VARIOUS ARTISTS
THAT’LL FLAT GIT IT! VOL. 52 - ROCKABILLY & ROCK 'N' ROLL FROM THE VAULTS OF MAR-VEL’ & GLENN RECORDS

Although the town was situated just east of the Illinois state line in Indiana, Hammond’s taste in music was well removed from that of nearby Chicago. Hammond served as homebase for a platoon of country and rockabilly performers, and Harry Glenn was right there to document it all on from 1949 on with his feisty Mar-Vel’ and Glenn labels. His diskery’s enduring slogan - “Hits of Tomorrow Recorded Today” - may have been a tad ambitious, but Bear Family’s latest entry in its ‘That’ll Flat…Git It!’ series underscores its importance as Glenn released more than his share of classic rockabilly and rock and roll. This is raw-boned juke joint music at its finest, served up by local performers working the rough blue collar barrooms of Hammond and Calumet City, Illinois and laying it down in the studio just the way they did every night - no frills and plenty of thrills.

Jack Bradshaw and Bobby Sisco were Harry’s best-known performers, both solidly country-rooted but obviously adept at a little rocking now and then, and Harry must have harbored high hopes for Chuck Dallis, Billy Nix, and Billy Hall - they each cut plenty of great early ‘60s rock and roll for him. A few years before that, Bob Burton, Harry Carter (aka The Rock N Roll Apache), and Harold Allen were turning out first-class rockabilly singles, while Herbie Duncan’s insane freeform 1958 rant Hot Lips Baby was in a class all its own. Even into the mid-‘60s, Harry was still going strong with Carl Newman, Slim O’Mary and The Southerneers, and The Law Brothers’ twangy cover of George Jones’ frothy Root Beer. Thanks to Harry Glenn, Hammond, Indiana was an unlikely country, rockabilly, and rock and roll recording hotbed. This set offers the hottest sides in his sizable catalog!