of the disc. This is one of the strongest volumes in the series and is highly recommended to rockabilly fanatics and anyone who wants to hear an exciting bunch of wild early rockers. ~ Tim Sendra