South-East London adaption of the Excello style
I read an interview with Keith Richards once explaining how he and Mick Jagger had a single blues record between them when they met. It was one I knew well: a Stateside four-track EP licensed from the Excello label, with Slim Harpo on one side and Lazy Lester on the other. They played it until it was so worn they could barely hear the music through the scratches. One way of looking at the Stones’ sound is as a South-East London adaptation of the Excello style. If they had owned more records, their music might have been less distinctive.
From the Book White Bicycles: Making Music in the 1960s, London: Serpent's Tail, 2006, ISBN 1852429100
Copyright © 2006 by Joe Boyd
No. 37