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-The now 43rd installment in the popular rockabilly CD series with detailed label portraits on Bear Family Records® is dedicated to the Texas label Allstar Records. -On Allstar itself and its two subsidiaries, Kool and Nu-Craft, great country and rockabilly recordings by well-known and rather obscure musicians have appeared. -A fascinating mix of country songs and hard-hitting rockabilly by musicians like Johnny Bush, Eddie Noack, Rocky Williams and Wiley Barkdull a.o. -In the extensive illustrated booklet, music historian Bill Dahl tells the story of the Houston-based label founded by Dan Mechura in detail, providing brief biographies and discographical details of each artist and recording. Dan Mechura's Houston-based Allstar Records had a different business plan from the lion's share of his country and rockabilly competitors. For a fee, Mechura and his cohorts would accept lyrics from amateur songwriters through the mail and fashion them into completed songs, recording the final product with a surprisingly impressive roster of singers and sidemen. By no means was everything Allstar and its Kool and Nu-Craft subsidiary labels done that way, but a fair amount was - resulting in some intriguing listening. Bear Family takes an in-depth look at Allstar's obscure output on this edition of 'That'll Flat Git It!,' uncovering some splendid obscurities by surprisingly well-known names. Johnny Bush's first two singles came out on Allstar in 1958, and there are memorable entries by veteran country vocalists Link Davis, Eddie Noack, Lawton Williams, Earl Aycock, and Smilin' Jerry Jericho. Adrian Roland's Imitation Of Love beat the odds to become a national country hit in 1960, while Johnny Watson, Bobby Clanton and The Citations, Jerry Matthews, Tommy Graham, and Mechura himself (as Daniel James with Rock Moon Rock) supply tough rockabilly and Wiley Barkdull's insane guitar instrumental Tiger By The Tail rocks harder than anything coming out of Houston in 1964!

Track Listing

Sales Points

• 1-CD (Digipak) with 36-page booklet, 35 tracks. Total playing time approx. 79 min.

Press Quotes

Stomping new entry with gems from Houston's Allstar label, 1957-'64. - Bear Family's long-running series shows no sign of slacking with some prime examples here of what got Texas honky-tonks fired up on a Saturday night, mostly cut by people who inherited Hank Williams' juke joint holler and mixed in some rock'n'roll. Allstar's owner Dan Mechura was clearly a believer in what Sam Phillips at Sun called 'going for gutbucket' - drums pound away like someone getting physical on an oil drum with a wooden mallet, everything sounds liver than hell, and the performers generally deliver in fine fashion. Highlights include Red Dress by Johnny Huskey & The King Bees (an excellent rocker in the Brand New Cadillac mould), Wiley Barkdull's berserk guitar instrumental Tiger By the Tail, and Prince Arky & His Westerners' superbly relaxed downhome bopper, Ten Horned Devel (yep, they spelt it wrong on the label). Top class.

     —Max Décharné, MOJO magazine UK, issue 365, dated April 2024