A few words about the man of whom we could write so extensively. Jerry Williams began his career in R&B in 1954 at the age of 12, and for a long time clashed with the music business, to the point of choosing an alter ego in 1970, Swamp Dogg, who was inspired by LSD, Zappa satires and revolutionary movements. “Total Destruction to Your Mind”, recorded at Muscle Shoals, kicked off a catalogue of eccentric Southern soul. It blended sex with politics and the album covers would show him posing in underwear or riding a rat. This was arguably what kept him from succeeding. About twenty albums later, we find him today, at age 76, in a bathrobe beside an empty pool. The title Love, Loss and Auto-Tune is self-explanatory; . He sings about romantic setbacks with a voice systematically passed through a digital filter. Produced by Ryan Olson (Gayngs) and Justin Vernon (Bon Iver), the production is reminiscent of Richard Russell and Damon Albarn’s work on Bobby Womack’s The Bravest Man in the Universe (2012). It’s brilliant synthetic soul, to which Swamp Dogg adds his devastating second degree.
Swamp Dogg, Love, Loss and Auto-Tune (Joyful Noise / Differ-Ant)
