Let's escape this crazy and infuriating time together and visit a period when there were no problems whatsoever, the 1950s. Just kidding, of course. That was the era of McCarthy and segregation and the Korean War and the Cold War. But the music! Things were happening in the realm of music, no question. And this compilation,
That'll Flat Git It! Vol. 50: Rockabilly & Rock 'N' Roll From The Vaults Of Columbia & Epic Records, contains some of the great stuff from those days. There are artists you most certainly know, such as Johnny Cash and Lefty Frizzell and Carl Perkins and Marty Robbins, and some you may not know. Some gems you may have forgotten, or just never had the chance to hear before. The disc contains a really nice liner notes booklet, written by Bill Dahl, with plenty of information on the artists and songs, as well as photos. So here is a great chance to get familiar with some excellent music from the 1950s (and a couple of songs from the early 1960s).
This compilation kicks off with a delicious instrumental number by Link Wray And The Wraymen. Titled "Raw-Hide," it features some very cool guitar work as well as a great bass line. In spirit and sound, it is in the surf realm, and there is some incredible energy behind it. It's just a fantastic tune, a hit in 1959, and a perfect way to set things in motion here. That's followed by one of those two songs from the 1960s, "Do Do Do" by Commonwealth Jones. This song certainly rocks, and also has a playfulness. As mentioned in the liner notes, the singer sounds so young, but was apparently twenty-one (which is still pretty damn young from my perspective these days). "
I want you to understand/The business at hand/Of making love and do the hootchie-coo, coo coo coo coo-coo chie-coo." It's a good vocal performance, and I especially love the way he plays with some of the words, like "
hootchie-coo."
Lee Emerson's "What A Night" also features some wonderful vocal play, as when he stretches out an "
Ooh," before singing, "
What a night." "
She put her lips so close to mine/My heart started beating way out of time/She shut off the motor and cut off the lights/Oooooooh, what a night." And I love how the instruments drop out for that "
Ooooooh," and we automatically imagine just what is going on during that "
Oooooh." Is there any question? This track also contains some excellent guitar work. That's followed by "Lend Me Your Comb," a cheerful number by Bernie Nee. His delivery of "
We got to go home" will certainly remind you of "Wake Up, Little Susie." Both songs were originally released in 1957. This version of "Lend Me Your Comb" comes from 1958. Then we get the first of three songs by Johnny Horton, "The Wild One," which fades in. This song taps into that certain 1950s segment of the population, the motorcycle enthusiasts who cannot be tamed. "
I am the wild one, I'll never settle down," he tells us.
"Stinky Pass The Hat Around," by "Little" Jimmy Dickens, has a strong country vibe, and is delightful. I'm especially digging the work on fiddle. "
So we winked and flirted while we played/And pretended we were big boys too/I mean, we were ready to hand the girls a line." The compilation's liner notes mention how "Little" Jimmy Dickens was at one time called "The World's Smallest Cowboy Entertainer," giving that line about pretending to be big boys another meaning. "Let Me Love You" is another fun country number, this one by The Maddox Brothers & Rose. "
Now we're pretty young, and I hate to waste it/I love you so much, I can taste it/Please, pretty please, let me love you." And that last line features some nice backing vocal work. This track also has a good rhythm and some excellent stuff on guitar in the middle. "
Let me take you to the hitchin' post" is a wonderfully playful line.
"Cattin' Around" is the first of two recordings from Charlie Adams on this disc. It's a fun number about being caught cheating. He seems to be taking it lightly as he sings, "
Well, I'm a married man, I got a loving wife/But my cattin' around nearly cost my life." There is some really nice piano work. "
Well, she picked up my bottle and she hit me over the head/It took thirty-three stitches, and I thought I was dead." And he's still pretty jocular about it. Good for him, and good for her. Things then slow down a bit with "Case Of The Blues," some good country blues, with a bit of yodeling to the delivery. It's a song about having broken up with his girl. But guess what, that's not what caused his case of blues. It's what cured it. "
Well, now that I've gone and set you free/I ain't got no misery." Still, he doesn't sound all that happy, does he?
