The Excellent Sides of Swamp Dogg, Vol. 4

Unfailingly eccentric and unrepentantly opinionated, the Virginia-based singer, songwriter, and producer Jerry Williams has forged one of the most distinctive discographies in Soul music with little help from the music industry. Williams has always been first and foremost an independent artist whose work bears the stamp of his unique vision whether it is released by a major record label or by a home grown imprint like Williams’ own Stone Dogg. It should come as no surprise that the Excellent Sides of Swamp Dogg, a long overdue and impressively comprehensive series of retrospective compilations, is released by Swamp Dogg’s own S.D.E.G. imprint. The fourth volume in the series collects two mid ‘70s releases, the scrappy, misleadingly titled Swamp Dogg’s Greatest Hits? and the relatively polished Finally Caught Up With Myself. Both of these releases feature Williams’ trademark deep soul arrangements and his typically caustic views on problems of racial identity and social injustice. Though many of Swamp Dogg’s peers found themselves struggling to adapt to emerging trends in R&B, Swamp Dogg, like fellow visionary Curtis Mayfield, simply continued to do what he did best.