Swamp Dogg HHV Records 6 Items

The 1973 soul album classic on CLEAR BLUE vinyl. Includes an INSERT with liner notes by Swamp Dogg and rare archival photos. “It’s the frantic, Stax-style "ICouldn’tPayForWhatI Got Last Night”, with its manic crescendo, the smooth melody and keyboard/guitar groove of “Mighty Mighty Dollar Bill” (“In this world of mass confusion/Where brotherly love’s a foul illusion”) that seal Maggott as essential. – MOJO (•••• 4 star review)

In 1954, 12 year old Jerry Williams, then performing under the name Little Jerry Williams, made his first recording for Mechanic Records, a blues stomp with a shockingly mature vocal performance. Through the 60"s Williams' career developed with a number of successful singles, including 'I'm the Lover Man' and 'Baby You're My Everything', as well as writing and producing hits for Dee Dee Warwick, Doris Duke, and Patti LaBelle and the Blue Belles. It was in 1970, however, that the full extent of Williams' eccentric creative genius was unleashed on the world for the first time, with the birth of his musical alter-ego, Swamp Dogg. Created to 'occupy the body while the search party was out looking for Jerry Williams, who was mentally missing in action due to certain pressures, mal-treatments and failure to get paid royalties on over fifty single records,' the Swamp Dogg alias, still in use today, allowed Williams to create music that was bolder, raunchier, and more honest to his creative instincts. The Dogg's cult classic debut 'Total Destruction to Your Mind' struck a powerful blend of Williams classic soulful sensibilities and the blooming psychedelia of the time. Infused in the swirling brew is Swamp's blink-and-you'll-miss-it humor, a number of acid odes, and a heavy dose of sharp political insight. Though the psychedelic strangeness alienated R&B fans of the time, and the authentic R&B infrastructure prevented it from clicking with hippie audiences, it has retroactively received legendary status in cult music circles.Now, 50 years after Total Destruction introduced Swamp Dogg to an unprepared world, and nearly 70 since Little Jerry Williams went into the studio for Mechanic, Williams brings us I Need A Job' So I Can Buy More Autotune. A spiritual successor to 2018"s hit Love, Loss and Autotune, this album continues to push Swamp's sonic exploration of the effect as one of his many creative weapons. In the extended tradition of Total Destruction, Swamp Dogg's 2021 LP neatly balances sleek modern production techniques with that classic Dogg sound that has anchored William's music since the 70s. Subtle yet soulful drumming, skin-tight horn grooves and meandering funk guitar leads create a sonic landscape fitting Swamp Dogg's iconic croon, occasionally drenched in the titular autotune. At 78, Swamp Dogg is as sharp of a singer and songwriter as ever. His raunchy yet charismatic sense of humor takes a more forward role on I Need a Job' So I Can Buy More Autotune, with earnestly delivered lyrics about all day sex and an entire song dedicated to the perils of 'Cheating in the Daylight.' Many of the record's most charming moments emerge from the juxtaposition of Swamp's left field humor with genuine messages of love, such as 'She Got That Fire', which weaves descriptions of imagined sex acts, including but not limited to an encounter involving edible underwear, in between relatively wholesome proclamations like 'she must be an angel on earth,' and 'when she looks at you, it's like sunshine from her eyes'. I Need a Job does more than prove that Swamp's still got it, it proves he's still getting better.

One of the great characters in rock and soul music is Jerry Williams, better known as the eccentric, idiosyncratic, and always entertaining Swamp Dogg (no relation to Snoop Doggy Dogg). A Virginia native, Williams invented his own legend by claiming that he had little proper schooling, only to wake up one day and find himself a musical genius (his words). Actually, Williams is very talented, and an early association with Jerry Wexler and Phil Walden led to him working for a number of years as a producer, engineer, and occasional songwriter with Atlantic in the '60s. At decade's end, however, he decided that the time was right to unleash Swamp Dogg's singular view of the world on an unsuspecting public. The initial result was one of the most gloriously gonzo soul recordings of all time, Total Destruction to Your Mind. The album's charm may have to do with Dogg's world view: part libertarian politics; part Zappa-style critiques of commerciality and capitalism; and part horny male, the latter defining for better and worse his view of women. Although he spent years working in the industry, Dogg was simply not the standard-issue soul type. And that was good. Dogg continued to make records, albeit infrequently, after 1969, some good, a few great, and most all extremely difficult to find. With contemporary soul sounding increasingly mannered and sterile, Dogg's yelling, screaming, and general craziness is missed. Thankfully, he hasn't disappeared for good, although he only makes records when he feels like it. It would be wise to not count him out; just when you think this Dogg is down and out, he sneaks up and bites you.