I am very fond of all kinds of R&B music--as a musician, I am more interested in how it works and how to play it than anything else, and I find that musicians tend to be very open with those who are sincerely interested in what they do--however, music fans/record collectors are another kettle of fish entirely--they can be arrogant and vicious--

Philly (where I lived for many years) has a very active doo wop community--and at times, it seemed to be an armed camp, divided by barbed wire and minefields. In the beginning, about 50 years ago, listeners divided their allegiances between two DJ's, Hy Lit and Jerry Blavat--Hyskie fans were into the mainstream, to 40 stuff, and Blavat(The Geator) fans like the obscure stuff.
And they still hate each other.

One story makes the point--

There was a well known used/reissue record store about ten feet outside the Philly city limits that was named for it's proprietor, who has a "reputation" among oldies collectors--you don't browse, you go in with a list, which the proprietor takes from you while he is talking on the phone, while a couple guys run around getting what you want-

One day, about fifteen years ago I was looking for The Four Deuces version of "WPLJ"(just to show how well it sticks in my mind)--the guy in front of me hands the proprietor his list. The proprietor, on the phone, as always, looks at the list and shouts, "This is crap. This is BULLSHIT!! Get the F*** Out of Here!!!"

And he wasn't the only one like that.