{"id":684,"date":"2025-05-09T15:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-05-09T15:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/musictechohio.online\/site\/swamp-dogg-we-did-damn-good-success-just-came\/"},"modified":"2025-05-09T15:00:00","modified_gmt":"2025-05-09T15:00:00","slug":"swamp-dogg-we-did-damn-good-success-just-came","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/musictechohio.online\/site\/swamp-dogg-we-did-damn-good-success-just-came\/","title":{"rendered":"Swamp Dogg: \u2018We Did Damn Good. Success Just Came\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<figure><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/static.spin.com\/files\/2025\/05\/1.jpg\" width=\"\" height=\"\" alt=\"Swamp Dogg in the new Magnolia Pictures documentary 'Swamp Dogg Gets His Pool Painted.' (Courtesy of Magnolia Pictures)\"><\/figure>\n<\/p>\n<p><strong>The music career of the man called Swamp Dogg<\/strong> has been like no other, with highs and lows, big hits and weird side trips, sometimes getting himself dropped from one label or another. He always bounced back.<\/p>\n<p>More from Spin:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>\n\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/www.spin.com\/2025\/05\/the-weeknd-tour-kickoff\/\">The Weeknd Resumes \u2018After Hours Til Dawn\u2019 Tour In Phoenix<\/a>\n\t\t<\/li>\n<li>\n\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/www.spin.com\/2025\/05\/5-albums-i-cant-live-without-paul-leary-of-butthole-surfers\/\">5 Albums I Can\u2019t Live Without: Paul\u00a0Leary of Butthole Surfers<\/a>\n\t\t<\/li>\n<li>\n\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/www.spin.com\/2025\/05\/pearl-jam-peter-frampton-nashville\/\">Pearl Jam Welcome Peter Frampton For \u2018Black\u2019 In Nashville<\/a>\n\t\t<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>He\u2019d begun in the 1950s playing traditional R&amp;B, releasing his first record at 12 as Little Jerry Williams from Portsmouth, Virginia. What followed was an unlikely career as producer, songwriter, manager, A&amp;R man, and hit-maker. And in 1970 he had an epiphany and became Swamp Dogg, a name befitting a mysterious musical superhero and chameleon.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image aligncenter size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1200\" height=\"1778\" src=\"https:\/\/static.spin.com\/files\/2025\/05\/7.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-463884\" srcset=\"https:\/\/static.spin.com\/files\/2025\/05\/7.jpg 1200w, https:\/\/static.spin.com\/files\/2025\/05\/7-340x504.jpg 340w, https:\/\/static.spin.com\/files\/2025\/05\/7-768x1138.jpg 768w, https:\/\/static.spin.com\/files\/2025\/05\/7-1037x1536.jpg 1037w, https:\/\/static.spin.com\/files\/2025\/05\/7-498x738.jpg 498w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px\"><\/figure>\n<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe did damn good. Success just came,\u201d says Swamp Dogg, still a dapper dresser at 82, appearing onstage in colorful suits and carrying a cane. \u201cI just kept doing things. If I believe in something, and if I can\u2019t find investors to go with me, I\u2019ll figure out a way to do it my damn self. And that\u2019s what I\u2019ve done off and on all of my musical life.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>His career has had him working with multiple generations and genres, from Gene Pitney, Doris Duke, and Johnny Paycheck to Bon Iver, Jenny Lewis, and John Prine. And his series of solo albums of country soul and eccentric R&amp;B are often presented with startling cover art. His 1971 classic <em>Rat On!<\/em> has him riding a giant rat. Another has him laying happily within a chili dog (his favorite dish, he says).<\/p>\n<p>Now his story is being told in the hilarious and often moving <em>Swamp Dogg Gets His Pool Painted<\/em>, a feature documentary that debuted last year at the South By Southwest Film Festival.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Swamp Dogg was speaking from his Los Angeles home, the night before a trip to New York City, where he would be participating in Q&amp;As at the IFC Center on May 9 and 10. The film is already <a href=\"http:\/\/www.magpictures.com\/swampdogg\/screenings\" target=\"_blank\">playing in L.A.<\/a>, and rolls out to other cities over the next two months.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image aligncenter size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1200\" height=\"1201\" src=\"https:\/\/static.spin.com\/files\/2025\/05\/6.jpg\" alt=\"Isaac Gale, co-director of Swamp Dogg Gets His Pool Painted. (Courtesy of Magnolia Pictures)\" class=\"wp-image-463885\" srcset=\"https:\/\/static.spin.com\/files\/2025\/05\/6.jpg 1200w, https:\/\/static.spin.com\/files\/2025\/05\/6-340x340.jpg 340w, https:\/\/static.spin.com\/files\/2025\/05\/6-768x769.jpg 768w, https:\/\/static.spin.com\/files\/2025\/05\/6-498x498.jpg 498w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px\"><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Isaac Gale, co-director of <em>Swamp Dogg Gets His Pool Painted<\/em>. (Courtesy of Magnolia Pictures)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>\n<p>The film was directed by Isaac Gale and Ryan Olson, a pair of filmmakers based in Minneapolis, Minnesota, who originally landed at Swamp Dogg\u2019s house in L.A.