History
The origins of swamp blues were based around the Louisiana state capital of Baton Rouge and particularly associated with the record producer J. D. "Jay" Miller. In the 1950s Miller realised that many blues artists around the city had not been recorded and rectified this, distributing the results through Excello Records in Nashville, Tennessee. The most successful and influential artist with whom he worked was guitarist and harmonica player Slim Harpo. His tracks included "I'm a King Bee" (1957), "I Got Love If You Want It" (1957) and "Rainin' In My Heart" (1961), which were all hits on the R&B Chart. His biggest hit was a version of "Baby Scratch My Back" which reached the Billboard Top 20 in 1966. Other major artists included Lightnin' Slim, Lazy Lester, Silas Hogan, Lonesome Sundown and piano player Katie Webster. A number of their tracks, particularly those of Slim Harpo, were covered by British Invasion bands, including the Rolling Stones, The Kinks and the Yardbirds. The popularity of the genre faded in the 1970s, with many swamp bluesmen turning to zydeco which remained popular with black audiences.
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