"Sitting on a
cornflake, riding on a roller skate!” Those opening words to the thumping “Total Destruction To Your Mind” show Swamp Dogg’s
worldview doesn’t necessarily come from the same place as us ordinary folk but
he was writing and singing about the things relevant to most. As he explains, “Commencing
in 1970, I sung about sex, niggers, love, rednecks, war, peace, dead flies,
home wreckers, Sly Stone, my daughters, politics, revolution and blood
transfusions (just to name a few), and never got out of character.”
And what a character it was. With the release of It's All Good: The Singles Collection 1963-1989 I wrote how Jerry Williams created Swamp Dogg after years of
relative obscurity, knocking out records and productions under a variety of
guises. His first two albums recorded under his most enduring moniker have now
been legitimately reissued for the first time on vinyl (plus CD and download etc)
and they’re both excellent throughout.
In his brief liner notes Dogg suggests these albums sold
millions due to bootleggers ("thieves", he calls them). There’s no way of proving that but a couple of things
strike me about them now. Firstly, they are as solid a pairing of soul albums
as you’ll find from that period. They have moments of humour (Swamp possesses
one of those voices which make things sound funny even when they aren’t) but
they aren’t jokey or over the top, he plays it straight. Lyrically he addressed
the same issues Marvin Gaye did on What’s
Going On; this was Soul With A Conscience. Marvin’s album though was a
no-expense spared affair with a lavish production and Gaye on the cover looking
moody and serious standing in the rain with his expensive collar up; whilst
Swamp recorded his with a tight funky band of Muscle Shoals soul men and was pictured
sitting on a garbage truck in his shorts and cheering while straddling a giant
white rat. Which brings me to my second point, those silliness sleeves don’t communicate
how good the music is and how under appreciated these records are and
Swamp/Williams is within the soul universe. When Rat On! has been mentioned in the intervening years it’s been in
the Worst Album Sleeves of All Time lists, a fact Dogg acknowledges now. “This
left-handed accolade has helped this masterpiece continue to sell and avoid
obscurity”. That was him calling his own album a masterpiece. I wouldn’t go
quite that far but Total Destruction To
Your Mind is essential listening and Rat
On! isn’t far behind.
Total Destruction
To You Mind and Rat On! by Swamp Dogg are released by Alive Records on 5 March
2013.
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