SWAMP DOGG APPRECIATION THREAD

pickwick33pickwick33 8,946 Posts
edited August 2007 in Strut Central
Because he deserves it, goddammit!!!For some reason his name doesn't pop up often on the Strut, and I couldn't take it no mo', so I'm fin to right that wrong:[/b]And if you crate-diggin' Wax Poetics-readin' price-checkin' folls don't like this topic, then gag a maggot and pucker up while I back up!! Without the Dogg, your rekkid collection ain't worth two dead flies! On the serious tip, this is eccentric southern soul at it's best, and these two albums are great places to start. To me, Swamp belongs in the Gallery of the Greats along with Shuggie Otis, Exuma, Eugene McDaniels, Roy C., Bunny Sigler, Baby Huey, Harrison Kennedy, Funkadelic, Kagny & the Dirty Rats, Melvin Van Peebles, Rodriguez, Broadneck, Esquerita, Bo Dud, the Lord of Lightning and Yocannon the Muck Muck Man.And oh yes, War and Mandrill too!![/b]

  Comments


  • The_Hook_UpThe_Hook_Up 8,182 Posts
    I repped a Swamp Dogg LP in my first "Ish"....The Raw Spitt LP...I love that record, a great Swamp Dogg production with Charlie Whitehead singing. Also play out his "Total Destrutcion of Your Mind" 45 quite a bit. I likes me some Swamp Dogg.

  • DJ_EnkiDJ_Enki 6,473 Posts
    "Synthetic World" =

  • Right now I am very much appreciating this Swamp Dogg related masterwork:


  • pickwick33pickwick33 8,946 Posts
    "Synthetic World" =

    I really like the version that appears on the Charly vinyl comp, Uncut & Classified 1-A...recorded in 1972 but unreleased until 1981, when Charly released this LP.

  • pickwick33pickwick33 8,946 Posts
    Right now I am very much appreciating this Swamp Dogg related masterwork:


    Dude...I put "Congratulations Baby" on a soul mix CD that me and a friend listened to in the car on the way back from a Wisconsin rockabilly festival...this song was so overwhelming that my friend kept backing it up and playing it several times in a row, he couldn't believe it...

  • Birdman9Birdman9 5,417 Posts
    My buddy Burl hipped me to Swamp Dogg back in the mid 90s and I was hooked ever since. I remember buying a best-of CD in San Diego, a two-fer of 'Total Destruction...' with 'Rat On!' in Trinidad, my vinyl copy of 'Rat On!' at the now dearly departed Vinyl Ink in Silver Spring, MD and my vinyl copy of 'Total Destruction...' from Breakdown Records online store outta NOLA. I also have the one where he's sportin' a gas mask!

    My favorite production work of his is that LP by Doris Duke, A Legend in Her Own Time...at least I assumed it was the same guy!

  • onetetonetet 1,754 Posts
    Yeah, the comp of his work w/ Doris Duke is probably my favorite new-to-me music of the last 2-3 years. I haven't heard too much of his other work but I am trying to get familiar.

    And Vinyl Ink was a huge influence on me growing up. R.I.P. to both the store and the dude.

  • luckluck 4,077 Posts
    A man at work has had my Doris Duke comp CD for over a year. I bought this disc new and had listened to it only 2-3 times before I loaned it to him. Nothing but excuses have followed my myriad attempts to get it (or a new copy) returned to me. I have I'm A Loser on vinyl, but I still want this CD back.

    How long do you guys wait before becoming an asshole after loaning your music out?

    I assume that some genius will recommend that I exact some revolting physical violence upon his person. Not going to happen.

  • 99Problems99Problems 1,541 Posts

    Don't forget the Irma Thomas album w/the purple cover. That's the shit.

  • SoulOnIceSoulOnIce 13,027 Posts
    The Canyon label in general is just great.

    Jean Wells, Irma Thomas, King Errisson, Chosen Few,
    and others have strong 45's along with Duke and the
    Dogg himself. One cheapie that features some of that
    Swamp Dogg guitar sound over a solid soul vocal is the
    Irma Thomas, "I'd Do It All Over You" - Doris Duke also
    cut this for her second LP, but I haven't found that one
    yet, I only have the "I'm a Loser" album.

  • 99Problems99Problems 1,541 Posts
    That real shit:


  • erewhonerewhon 1,123 Posts
    I'm a huge Swamp Dogg fan. He's got that country Jackie Wilson voice, the ill concepts, the D.I.Y. attitude, the production, etc.

    Dude even put the Commodores on, and moved Lionel Ritchie from sax to lead vocals.

    Ditto on the Doris Duke.

    Gotta love his production on this one too:



    Not to drag his good name through the mud in a tribute thread, but his Ichiban label put out a good amount of southern rap in the 80s that, in my experience, is all pretty unlistenable. Does anyone know of any gems in their rap catalog?

  • pickwick33pickwick33 8,946 Posts
    [color:green]
    Not to drag his good name through the mud in a tribute thread, but his Ichiban label put out a good amount of southern rap in the 80s that, in my experience, is all pretty unlistenable. Does anyone know of any gems in their rap catalog? [/color]

    Well, I'll correct that right now:

    Swamp Dogg did not own Ichiban.