\u2019s suburban San Fernando Valley to shoot a music video. What they found there was a community of players and a secret history waiting to be told.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Inside the house were gold and platinum records lining the entryway, with a grand piano crowded into one bedroom, and a pair of singular musicians in permanent residence at Swamp\u2019s bachelor pad: Guitar Shorty and Larry \u201cMoogStar\u201d Clemons.<\/p>\n<p>Shorty, an accomplished blues-rock player who was a direct influence on Jimi Hendrix, ended up as Swamp\u2019s roommate and sideman when he decided to move to L.A. after his marriage ended.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe called me and he said, \u2018Man, you got a pretty big house. Can I rent a room from you a couple months till I can get on my feet and get everything going?\u2019\u201d recalls Swamp Dogg. \u201cI said, \u2018Yeah, Shorty, why not?\u2019 So he came in and he was here for 18 years. I never charged him no rent, none of that. You know, you already in trouble. So why add to your troubles?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>His other roommate, MoogStar, is a cosmic and joyful multi-instrumentalist who had worked with Too Short and Humpty Hump, among many others. \u201cHe is a talented producer, keyboardist,\u201d says Swamp. \u201cThe man can play at least 15 different instruments. Plus, he helped keep my shit fresh.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Swamp Dogg first came into contact with singer-songwriter John Prine while working A&amp;R for Atlantic Records at the beginning of the \u201970s. Prine\u2019s name was on a list of newer artists the label was ready to drop. But Swamp fell in love with Prine\u2019s song \u201cSam Stone,\u201d which tells the bleak story of a drug-addicted veteran and appears on his 1971 debut album. It\u2019s now considered a country-folk classic, and Swamp recorded a cover the following year.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image aligncenter size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1240\" height=\"698\" src=\"https:\/\/static.spin.com\/files\/2025\/05\/5.jpg\" alt=\"Swamp Dogg in Swamp Dogg Gets His Pool Painted. (Courtesy of Magnolia Pictures)\" class=\"wp-image-463908\" srcset=\"https:\/\/static.spin.com\/files\/2025\/05\/5.jpg 1240w, https:\/\/static.spin.com\/files\/2025\/05\/5-340x191.jpg 340w, https:\/\/static.spin.com\/files\/2025\/05\/5-768x432.jpg 768w, https:\/\/static.spin.com\/files\/2025\/05\/5-498x280.jpg 498w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1240px) 100vw, 1240px\"><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Swamp Dogg in <em>Swamp Dogg Gets His Pool Painted<\/em>. (Courtesy of Magnolia Pictures)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI said, this motherfucker is going places,\u201d recalls Swamp, who remained in touch with the acclaimed singer-songwriter for decades after. Prine appeared on two songs from Swamp Dogg\u2019s 2020 album, <em>Sorry You Couldn\u2019t Make It<\/em>. It was recorded in Nashville and was among Prine\u2019s final recording sessions, captured by the documentary filmmakers.<\/p>\n<p>They were talking about collaborating on more songs, but COVID hit, and Prine didn\u2019t survive the pandemic. At the same time, Swamp has embraced opportunities to work with a younger generation of artists in his home studio and elsewhere, collaborating with Lewis, Bon Iver\u2019s singer-songwriter Justin Vernon and Margot Price.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhen I get with new people, it\u2019s like going to a six-week class\u201d on the newest sounds and ideas, he notes. \u201cThat\u2019s how I kind of stay in touch.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>In the 1980s, Swamp managed the electro\/rap\/R&amp;B group World Class Wreckin\u2019 Cru, which included a young pre-gangsta Dr. Dre, soon to be a member of N.W.A. \u201cHe was very quiet, intelligent, and he was a hard worker and he wanted to come up with new sounds and all that kind of stuff,\u201d says Swamp. \u201cThat shows in the very first album that they put out. I knew he was destined for greatness. He\u2019s the first billionaire rapper and producer.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image aligncenter size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1200\" height=\"675\" src=\"https:\/\/static.spin.com\/files\/2025\/05\/Swamp_Dogg_2.jpg\" alt=\"Moogstar in a scene from Swamp Dogg Gets His Pool Painted. (Courtesy of Magnolia Pictures)\" class=\"wp-image-463882\" srcset=\"https:\/\/static.spin.com\/files\/2025\/05\/Swamp_Dogg_2.jpg 1200w, https:\/\/static.spin.com\/files\/2025\/05\/Swamp_Dogg_2-340x191.jpg 340w, https:\/\/static.spin.com\/files\/2025\/05\/Swamp_Dogg_2-768x432.jpg 768w, https:\/\/static.spin.com\/files\/2025\/05\/Swamp_Dogg_2-498x280.jpg 498w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px\"><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Moogstar in a scene from <em>Swamp Dogg Gets His Pool Painted<\/em>. (Courtesy of Magnolia Pictures)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>\n<p>In the documentary, viewers get a glimpse of Swamp\u2019s late wife and career confidante, Yvonne, in vintage footage, and her presence is still strongly felt in the house. With shooting starting in 2018, the film also captures some visitors to the Swamp Dogg home\u2014Johnny Knoxville, Mike Judge, and Tom Kenny (<em>SpongeBob<\/em>)\u2014sitting poolside with the veteran music maker.