Raw Spitt

Raw Spitt was the pseudonym used by singer Charlie Whitehead on the Swamp Dogg-produced 1970 album Raw Spitt, as well as on the 1971 non-LP single "Songs to Sing"/"That Ain't My Wife." As Swamp Dogg also co-wrote or wholly wrote most of the songs released under the Raw Spitt name, while Whitehead only contributed to the composition of one of those songs, Raw Spitt sometimes seemed at least as much of a Swamp Dogg project as a Whitehead one. The Raw Spitt LP, like much of Swamp Dogg's material from the period, is likeable gritty early-'70s soul with dashes of funk and rock, as well as some reflective and humorous lyrics about African-American identity, racial/social injustice, and sex. It's not as eccentric as Swamp Dogg's own output, however, and Whitehead's voice is both less colorful and distinctive than that of his producer. Whitehead also recorded under his own name in the late '60s and 1970s, collaborating with Swamp Dogg on those as well. The entire Raw Spitt album, as well as the "Songs to Sing"/"That Ain't My Wife" single, was issued as part of the 2006 CD compilation Songs to Sing: The Charlie Whitehead Anthology 1970-76.