J. D. MILLER'S PRODUCTIONS : 2) THE AVI EXCELLO CD SERIES
Eric LeBlanc-CISTI
few problems with my mailer. Here's the final version with extra info
on the new AVI EXCELLO sets, complete credits & a reference to an excellent
EXCELLO discography.
Sorry for the inconvience.
"UNCLE" eRIC
"Jay Miller's studio was a perfect example of the sort of musical cross-
fertilization that has characterized much of the great roots music, blues
and otherwise, to come out of the American south. Miller himself got his
musical start in the '30s playing cowboy music on an eight-dollar guitar.
He would eventually accompany some of the best cajun musicians of the time,
including the great Harry Choates. After the war he went into business as
an electrical contractor, and began making records on the side. His first
recordings were made at Cosimo Matassa's legendary New Orleans studio, at
the time the only one in Louisiana. These cajun sides, released on Miller's
Fais-Do-Do label, sold so well that he decided to open his own studio in
Crowley. In 1947 he started the Feature label, recording mostly hillbilly
singers at first, along with cajun stars-to-be like Doug Kershaw and
Jimmy C. Newman. In the early 50s he made a few forays into blues,
recording among others Clarence "Bon Ton" Garlow. But it was not until he
ran into Otis Hicks (whom he would soon christen "Lightnin' Slim") at a
Baton Rouge radio station in 1954 that he got into blues recording in a
serious way. Impressed by Hicks' guitar playing and singing, Miller
scrounged up a band to back him and recorded a song called "Bad Luck". The
record was a fair-sized hit, and "swamp blues" was born. The success of
"Bad Luck" on Feature led to a distribution deal with Nashville-based
Excello records, an arrangement that assured a good regional and national
market for Miller's records. If Lightnin' Slim was the father of swamp
blues, Miller was certainly its midwife. The records he made with
Lightnin', Slim Harpo, Lazy Lester, Lonesome Sundown, Silas Hogan and many
others in the 50s and early 60s define the style and remain its finest
examples. And unlike many of his contemporaries in the recording business
who demanded songwriting credit from their artists as partial payment for
use of the studio, Miller actually wrote many of these great songs - for
example, Lonesome Sundown's big hit "My Home is a Prison". The consistently
high quality and creativity of his productions has earned Jay Miller a
place alongside the likes of Sam Phillips and the Chess Brothers as one of
the greatest record producers in the history of the blues."
~ Eliot Williams <ecwi...@macc.wisc.edu> (May 4/95)
"Things started cooking when Ernie Young met Jay Miller of the swamp town
of Crowley, Louisiana, in 1955. Miller was busily recording and releasing
music by local bluesmen for his own indie labels, but one of his best
sellers, Lightnin' Slim, was being wooed away by the Chess brothers of
Chicago (who had already recorded four tracks by him) and by Ace Records
(who had issued a single, Ace 505.) Young and Miller agreed on a contract
whereby Miller would record blues exclusively for Nashboro/Excello Records"
~ Mike Corso, C NOTES INTERACTIVE <cno...@cloud9.net>
"After hearing about Jay Miller I brought a demo tape to his studio ; you
shoulda seen that studio. It was like a radio repair shop and a studio
combined. So closely combined you couldn't hardly tell which was which."
~ LONESOME SUNDOWN, Blues Unlimited #80 (Feb-Mar'71)
This description of J. D. Miller's studio may account for the raw "lazy"
country blues that's often called 'Swamp Blues'. It's only "lazy" in that
there are few in-yo-face guitar & harmonica solos, just a lot of laid-back
vocals, unpredictable guitar solos, usually with simple drums. This
description could also account for the next to no documentation of the
recording sessions - what we have is (Sam Phillips/SUN RECORDS) to the 2nd
power! Which makes this new AVI/EXCELLO CD series are real achievement.
The sound mastering (by Tom Moulton) is excellent, programmed from master
tapes, usually in chronological 45/78 rpm order. The ACE (UK) CD series,
leased from AVI, usually includes different alt/unissued takes & different
notes, so long time Swamp Blues fans will need both series. It I get the
opportunity, I'll compare both series, but for now I'll just outline the
AVI/EXCELLO series. I've also included what their upcoming CDs will be.
Finally, for all you EXCELLO fans, an EXCELLO singles discography (compliled
by Bez Turner & Peter Gibbon) was published in Blues Unlimited #131.
The next (final) posting will be on the Interstate's Flyright series which
is licenced directly from J. D. Miller himself & features a cross sampling
of ALL his productions.
