Newly Born

All dig one of the - admittedly very few - highlights on Beck's Song Reader collection. Yup, that's Jerry Williams Junior, better known as the Dogg, bringing total destruction to your mind yet once again.

Swamp Dogg - America, Here's My Boy

Wild Weekend Vol. 61

It's the day of the Champions League final, so it sure is gonna be a mad Wild Weekend. While waiting for the kick-off in nervous anticipation, let's get down with edition #61. Spotlight on the soul of Raw Spitt and the swamp rock of the Scientists, while we've got the Blind Owl blues and listen to a reggae psalm. Make it a wild one, y'all, and don't forget: ¡Visca el Barça y visca Catalunya!

Let's get into the groove with a guy who called himself Raw Spitt. Can't go wrong with a moniker like that, right? Try his very soulful anti-Vietnam scorcher Songs To Sing from '71, and join me in wondering why this protégé of the mighty Swamp Dogg never hit the big time. Time for some bible studies now, with the one and only Prince Far I. Nearly everything the Jamaican voice of thunder put out in his long career gets me in an irie spirit, but his '76 debut Psalms For I, lyrically based on the old testament psalms and the Lord's prayer, is probably most precious of all. "Wake out of your slumber and answer your call..." Pray on.

Raw Spitt - Songs To Sing MP3

Prince Far I - Psalm 1 MP3

John Fahey's the man alright, so when one Sean Siegfried sent me a link to his Bandcamp page telling me he was heavily inspired by the steel string acoustic guitar pioneer from DC I was all ears. As you should be, too, because the guitar instrumentals on Siegfried's debut album Backwoods are - to say the least - very promising indeed. Pick it. The North Mississippi Allstars are the sons of legendary Memphis producer and session player James Luther Dickinson, and for that reason alone they can do no wrong in my book. Here they are now, serenading last week's birthday boy from Duluth. The understated arrangement was suggested to Luther and Cody Dickinson by their dad from his hospital bed, only shortly before he died. Postscript: for a labour of love containing seventy (!) more fab Dylan covers, go visit the Boogie Woogie Flu.

Sean Siegfried - Sam's Brewery MP3

North Mississippi Allstars - Stuck Inside Of Mobile With The Memphis Blues Again MP3

Antipodean rockers the Scientists were grunge precursors both in sound and looks. They recorded many a great song in their early eighties heydays, but Swampland just has to be the best of them all. "In my heart there's a place called swampland... nine parts water, one part sand." No worries, mateys. And we call it a day paying tribute to Alan 'Blind Owl' Wilson (1943-1970). Never mind Bob 'The Bear' Hite, Wilson always was my fave vocalist in Canned Heat. Check out the groovin' Change My Ways, in which he sounds a likely successor to the throne of Skip James, to see what I mean. "I've been alone so long, got to change my ways..."

The Scientists - Swampland MP3

Canned Heat - Change My Ways MP3

And as a stop press bonus track, here's the wonderful Gil Scott-Heron. Just received the sad news that he died yesterday. Miss him.

Gil Scott-Heron - Lady Day And John Coltrane MP3

Wild Weekend Vol. 43

It´s cold cold cold all of a sudden, with snow and ice and windchill factors all in the mix, so we´ll try make this 43rd edition of Wild Weekend as heartwarming as we possibly can. So put another log on the fire, pour a stiff drink and enjoy this six pack of fine fine tunes, while virtually travelling from Japan to Jamaica, from the deep south to the far north, and back again. Have a hot one.

We´ll start off in the land of the rising sun with a hot psych track from Love Live Life +1, a shortlived soulful super session group based around organist Hiro Yanagida and guitar wizard Kimio Mizutani. Did these guys listen to Sly´s Family Stone a lot? You bet. From Love Will Make A Better You (´71), one of the best trips in the Japrock canon. Next we take a plane to Jamaica, where Freddie McKay meets us at Kingston airport. He recorded this beauty for Leonard Chin´s mighty Santic label in the early seventies. And is that Augustus Pablo perhaps, leading it all in on melodica? Sure is.

Love Live Life +1 - Facts About It All MP3

Freddie McKay - I´m A Free Man MP3

Two weeks ago we featured a Swamp Dogg produced soul scorcher by ZZ Hill here, and now it´s Doris Duke´s turn. I just can´t get enough of I´m A Loser, an exemplary collection of her recording sessions with Jerry Williams Jr, better known as the Dogg. Take an earful of If She´s Your Wife (Who Am I) and you´ll definitely understand why. Onward to the freaky part of Montreal now, where we encounter Poney P, Mingo L´Indien and Bobo Boutin, better known as Les Georges Leningrad. Their Track Georges Five is, to say the least, quite a confrontational piece of dissonant post postpunk. Love it or hate it, but do try it out I beg you. You´ve probably never heard anything like it.

Doris Duke - If She´s Your Wife (Who Am I) MP3

Les Georges Leningrad - Track Georges Five MP3

"Arithmetic arithmetock, turn the hands back on the clock..." That can only be Tom Waits of course, with the jazzy title track from Alice (´02). Hot news: early next year will see the release of a book called Hard Ground, documenting the plight of the homeless in poems by Waits and photo´s by Michael O´Brien. Better start saving up. And we´ll call it a day with an intense piece of blues recorded back in ´59 in Angola State Prison, Louisiana. Robert ´Guitar´ Welch, who was behind bars there together with legendary bluesman Robert Pete Williams, fears they´ll send him straight to the hot seat. "Wonder why they´ll execute a man at the one o´clock hour at night? The current is much stronger, people turn off all the lights..."

