Luckily, I was a good boy this year, so Santa left some good blues in my stocking. This year, he was in a swamp blues mood, so the emphasis was on Excello Records, which suited me just fine (like I'm going to argue with St. Nick, right?).

Hip-O Records has been steadily reissuing Best of… compilations from the Excello catalogs for the last four years. Noteworthy items from this project have been the excellent four volume House Rockin' & Hip Shakin' series and the Excello Records Story (also four volumes). Two noteworthy Hip-O reissues, from a few years back, found their way into my stocking. The Best of Slim Harpo is exactly that, 16 of his greatest tracks. Slim Harpo is, pardon the expression, the King Bee of swamp blues, as least as far as mainstream success went. If you're a blues fan, you're probably familiar with most of these cuts ("Rainin' In My Heart," "I'm a King Bee," "Blues Hangover," "Te Ni Nee Ni Nu," and "Baby, Scratch My Back"), either as performed by Slim or as covered by other artists. This is a fine starter disc for anyone who doesn't own any Slim Harpo.