I'd like to thank Eliot Williams (of BLUES-L) and Patti Drosins (of AVI)
for help with this posting. And, of course, to Harry Anger (of AVI) for
having the vision to reissue/license the EXCELLO/NASHBORO Labels.
AVI's EXCELLO CD SERIES : short reviews
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EXCELLO 2001 : SLIM HARPO - HIP SHAKIN' : EXCELLO COLLECTION (2CD)
Here we have 44 tracks (135+ minutes) - all his important records PLUS his
only known live recording (16+ minutes), recorded in June 1961 - which is
only available on this 2CD set. (HARPO collectors should know that
ACE (UK) 558 : SLIM HARPO - SHAKE YOUR HIPS contains the complete one-off
1961 Imperial session!).
EXCELLO 3001 : VARIOUS - THE BEST OF EXCELLO RECORDS (30 cuts)
A great 30 track CD (75+ minutes) - the best one-CD sampler available,
including a lot of non-Miller productions. I just noticed that the new live
Anson Funderburgh set has a cover of "Wild Cherry" - the original (by Leroy
Washington - yes a J. D. Miller prod!) is included in this set.
EXCELLO 3002 : LIGHTNIN' SLIM - I'M EVIL : RARE/UNISSUED EXCELLO MASTERS V.1
This is amazing : 27 tracks (74+ minutes) including, for the first time from
master tapes, his very first recording (BAD LUCK / ROCK ME MAMA). Guest
artists include harmonicats Wild Bill Phillips, Schoolboy Cleve, and Lazy
Lester.
EXCELLO 3003 : LAZY LESTER - I HEAR YOU KNOCKIN'! : THE EXCELLO SINGLES
What can you say - every one of this 15 singles (30 tracks/74+ minutes)
with excellent notes by manager & friend, Fred Reif. Reif's account of
Lazy Lester & Lightnin' Slim appearance at the January 1971 Univ of Chicago
Folk Festival is priceless. If you're a harmonica fan, it doesn't get any
better. "They call me lazy but I'm only tired!"
EXCELLO 3004 : LONESOME SUNDOWN - I'M A MOJO MAN : BEST OF EXCELLO SINGLES
Here we have the first 12 singles (24 tracks/62+ minutes) by the late
Cornelius Green. Guest artists: Lazy Lester, Katie Webster, Lionel Torrence.
EXCELLO 3005 : SILAS HOGAN - TROUBLE : BEST OF THE EXCELLO MASTERS
All 8 of his singles plus alt/unissued tracks (26 tracks/67+ minutes).
Cub Koda's notes are very serious (which is a little unusual for him), but
it shows how much respect Koda has for this wonderful songwriter/vocalist/
guitarist who died on January 9th, 1994. One of my favorite EXCELLO artists.
EXCELLO 3008 : VARIOUS - DARK CLOUDS ROLLIN'
I've not heard this set, as it's just been issued. The title track is one
Silas Hogan's great records. If the quality is as high as the rest, this
should be a killer.
Upcoming AVI EXCELLO CD reissues: (on May 23)
EXCELLO soon : VARIOUS - BLUES HANGOVER (43 tracks/2CD) featuring
Whispering Smith, Baby Boy Warren, Blue Charlie, Lightnin'
Slim, Little Sonny, Jimmy Anderson, Sonny Boy Williamson (!)
and 15 previously unreleased tracks.
EXCELLO soon : ARTHUR GUNTER - BABY LET'S PLAY HOUSE
EXCELLO soon : JERRY MCCAIN - BEST OF featuring Jef Jaisun's favorite
"Courtin' in a Cadillac" :-)
ACE (UK) EXCELLO CD SERIES
===========================================================================
ACE (UK) 400 : VARIOUS - EXCELLO HITS
ACE (UK) 410 : SLIM HARPO - THE BEST OF
ACE (UK) 492 : VARIOUS - AUTHENTIC R&B
ACE (UK) 510 : SLIM HARPO - I'M A KING BEE - EARLY SWAMP BLUES CLASSICS
ACE (UK) 517 : LIGHTNIN' SLIM - BELL RINGER & ROOSTER BLUES
ACE (UK) 523 : SILAS HOGAN - SO LONG BLUES
ACE (UK) 558 : SLIM HARPO - SHAKE YOUR HIPS
ACE (UK) 559 : LONESOME SUNDOWN - I'M A MOJO MAN
ACE (UK) 587 : LIGHTNIN' SLIM - IT'S MIGHTY CRAZY
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