That'll Flat Git It, Vol. 8 is comprised of off-beat and obscure rockabilly from the Columbia vaults. Unlike their major label peers RCA, Decca and MGM, Columbia didn't push many of their country artists toward rockabilly, so the majority of the compilation is devoted to arcane vocalists like Bolean Barry ("Long Sideburns"),
Bobby Lee Trammell ("You Mostest Girl"),
Bonnie Guitar ("Frantic Party"), Alvadean Coker ("We're Gonna Bop"),
Tom Tall ("That's Alright With Me"), Dickie Podolor ("I Love You Girl"), and
Dusty Rose ("Rockin' Maraccas," "Hula Rock"). For the most part, this is the kind of twisted rockabilly that is fun in small doses, unless you're a fetishist, of course. Out of all the songs on
Vol. 8, only
Johnny Horton's pair of songs ("Bawlin' Baby," "Shotgun Boogie") are particularly strong musically -- the rest is judged by a different scale, one where rarity and novelty are of greater value than musical worth. For any collector of arcane rockabilly,
Vol. 8 is just as enjoyable as the rest of the discs in the
That'll Flat Git It series, yet it doesn't offer any truly great rock & roll, which means that it will only appeal to that cult.