The Crowley studio continued turning out hits like Tabby Thomas’ “Hoodoo Party” through the early 1960s. The last hurrah came with “Baby, Scratch My Back,” a dance single by Slim Harpo that showcased the reverb-laden guitar and eclectic percussion for which the studio had become famous. The record topped the R&B charts for 18 weeks in 1966, but changes at Excello’s corporate headquarters in Nashville ended the relationship with Jay Miller and Crowley.

Changes in popular taste, too, meant that the days of swamp blues and country-flavored R&B were numbered. By the time “Baby, Scratch My Back” charted, Motown ruled the airwaves with No. 1 singles from the Four Tops and the Supremes. Excello signed Southern soul artists like Z.Z. Hill, Marva Whitney, and Maceo & All the King’s Men (members of the James Brown Revue), but the label never again regained the stature of its glory days.

Though swamp blues faded from the national music consciousness, it’s still alive and well in Louisiana. Tabby Thomas’ Blues Box and Heritage Hall is a Baton Rouge hotspot where Thomas’ former Excello labelmate Silas Hogan passed the swamp tradition along to the likes of Larry Garner and Tab Benoit. Kenny Neal, the eldest son in Baton Rouge’s blues dynasty, the Neal family, likewise learned from some of the best: his father, Raful, and Slim Harpo.

This month, the Second Annual Ponderosa Stomp will celebrate this continuing legacy of Excello and the swamp blues. Named for a Lazy Lester instrumental number, the Stomp will bring together Lester, Excello session ace and solo star Warren Storm, and Rudy Richard, another Excello alum who played guitar on Slim Harpo’s “Rainin’ in My Heart” and “Baby, Scratch My Back.” A Year of the Blues Event of the Month, the Ponderosa Stomp is a three-day blowout of blues, rockabilly, and R&B, and is held during the second week of the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival.

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