|
Donald's Encyclopedia of Popular MusicA B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y ZSWAMP DOGG(b Jerry Williams Jr, 12 July '42, Portsmouth VA) Singer, songwriter, producer. Began as Little Jerry Williams; first single 'Weenie Roast' for Mechanic label at age twelve. R&B no. 32 hit 'Baby You're My Everything' '66 on Calla; dropped 'Little' and became prod. at Atlantic, working with Drifters, Wilson Pickett, others; to Wally Roker's Canyon label '70, there encouraged to commence career as Swamp Dogg: ahead-of-its-time LP Total Destruction To Your Mind linked funk and nuttiness in manner later perpetrated by George Clinton and Bootsy Collins. Canyon collapsed; moved on to Elektra for Rat On '71, to Cream for Cuffed Collared And Tagged '72 (incl. mini-hit version of John Prine's 'Sam Stone'). Gag A Maggot '73, Swamp Dogg's Greatest Hits '76 on Stone Dogg label; Have You Heard This Story '74 on Island incl. 'Did I Stay Away Too Long', about a man who comes home to find wife in bed with another woman; I'm Not Selling Out I'm Buying In '81 on Tacoma incl. duet with Esther Phillips on 'The Love We Got Ain't Worth Two Dead Flies'. Wrote Gene Pitney '68 hit 'She's A Heartbreaker'; also songs for Freddie North, ZZ Hill, Irma Thomas, Johnny Paycheck, etc. Ever outrageous, says he married very young because 'of the imperfections of the condoms of that period'. CDs incl. The Best 25 Years on Pointblank and Surfin' In Harlem on Volt. |