Tom Waits - Alice MP3

Guitar Welch - Electric Chair Blues MP3

Wild Weekend Vol. 41

It´s Wild Weekend number 41, filled to the brim with wild gospel, heavy roots reggae, hot soul, pre-postrock, psychedelic pop, and one of them perfect rock songs to drive your car to. Beep beep. Yeah.

We´ll get going with the rootsy reggae sounds of the unjustly obscure Sylford Walker and his signature tune Jah Golden Pen. "Just got to touch ya finger on Jah golden pen, to write ya name up there..." Heavy heavy bass in a fine Mighty Two production, which means Joe Gibbs and his trusted sidekick Errol Thompson are in total control as usual. The original vinyl single is one of the holy grails for reggae collectors btw. Meanwhile back in the States, my estimated blogging colleague Scott from Pretty Goes With Pretty has just published a book in the 33 1/3 series on Slint´s influential masterpiece Spiderland. I´ll buy me a copy for sure. You can read an interesting interview with the author here, while listening to a cool post-Spiderland instrumental from the Louisville legends below.

Sylford Walker - Jah Golden Pen MP3

Slint - Glenn MP3

A stark cover version of Ain´t No Grave was apparently the last song ever recorded in this life by Johnny Cash, but ´gospel ranger´ Brother Claude Ely´s 1953 manic gospelbilly original remains the real deal alright. "Meet me Jesus, meet me, well meet me in the middle of the air, if these wings should fail me, meet me with another pair..." Now that´s the spirit, bro. More hot stuff to follow thanks to John Fogerty and the lads. Tombstone Shadow comes to you from The Concert, recorded live in Oakland 1970. My fave music for highway driving will always be Creedence, dunno why. It just is. Earned me some speeding tickets, too. Not nearly as many as the missus though.

Brother Claude Ely - There Ain´t No Grave Gonna Hold My Body Down MP3

Creedence Clearwater Revival - Tombstone Shadow (live ´70) MP3

Moving into more tranquil waters now with the Electric Prunes, whose claim to fame will always be their legendary garage smash I Had Too Much To Dream (Last Night). Don´t underestimate their second outing Underground (´67) though, a warm batch of psychedelic pop songs in its own right. Just check out the Goffin & King penned I Happen To Love You for proof. And we´ll finish this week´s edition of Wild Weekend with a hot soul scorcher by ZZ Hill that you can blame on the Dogg. Because that´s the eccentric Jerry Williams Jr., better known as Swamp Dogg, in the producer´s chair. Which of course means satisfaction´s guaranteed. See ya next weekend, just might be another wild one.

Electric Prunes - I Happen To Love You MP3

ZZ Hill - Touch ´Em With Love MP3

Total destruction to your mind

Swamp Dogg... I think the man should be famous, but as it stands he´s just one of many obscure southern soul singers. He´s got a great voice, he writes great songs, but hardly anyone knows about it. Is it because Jerry Williams (his real name) was never your average soul man, with his leftist views and often absurd sense of humor? Because he changed record labels so often? Or is it because he´s not what you´d call a modest guy maybe? In his own words: "I was born in Portsmouth, Virginia, July 12, 1942 and was fortunate enough to move away as soon as I became of age. Without any formal training I awakened one morning only to find that I was a genius and could master a number of musical instruments..." 

His choice of cover shots probably didn´t help his career either. The sleeve of his sizzling debut album Total Destruction To Your Mind features a slightly overweight Swamp in his underwear, while follow-up Rat On finds him with his hands triumphantly in the air on top of a big white rat. Anyway, whatever the reason for his obscurity, it can´t have been the music. Swamp Dogg made some fine albums over the years - and he´s still at it - but Total Destruction To Your Mind (´71) really stands out. 

An album that was always near impossible to find, until he finally re-released it himself a few years back as The Excellent Sides Of Swamp Dogg Vol. 1, with Rat On (´72) added on. The title track is an uptempo joyous blast of soul I always hoped one of the second generation garage bands (the Monomen or New Bomb Turks maybe?) would cover, but that never happened as far as I know. Maybe something for the White Stripes? Dust Your Head Color Red is a wonderful psychedelic soul ballad. "Spirit dust your head color red, sparkle your insides pink with pleasure."  What´s he on about? Or better maybe, what´s he on? Album closer Mama´s Baby, Daddy´s Maybe not only has a brilliant title, it´s got a fine blues guitar by one Jesse ´Beaver´ Carr as well. And it´s another song about - possible - adultery (see my earlier post on Don Covay). We find Swamp seriously in doubt if the kid is really his. "Maybe the doctor made a mistake and gave the wrong child away," he ask himself hopefully, but probably against better judgement. "I guess I don´t really wanna know..."

Stop press: I just remembered Eric Ambel (formerly of the Del-Lords, and currently playing guitar in Steve Earle´s band) did a fine rockin´ cover of Total Destruction To Your Mind on his Roscoe´s Gang album (´88). So here you go.

Swamp Dogg - Total Destruction To Your Mind MP3

Swamp Dogg - Dust Your Head Color Red MP3

Swamp Dogg - Mama´s Baby, Daddy´s Maybe MP3

Eric Ambel - Total Destruction To Your Mind MP3