That'll Flat Git It! Vol.47 Rockabilly & Rock 'n' Roll From The Vaults Of Starday Records
Released 2024 on Bear Family Bear Family Records - Vinyl, CD, DVD- Musik Mailorder Online (bear-family.com)
Reviewed date September 2024
When Starday Records debuted in June of 1953 in Beaumont, Texas, owners Jack Starns, Jr. and Harold ‘Pappy’ Daily intended it to be a pure country label. Don Pierce came in as a co-owner a few months later, and the logo did well right out of the gate. Once Starns left and rockabilly came on strong during the mid-‘50s, Starday attracted plenty of talent in that field too.
The first of Bear Family’s two volumes of Starday rockabilly offers 33 classic sides, some by the label’s best-known rockers: Sonny Fisher, Link Davis, Sleepy LaBeff (as he spelled his name back then), Rudy ‘Tutti’ Grayzell and George Jones (his blistering How Come It, released as by Thumper Jones) among them.
Starday often utilized the house band at Houston’s Gold Star Recording for its rockabilly output, Hal Harris a mainstay on lead guitar. The most obscure inclusions on the compilation hail from Starday’s Custom Series, where unknown artists out in the hinterlands could send in their homemade tapes and for a fee receive 300 copies of their amateur artistry on vinyl.
That’s how some of this disc’s hottest and rarest rockers came over the transom, including gems by Buddy Shaw, Larry Nolen, Hal Payne, Arnold Parker and The Southernairs, and Lou Walker. Undiluted Lone Star rockabilly at its hottest!
Review
This collection starts off with an obscure track, but “Have You Seen Mabel” by Rocky Bill Ford is an archetypal rockabilly bopper from 1956 that really sets the scene for what this collection is about. Track two is “Sneaky Pete” from rockabilly legend, Sonny Fisher who became very popular in the UK Club scene during the 70’s rockabilly revival. The bopping continues with track three, “You’re Gone” by Rudy Grayzell. Rudy recorded for a number of labels including Capitol and Sun but his tracks for Starday are some of his best. Sleepy LaBeef is another artist who recorded for a number of labels and also performed live in the UK during the 1970s. “I Ain’t Gonna Take It No More” is classic LaBeef with some wild guitar playing. Amos Como & His Tune Toppers didn’t record many tracks but “Hole In The Wall” is a great bopper with some nifty guitar picking and a nice piano break. Buddy Shaw also had a very limited recording career but his “Don’t Sweep That Dirt On Me” recorded in 1957 holds it own as part of this collection. The pace slows down with track seven, “King Of The Ducktail Cats” from Larry Nolen & His Bandits is more of a stroller than a bopper, with some wild guitar work!
With track eight it’s back to top class hilly bopping with “Ice Water” from Glen Barber. George “Thumper” Jones is by far the biggest star to some from the Starday Label. “How Come It” from 1956 is a long way from his country and western classics as it is pure wild rockabilly. Arnold Parker & The Southernaires only recorded one single for Starday, “Find A New Woman” from 1956 is another worthy entry in this great collection. “My Heart Gets Lonely” from Eddie Skelton has a slightly more “commercial” feel to it and although it was a B side it did make the Billboard Top 100 chart in 1957. “That Ain’t It” by Rock Rogers has a much rawer feel to it and as such fits right in here, rockabilly at its most basic. “Honky Tonk Stomp”, the title says it all with this track from Hal Payne with a solid bass line and honky tonk piano. “Rock And Roll (Tennessee Style)” was Lou Walker’s first of two singles for Starday. It features some fine sax and trumpet playing. “Teenage Cuty” from Lucky Wray, With Link & Doug Wray is a bit of mix of uptempo country and rockabilly. One of the co-writers is listed as “H. Alpert”. Bill Mack is probably best known for “Play My Boogie” tha he recorded for Imperial in 1953. He was clearly still rocking in 1956 and 57 when he cut a number of tracks for Starday including “It’s Saturday Night”. Bill Browning’s main claim to fame is that with the Echo Valley Boys he recorded the classic “Wash Machine Boogie” for the Island Label in ‘57. “Down In The Hollow” is a country novelty rocker from 1960.