The Johnny Cash number included on this disc is "What Do I Care," which was on his first single for Columbia, a recording from 1958. Man, that voice of his is unmistakable and so damn cool. "
What do I care just as long as you were mine a little while/When the road was long and weary, you gave me a few good miles." It's a song that has its priorities right. Just having kissed and loved the right woman makes everything else seem not that important. "What Do I Care" is followed by "Baby I'm Ready," another fun one, a song that moves and grooves. "
If you're waiting on me, baby, I'm ready/Tonight's my night to dine and dance/Tonight's my night for big romance." Yes, this song urges us all to enjoy ourselves. And why not? Aren't you ready? Certainly after listening to this music you will be. I'm digging that drumming. This song is by The Tunesmiths, and was released in 1955. Larry Hart's "A Looka - A Looka" is also shaking and moving, featuring an insistent beat and some great stuff on guitar, especially that lead in the middle. The backing vocals play a prominent part in this song, and in its appeal. "
No more crying the blues at night/I found someone who treats me right/No more pacing round and round/Worrying about a girl who will put me down."
This compilation gives us "From An Angel To A Devil" from the great Lefty Frizzell. "
I thought you was the cutest thing alive/But you changed from an angel to a devil right before my eyes." And that change is marked by two hits on the bell, like some like of alert or warning. This track features some good work on piano and guitar, but it is that voice that makes this track stand out. That's followed by "There's A Change In Me," by Bill Phillips. It's a song about how the right woman can make a guy want to change. And while he might be staying home more now, that guitar is still rocking. That's followed by Carl Perkins' "Pointed Toe Shoes." Yes, that's right, another Carl Perkins song about shoes. "
Pointed toes are coming back again." It's kind of silly, but that's part of its charm. I think he could sing about any damn thing he wanted, and the song would end up being cool. And I suppose the line "
I won't have to worry about you stepping on my blue" is a direct reference to his big shoe hit.
Bobby Lord's "Party Pooper" is a silly and wonderful number. "
Look at that knocked out crazy moon above/What a night for love/Hey, what's your hurry?" It's a song about enjoying the moment. "
You're super duper," he sings at one point. I can't recall the last time I heard that phrase (might have been around the same time I last heard "party pooper"), but I love hearing it now. This one even has a goofy ending. And "Crazy Alligator" has a wonderfully silly and goofy opening. "
Operator, operator, give me the humane society," Dick Glasser says in a deliberately over-the-top character voice. And then the song kicks in, and is delivered from the perspective of the crazy alligator of the song's title. "
They made a crazy gator out of me."
"The Rockaway Rock" is the first of two songs by The Collins Kids, the rockabilly sibling duo of Lorrie and Larry. I don't recall hearing this before, but it's fun. And that great deep voice certainly does not belong to Larry, who was not yet twelve years old at the time of this recording. But Lorrie's voice is excellent. She was not quite fourteen at the time of the recording. Kids, indeed. That's followed by the first of two Johnny Bond songs, "The Little Rock Roll," a fun song with some rocking on the piano. "
Now the longest train I ever took/It rocked and reeled and shaked and shook/It took me from my honey child/Because she simply drives me wild." There is some good work on harmonica in the second half. And the lyrics suddenly turn surprisingly dark and violent at the end.
There are many good early rock and roll songs with girls' names in their titles. "Patty Baby" by Rick Tucker & The Picks is one I remember hearing while growing up, and hearing family members referring to it, because the woman's name is my mom's name. "
Well, she looked at me with those big brown eyes/And said, 'Boy just don't be late.'" There is a nice guitar lead in the middle. That's followed by "Ain't That Lovin' You Babe," the disc's second song by Link Wray And The Wraymen, this one with vocals. It's a delicious, raw bluesy rock number, like what the Rolling Stones did in their very early days. It's one of the coolest tracks of the compilation, in large part because of the vocal performance. Check out the way he delivers these lines: "
You can bury my body way down deep/But my spirit will rise to you." This is the other track from the 1960s (1960, to be precise). And then we get the second Johnny Horton track, "Lover's Rock," another cool tune. "
Well, everybody's rocking and there's very little talking/Just a-hugging and a-kissing going on." I love the guitar work to this track. "
It's a short way up, but it's a long way down." Oh yes!
