Various Artists - The Real Excello R&B - (1994) Ace + Artwork

The Real R&B was released on Stateside in the mid-1960s. Along with its companion LP Authentic R&B, it introduced British blues far to one of America's greatest regional sounds, the blues and R&B of Louisiana and to the catalogue of Excello Records. If Authentic R&B had the sides that became much emulated, e.g. Slim Harpo's I'm A King Bee (covered by The Rolling Stones), Got Love If You Want It (covered by The Kinks) and I'm A Lover Not A Fighter (covered by The Yardbirds)  then The Real R&B had stuff to more deeply excite the imagination (including Lightnin' Slim's wonderfully moody, echo- laden Wintertime Blues and Arthur Gunter's original Baby Let's Play House, which Elvis covered in his youth). Along the way these Stateside LPs helped launch countless blues collections. So how did it all begin for Excello? Well, the label was launched in August 1952 by Ernie Young in Nashville, Tennesee (as an offshoot to the Nashboro label). With Nashboro as the valuable gospel outlet, Excello was primarily a blues and R&B label, although in the early days there was also a sprinkling of gospel and white country music as well as rockabilly. In its latter years Excello was also an outlet for prime 60s Southern Soul. Essentially, though, Excello remained famous for its pure and unadulterated blues (even the contemporary styles are very downhome). Aimed initially at the black buyers of the American South in the pre Civil Rights era, the music was pumped out to downhome audiences via the powerful radio transmitters of Radio WLAC in Nashville and its DJs Gene Nobles, John 'R' Richbourg and Bill 'Hoss' Allen who hosted the superb THE BEAT!!! TV show that i will post up in its entirety. The British R&B boom and the cover versions by the rock groups that invaded America's airwaves in the second pop invasion all helped generate interest back home. Many of the artists on The Real R&B enjoyed frequent appearances at blues festivals and on package tours across the UK, Europe and the USA. In the 1990s, younger British enthusiasts are still bopping away to the Excello blues boogies blasting out at underground 'rocking' clubs and blues festivals. As with Ace, reissue of Authentic R&B ("Authentic Excello R&B" CDCHD 492) they added extra tracks to the original LP release (8 in all) and included strong alternate takes of I'm Goin' In The Valley and Wintertime Blues, the original 45 versions of these can be found, respectively, on the equally essential CDs "So Long Blues" (CDCHD 523) and "Rooster Blues/ Bellringer" (CDCHD 517).I,ve included some artwork i found elsewhere.

AMM 

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