VA - Blues For Hippies? (1997)
EAC Rip | FLAC (tracks, cue, log, scans) - 374 MB | MP3 CBR 320 kbps - 169 MB
1:13:58 | Louisiana Blues, Electric Blues, Rhythm & Blues | Label: Ace
No frills on the final Excello blues sessions of the late 60s and early 70s aimed at the Southern Blues audience, but here for hippies, yuppies and anyone with the ears to hear the heart & soul of the real blues. Although Excello Records is famous for its swamp pop sound, a good part of which was due to Jay Miller's production approach that favored a deadened, muffled drum sound and tons of delay and reverb, by the late '60s and early '70s the label was struggling to grab hold of its share of the Southern soul market, and the sound of the label's singles became much slicker, sharper, and more funk-driven. Excello never really abandoned the blues, but the studio started to give the genre some fancier clothes, as this interesting collection of late-era singles recorded between 1966 and 1974 clearly shows. Slim Harpo's "I'm So Sorry" from 1968 and his cover of John Lee Hooker's "Boogie Chillun" from 1970 are cases in point. Both singles are far more professional sounding than his earlier output, and decidedly less swampy in feel. Better production and clearer sound didn't translate into more sales, however, and these tracks are some of the last gasps of the famed Excello catalog. Worth noting are two fine 1970 cuts from Otis Spann, the atmospheric and off-kilter "Bloody Murder" and the sharp-edged title track, "Blues for Hippies," where Spann sings about meeting Daniel in the metaphoric (one assumes, anyway) Lion's Den.