    But Swamp's own SDEG label was distributed by Ichiban in the late '80s and early '90s, and in addition to recordings by Swamp and his old chitlin'-circuit cronies (Andre Williams, Ruth Brown, Tommy Hunt, Bobby McClure), he also had the World Class Wreckin' Cru, which meant that Swamp also indirectly gave us Dr. Dre.

    And as long as we're on fave Swamp Dogg productions: seek out Gary U.S. Bonds' Certified Soul on Rhino (released in '82 and long out of print), which was a collection of nonhit singles that Dogg produced on Bonds in the late '60s and early '70s.

    And back to Dogg the artist...Resurrection (his new album) is shockingly good, as was 1991's Surfin' In Harlem (on the Volt label, which Fantasy briefly revived).

    And don't sleep on that compilation of soul singles he released as "Little Jerry Williams" in the fifties and sixties! You can probably still get this on Swamp's own SDEG label...
    (too bad the image is so small)

  • erewhonerewhon 1,123 Posts
    Thanks!

  • mrpekmrpek 627 Posts
    "Nothing but Trash" is my jam

  • pickwick33pickwick33 8,946 Posts
    Prized possession: a photo of me and the Dogg at the Chicago Blues Festival in 2000, autographed by Dogg himself ("To James - it is better to be wanted for murder than not be wanted at all. Signed, Swamp Dogg").

  • motown67motown67 4,513 Posts

  • SoulOnIceSoulOnIce 13,027 Posts

    And don't sleep on that compilation of soul singles he released as "Little Jerry Williams" in the fifties and sixties!

    So, the Jerry Williams on Calla is the Dogg?
    I could have sworn someone told me they were 2 different artists.


  • pickwick33pickwick33 8,946 Posts

    And don't sleep on that compilation of soul singles he released as "Little Jerry Williams" in the fifties and sixties!

    So, the Jerry Williams on Calla is the Dogg?
    I could have sworn someone told me they were 2 different artists.


    That piercing voice is just a little too distinctive and could only belong to one person.

  • Came home with after a rough emotional work scene. I needed something to not just clean the bad taste out of my brain, but to transform it y'know?

    Swamp Dogg. "God Ain't Blessin' America" from Have you heard this story? Full volume.

    I'll add my name to the list of fans. I dunno if I would have bought his house though. Thanks Swamp Dogg!

  • Wasn't Swamp Dogg trying to sell his house on ebay at one point? I vaguely remember a thread about a year ago...

  • pickwick33pickwick33 8,946 Posts
    Yeah, that is what King Maxwell was referring to.

  • Lately I've had the often hilarious good fortune of working closely with Tha Dogg. I'm gonna see if I can get him to register on Soulstrut. He might be in to it. A true American eccentric and a musical genius.

  • JRootJRoot 861 Posts


    Swamp Dogg. "God Ain't Blessin' America" from Have you heard this story? Full volume.

    "God Bless America For What" is I think the actual title, but you've captured the sentiment exactly.

    Swamp Dogg is rad.

  • pickwick33pickwick33 8,946 Posts


    Swamp Dogg. "God Ain't Blessin' America" from Have you heard this story? Full volume.

    "God Bless America For What" is I think the actual title, but you've captured the sentiment exactly.


    You're both right.

    "God Bless America For What" came out on the Rat On! album in '71 (for some reason, the record label dropped the "for what" from the title).

    A few years later, he released Have You Heard This Story??, which included "God Ain't Blessin' America."

    Both of these tunes are two entirely different songs (with the same sentiment).

  • grandpa_shiggrandpa_shig 5,799 Posts

    But Swamp's own SDEG label was distributed by Ichiban in the late '80s and early '90s, and in addition to recordings by Swamp and his old chitlin'-circuit cronies (Andre Williams, Ruth Brown, Tommy Hunt, Bobby McClure), he also had the World Class Wreckin' Cru, which meant that Swamp also indirectly gave us Dr. Dre.

    wait a second. is this true? ive never heard of a world class wreckin cru record on anything other than like techno-kut and the likes. SDEG did the mc breed jammy though.

  • pickwick33pickwick33 8,946 Posts

    But Swamp's own SDEG label was distributed by Ichiban in the late '80s and early '90s, and in addition to recordings by Swamp and his old chitlin'-circuit cronies (Andre Williams, Ruth Brown, Tommy Hunt, Bobby McClure), he also had the World Class Wreckin' Cru, which meant that Swamp also indirectly gave us Dr. Dre.

    wait a second. is this true?

    according to Swamp, it is...his bios usually mention it

  • The_Hook_UpThe_Hook_Up 8,182 Posts
    he ebayed his house a couple years ago, anyone know what it went for?

  • JRootJRoot 861 Posts


    Swamp Dogg. "God Ain't Blessin' America" from Have you heard this story? Full volume.

    "God Bless America For What" is I think the actual title, but you've captured the sentiment exactly.


    You're both right.

    "God Bless America For What" came out on the Rat On! album in '71 (for some reason, the record label dropped the "for what" from the title).

    A few years later, he released Have You Heard This Story??, which included "God Ain't Blessin' America."

    Both of these tunes are two entirely different songs (with the same sentiment).

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