How did Lazy Lester get his first big break?

"Legend has it (and Lester has confirmed in interviews) that Lazy Lester's career took off when he happened to find a seat next to bluesman Lightnin' Slim on a bus transporting Slim to an Excello recording session. When Slim got off, Lester followed. At the studio, the scheduled harmonica player on the gig happened not to show. Slim and Lester spent the better part of the afternoon trying to hunt him down, unsuccessfully. So Lester volunteered that he could play a bit of harmonica himself. Lester's work on that first Lightnin' Slim session led label boss Jay Miller to record Lester solo 鈥?and also to use Lester as a back-up multi-instrumentalist on percussion, guitar, bass, as well as harmonica on sessions headlined by virtually every other Excello artist, including, notably, Slim Harpo."

Lazy Lester did get his foot in Excello's door by playing with Lightning Slim, but his own career took off when the label's owner, Jay Miller, released Lester's "Sugar Coated Love" and "I'm A Lover, Not A Fighter" in 1956.