Track 18 is “Tu-La- Lou” by Slim Watts who was a Disc Jockey at KTRM in Beaumont, Texas and worked with "The Big Bopper" in the late 50s. This fine bopper with some good slide guitar playing was his only release on Starday and comes from 1957. “Doggone Dame” by Truitt Forse is a good stroller, hiccupping vocals and some wild guitar playing. Track 20 is the original version of “Sixteen Chicks” by Link Davis and although not as wild as the version by Joe Clay it is a good bopper with a nice sax break. Johnny Tyler recorded for several labels including Liberty, Ekko and RCA where he had a hit with a version of “Oakie Boogie”. “Lie To Me Baby” is the B side of his only Starday realease “Country Fair” issued in 1956. It’s a mid-paced rockabilly song with piano, fiddle and some wild guitar providing the backing to Johnny’s vocals. George (Sleepy) Jeffers was a native of East Tennessee who teamed up with the Davis Twins and recorded a number of singles including “My Blackbirds Are Bluebirds Now”, a country bopper from 1957. Track twenty three, “Sweet Talking Daddy” by Cousin Arnold And His Country Cousins is a raw hillbilly bopper with banjo and pedal steel guitar being the featured instruments. Jimmy Johnson’s vocals on “Woman Love” gives this mid-paced rocker a moody air. “Little Red Wagon” by Sonny Fisher was the B side of his 1956 single “Pink And Black and despite being a B side it’s a worthy inclusion in this compilation. The second song from Link Davis “Don’t Big Shot Me” dates from 1956 is a good bopper and has a nice honky tonk feel to it. I do prefer Rudy "Tutti" Grayzell’s original version of “Ducktail” to Joe Clay’s. Joe’s version is slightly more controlled, but still has bags of energy!
Track twenty-eight, “Feelin’ No Pain” by Glenn Barber is one of the earliest recordings by a man who went on to gain some fame during the 60s as a country and western singer. This track has a raw energy to it as was typical with rockabilly in mid ‘50s. The same can be said about “Half My Fault” by Lloyd McCollough another full-on bopper. “Baby Please Come Home” was the B side of Al Runyon’s only Starday 45 “The Day Before The Night” which is a pity as more rockers like this would have been a good thing. Bill Mack makes his second appearance on this CD with another fine bopper “Kitty Kat”. Tommy Castle’s “Wanderlust” is more of a hillbilly/cowboy ballad with some interesting guitar playing. This superb collection closes with a great piece of rockabilly from Sleepy LaBeef, “I’m Through”.
Summary & Recommendation
Bear Family releases are usually the gold standard by which all others are judged by and this is no exception. The sound quality is as good as can me and there are no duff tracks. A highly recommended purchase and bring on Volume 2!
Reviewed by Jailhouse John Alexander
Track List
1 Have You Seen Mabel - Rocky Bill Ford
2 Sneaky Pete - Sonny Fisher
3 You’re Gone - Rudy "Tutti" Grayzell
4 I Ain’t Gonna Take It No More - Sleepy LaBeef
5 Hole In The Wall - Amos Como & His Tune Toppers
6 Don’t Sweep That Dirt On Me - Buddy Shaw
7 King Of The Ducktail Cats - Larry Nolen & His Bandits
8 Ice Water - Glenn Barber
9 How Come It - Thumper Jones
10 Find A New Woman - Arnold Parker & The Southernaires
11 My Heart Gets Lonely - Eddie Skelton
12 That Ain’t It - Rock Rogers
13 Honky Tonk Stomp - Hal Payne
14 Rock And Roll (Tennessee Style) - Lou Walker
15 Teenage Cutie - Lucky Wray, With Link & Doug Wray
16 It’s Saturday Night - Bill Mack
17 Down The Hollow - Bill Browning
18 Tu-La- Lou - Slim Watts
19 Doggone Dame - Truitt Forse
20 Sixteen Chicks - Link Davis
21 Lie To Me Baby - Johnny Tyler
22 My Blackbirds Are Bluebirds Now - Sleepy Jeffers And The Davis Twins
23 Sweet Talking Daddy - Cousin Arnold And His Country Cousins
24 Woman Love - Jimmy Johnson
25 Little Red Wagon - Sonny Fisher
26 Don’t Big Shot Me - Link Davis
27 Ducktail - Rudy "Tutti" Grayzell
28 Feelin’ No Pain - Glenn Barber
29 Half My Fault - Lloyd McCollough
30 Baby Please Come Home - Al Runyon
31 Kitty Kat - Bill Mack
32 Wanderlust - Tommy Castle
33 I'm Through - Sleepy LaBeef
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