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe\u2019s got an infinite amount of stories of really cool people, and I think he\u2019s pretty proud of that,\u201d says Gale. \u201cOne of the pleasures is to just sit there with him and hear more crazy bonkers tales of everyone he\u2019s met.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>One of those stories was Swamp Dogg\u2019s appearance on the Jane Fonda-led Free the Army Tour, an act of protest against the Vietnam War in 1970. It was a radical move for any pop musician, and it cost him his deal with Elektra Records, but he has few regrets.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo, I thought I was right,\u201d Swamp says now. \u201cIt was fun. We got a lot of criticism, because Jane was heading it up and we called the thing FTA, which was Free the Army\u2014which was really \u2018Fuck the Army.\u2019 And I was saying things about the president. I talked about him like a dog.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Swamp Dogg carried on. And decades later, he saw his influence in action when Snoop Dogg emerged as a new hip-hop sensation. The older player couldn\u2019t help but see the similarity in their chosen names.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI didn\u2019t like the idea of it at first, but then my wife had a good talk to me,\u201d says Swamp. \u201cI hadn\u2019t patented the name Swamp Dogg. A lot of \u2018doggs\u2019 came out, [including] Nate Dogg. Oh man, they got a baseball team down in North Carolina calling themselves the Swamp Doggs. Yeah, that \u2018Dogg\u2019 thing came from me. I was the first \u2018Dogg.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The film offers some meaningful recognition for a career that has spanned decades and multiple genres and time zones. At screenings attended by Swamp Dogg and his inner circle, they\u2019re soaking it up.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHim and MoogStar, they\u2019re cracking up with their own jokes,\u201d says Gale. \u201cThey\u2019re loving it. Hopefully it leads to some people buying some Swamp Dogg records, because everyone should have them in their collection.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Swamp Dogg has never stopped working, and isn\u2019t about to now in his 80s, especially with a new documentary introducing him to a new wave of listeners.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI don\u2019t feel like an 82-year-old guy when I\u2019m on stage,\u201d he insists.\u201d I start doing things and I say to myself, \u2018Motherfucker, what are you doing?\u2019\u2014because I\u2019ll be dancing and shit. I walk onstage with a cane and when I finish my set, I can\u2019t even find the cane. There\u2019s something that music does for me the way I guess cocaine does for other people. I never had any cocaine, so I can\u2019t compare it, don\u2019t want to compare. But music just gets all into me.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>To see our running list of the top 100 greatest rock stars of all time, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.spin.com\/2021\/07\/the-greatest-rock-stars-of-all-time\/?utm_source=yahoo&amp;utm_medium=bottomlink&amp;utm_campaign=yahoolink\">click here<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div style=\"margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;\" class=\"sharethis-inline-share-buttons\" ><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The music career of the man called Swamp Dogg has been like no other, with highs and lows, big hits and weird side trips, sometimes getting himself dropped from one&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31,24,269],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-684","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-features","category-pushly","category-swamp-dogg"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/musictechohio.online\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/684","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/musictechohio.online\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/musictechohio.online\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/musictechohio.online\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/musictechohio.online\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=684"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/musictechohio.online\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/684\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/musictechohio.online\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=684"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/musictechohio.online\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=684"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/musictechohio.online\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=684"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}