If there is one sound that is instantly definable in the blues, it’s what’s come to be known as “swamp blues,” and no label better presented the chief blues artists who embraced this format than Nashville, Tennessee’s Excello Records.  Nashville record store proprietor Ernie Young initially started Nashboro Records in 1951 to cater to gospel releases, and in 1952 began Excello Records to present blues, rhythm & blues, rock, and even more gospel music.  Earlier in the 1940s, Young created something of a partnership with the 50,000-watt Nashville-based radio station WLAC due to the variety of music it presented, playing music that appealed to a blurred racial boundary. 

Excello’s blues stable included artists such as Lightnin’ Slim, Slim Harpo, Jerry McCain, Lonesome Sundown, Lazy Lester, Katie Webster, Tabby Thomas, Whispering Smith, Ole Sonny Boy, and Guitar Gable, among others.  The swamp blues sound that made Excello Records famous is branded by guitar handiwork that is simplistic yet effective due to its boogie designs not unlike those championed by bluesman Jimmy Reed (more on this below).  In addition, a studio practice of creating an uncanny echo effect created a sort of ominous framework on many recordings, all the while also utilizing shuffle rhythms, intense harmonica passages, spartan drumming, and tremolo-laden guitar efforts (a variation effect that fundamentally alters the level of the instrument’s signal).  Under the direction of Excello Records’ famed producer Jay Miller, the die was cast as to the label’s blues sound, one that endures and appeals to this day.

Another bluesman found in the Excello Records stable was Silas Hogan, a singer and guitarist of high reputation who was primarily a locally feted blues talent who finally got to record his brand of swamp blue via singles with Excello Records for a short period between the years 1962-1965.  Hogan’s music is uniformly strong, so a bit of a deeper dive into him, his life, and his blues career is in order.

Silas Hogan came into the world in September, 1911 in Westover, West Baton Rouge Parish, Louisiana, in the southeastern portion of the state roughly 83 miles northwest of New Orleans.  Though the exact year is unknown, sometime in the later 1920s Hogan’s interest in the guitar was expressed, and he was tutored on the instrument by both Robert Murphy and Frank Murphy, his two uncles.  Applying himself to his study of the guitar, Hogan followed the tried-and-true route early in his formative musical years by playing the various picnics, fish fries, house gatherings, and other area events while he continued to develop both his skills and his notoriety. 

By the late 1930s, Hogan had aligned himself with blue guitar player Willie B. Thomas and blues violinist Butch Cage and upped his performing scale by playing the juke joints in the vicinity with his new partners. 

Hogan relocated to Baton Rouge, Louisiana in the early 1950s, and when he did so he established changes to his musical style.  He now chose to play electric guitar, and formed a band named the Rhythm Ramblers.  This group included Jimmy Dotson on drums, Sylvester Buckley plying his harmonica skills, with Isaiah Chapman also playing guitar.  This change to an electric format allowed the group to play the broader Louisiana juke venues while gaining valuable exposure and word-of-mouth recognition.

It was obvious by this time that Hogan’s chief influences were Jimmy Reed, Slim Harpo, and Lazy Lester.  The Rhythm Ramblers continued on as a band for roughly a decade.  It must be emphasized that the group, as much as any other artist or band playing at the time in the area, was influential in reinforcing the continuation of the swamp blues sound, but also the blues discipline that came to be known as “the Baton Rouge sound,” as well, a school of blues that identified with bluesmen such as the city’s Tabby Thomas.

In 1962, Hogan was 51 years of age, and his life in the blues was about to change.  Excello Records recording artist giant Slim Harpo took it upon himself to introduce Hogan to the label’s producer Jay Miller.  Miller found Hogan’s sound to his liking, and at a time when swamp blues as a whole was beginning to somewhat diminish in interest, he nonetheless decided to record Hogan.  This was the late start to recording that Hogan had always desired. 

Hogan’s Excello Records efforts between 1962-1965 were genuine swamp blues unfettered by the period of time they were recorded in.  It can be argued what Hogan singles hold up as his finest, as all are pure swamp blues at its finest.  Some may cite “Lonesome La La”, while others may proffer “Trouble At Home Blues”.   Those comparisons are not germane here, as Hogan’s recorded output was a satisfying continuation of the swamp blues expression.

But, in 1966, Hogan’s run with Excello Records came to an abrupt end.  Miller had a falling-out with the record company’s new ownership, and with Miller’s time at the label over, Hogan’s recording contract was essentially no longer valid; there was one left to champion Hogan.

This set of circumstances found Hogan of the mindset to part ways with his band, and forced him to return on a full-time employment basis at the Exxon oil refinery close to Baton Rouge where he had previously had a job. 

In the 1970s, Hogan once again was offered the chance to record, this time with collector labels.  He laid down tracks for Arhoolie Records in 1970 as part of a compilation entitled Rats And Roaches In My Kitchen, on and Blue Horizon Records in 1971 under his own name on an album entitled Trouble At Home. 

Hogan continued to play “live” throughout the 1970s, primarily at southern music festivals. 

While his blues was uniformly strong, Hogan’s recordings did not bring him the public awareness he deserved.  When he passed away in January, 1994 from the effects of hearts disease, it went relatively unnoticed.

Should you be able to find one of the now-myriad Louisiana swamp blues compilations, or perhaps the Blue Horizon LP, you will likely be wondering how Hogan’s music was not more well-known.  Timing likely played a cruel role in its lack of visibility during the heyday of swamp blues recording, but the music stands high upon its many merits.

Below is a picture of a mint condition Silas Hogan single release I have hanging in my blues room at home.

Silas Hogan was a major blues talent.