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Swamp Dogg – Rat On!
Swamp Dogg
Rat On!
Style: Soul
Label: Elektra
Catalog Number: EKS-74089
Released: 1971
Jerry Williams Jr. aka Swamp Dogg’s most iconic album, Rat On! features the controversial, but timely classic “God Bless America, For What” which effectively ended the Southern Soul maverick’s relationship with Elektra. “They didn’t like it. I remember when we went to play the Washington Monument, we had orders into D.C. for over 100,000 records, and Elektra forgot to ship them. They let the album peter out.” Despite all that, Rat On! would become a cult classic partly due to the album cover, which has been named one of the worst album covers of all time, showing Swamp Dogg riding a white rat with his hands raised in triumph. Musically, Swamp Dogg “sounds like a cross between General Johnson (of Chairmen of the Board) and Van Morrison,” while breaking conventions in commercial soul music with his cutting civil rights anthem and uncommon perspectives. To learn more about Swamp Dogg’s story, we highly recommend checking out the recent documentary Swamp Dogg Gets His Pool Painted, which is available now digitally.
Recommended – Full Listen
Tags: Cult Classic / Political / R&B
Tracklist:
A1 Do You Believe
A2 Predicament #2
A3 Remember I Said Tomorrow
A4 Creeping Away
A5 Got To Get A Message To You
B1 God Bless America
B2 I Kissed Your Face
B3 That Ain’t My Wife
B4 She Even Woke Me Up To Say Goodbye
B5 Do Our Thing Together
Credits:
Baritone Saxophone, Clarinet, Tenor Saxophone – Sonny Royal
Bass, Percussion – Robert Popwell
Coordinator [Album] – Yvonne Williams
Design Concept [Cover] – Swamp Dogg
Drums – Jasper Guarino
Engineer – David Johnson (7)
Flugelhorn, Trumpet – Mike Stough, Stacy Goss
Guitar, Backing Vocals – Jesse Carr
Lacquer Cut By – NKE*
Photography By [Back Cover] – Siegfried Halus
Photography By [Cover] – Willis Hogans, Jr.*
Producer, Arranged By, Piano, Vocals, Performer [Everything Else Of Any Importance] – Jerry Williams, Jr.*