"Hook, Line And Sinker" is a country swinging number by Gordon Terry. "
Well, I used to be as happy as a single guy could be/Until I met the gal who made a fool out of me/She give me a smile and a come-hither look/Before I knew what I was doing she had me on her hook." Sounds all right, until he sings, "
And when I took her home I didn't know right then/That I had myself a headache that would never end." It's a playful number that functions as some sort of warning. That's followed by "Baby I'm A-Waitin'," a fun country song with some good stuff on fiddle. And the piano seems to be dancing, which I love. Seriously, this music is so much fun, especially something like Dick Lory's "Wild-Blooded Woman," particularly his vocal delivery. "
She's so wild, but she can be so warm and tender." Listen to the way he sings the line, "
I'll surrender." Isn't that exactly how we feel when a woman takes hold of our heart? Like it's out of our control, and we love it.
The compilation's second Charlie Adams song is "Sugar Diet,"a song about living on that sweet stuff a woman can provide. Sometimes it feels we could live on just that, doesn't it? What other sustenance is required? I'm digging that bass line, which keeps things hopping. That's followed by "Lay It On The Line," the second Johnny Bond song, a catchy number from 1957. "
One time you tell me your love for me is true/And there is nothing for me you wouldn't do/Before the dawn comes, you're out and gone/Leaving me wondering what's going on." That's followed by "Heartbeat," the second song from The Collins Kids, this one an original composition from 1957, and even better than the disc's first song from them. The main attraction here is Lorrie Collins' vocal performance. She is only a year older than on that other track, but seems to have grown quite a bit in that time. "
Your smile so shy sends a shiver up my spine/Hear my heartbeat/I love you baby, I sure don't mean maybe." Is she really just fifteen here? Holy moly.
Marty Robbins is someone I got turned onto because of "El Paso," the same as most people, I suppose. But it was the Grateful Dead's version that did it for me. That was enough for me to get interested in him as a songwriter and singer. This disc has an interesting Marty Robbins track. It's "Long Tall Sally." That's right, it's Marty Robbins covering Little Richard, something I hadn't heard before. It's kind of surprising, but also oh-so-good. The compilation concludes with its third Johnny Horton song, "Let's Take The Long Way Home." "
Let's take the long way home from the dance/Maybe we will find romance/We'll cuddle up if we get the chance." I love the way he stresses the final word of each of those lines. As I mentioned before, this music is so damn good. Now I just need to get the other forty-nine volumes and I can keep things rocking and swinging for a long, long while.
CD Track List- Raw-Hide - Link Wray And The Wraymen
- Do Do Do - Commonwealth Jones
- What A Night - Lee Emerson
- Lend Me Your Comb - Bernie Nee
- The Wild One - Johnny Horton
- Sticky Pass The Hat Around - "Little" Jimmy Dickens
- Let Me Love You - The Maddox Brothers & Rose
- Cattin' Around - Charlie Adams
- Case Of The Blues - Mel Tillis
- What Do I Care - Johnny Cash
- Baby I'm Ready - The Tunesmiths
- A Looka - A Looka - Larry Hart
- From An Angel To A Devil - Lefty Frizzewll
- There's A Change In Me - Bill Phillips
- Pointed Toe Shoes - Carl Perkins
- Party Pooper - Bobby Lord
- Crazy Alligator - Dick Glasser
- The Rockaway Rock - The Collins Kids
- The Little Rock Roll - Johnny Bond
- Patty Baby - Rick Tucker & The Picks
- Ain't That Lovin' You Babe - Link Wray And The Wraymen
- Lover's Rock - Johnny Horton
- Hook, Line And Sinker - Gordon Terry
- Baby I'm A-Waitin' - Carl Butler
- Wild-Blooded Woman - Dick Lory
- Sugar Diet - Charlie Adams
- Lay It On The line - Johnny Bond
- Heartbeat - The Collins Kids
- Long Tall Sally - Marty Robbins
- Let's Take The Long Way Home - Johnny Horton
That'll Flat Git It! Vol. 50: Rockabilly & Rock 'N' Roll From The Vaults Of Columbia & Epic Records was released on June 6, 2025 on Bear Family Records.
