saw the nightly Soul/R&B shows as outmoded and inconsistent with the increasingly-fashionable rigid formats that most American radio stations had adopted, or were about to adopt, during that period. Deciding not to succumb to the dictates of a ratings-driven system (Richbourg and the others sold their spots over the years on a "per inquiry" basis, meaning that they kept a commission for each item sold), he elected to step down on July 28, 1973, after some 28 cumulative years of association with the station. After his retirement, Richbourg developed a reputation of generosity to struggling performers, often going so far as to lend them money without expecting repayment. This would, unfortunately, haunt the disc jockey as he battled health problems in the last years of his life. Benefit concert By 1984, Richbourg was dying from lung cancer. His wife, Margaret, and singer Jackey Beavers, a longtime associate, organized a benefit concert to help pay the announcer's steep medical bills. The March 26, 1985 show, held at Nashville's Grand Ole Opry House, included numerous artists who were featured in John R.'s broadcasts: James Brown, B. B. King, the Neville Brothers, Rufus Thomas, The Tams, The Coasters, gospel singer Bobby Jones (who then hosted a local TV program), and Beavers himself. In his book, Wes Smith commented that James Brown gave one of the best performances of his career at the event. Richbourg survived for about a year, dying at age 75. At his funeral, Ella Washington, a favorite artist of John R., sang gospel numbers, in a tribute to a man who shaped that genre and its secular cousins. Aircheck and music recordings After retiring, Richbourg produced cassette tapes featuring reconstructions of his shows, together with the music. Some of these still circulate among traders, as do "bootleg" recordings from the radio broadcasts. In 2004 the Country Music Hall of Fame released a two-volume set titled Night Train to Nashville. It featured recordings which Richbourg and his fellow disc jockeys at WLAC played on their nightly shows from 1945 and 1970. On each CD, one of John R.'s airchecks can be heard. The CD set was released to accompany the Hall of Fame's 2004 exhibit highlighting Nashville's R&B music industry and its intersection with the country music business. Famous phrases "You know"--Richbourg said this phrase constantly throughout his programs "Lord, have mercy, honey, have mercy"--frequent greeting to open the show "Talk