In 1975,
disco
was starting to take over the charts, and perhaps in hope that he might just sell a few records for a change,
Jerry Williams
(aka
Swamp Dogg
) kicked off his fifth album,
Have You Heard This Story??
, with a potent and funky dance groove called
"The Mind Does the Dancing While the Body Pulls the Strings"
that would have inspired plenty of booty-shaking if the lyrics hadn't been so weird -- which means we're talking about a fairly typical
album. This time out,
Williams
delivers a super-sized portion of solid
funk
and
soul
with an equal share of eccentric philosophizing on the side as he discusses Jesus before He became a media phenomenon (
"When He Was No One"
), comes home to find his wife cheating on him with another woman (
"Did I Come Back Too Soon [Or Stay Away Too Long]"
), shares his experiences with an incompetent physician (
"Dr. MLG [JA]"
), and laments the sad state of our culture and our nation (
"Chewed Up Grass"
"God Ain't Blessing America"
).
's experience as a studio hand is clearly evident; these songs are rooted in tough, sinewy rhythm beds that keep one foot on the dancefloor even as the lyrics head off into the twilight zone, and
"I Want a Lifetime of Loving You"
"I Wouldn't Leave Here to Go to Heaven"
demonstrate the man could write a straightforward
R&B
tune when he was of a mind. But as great as the music is, it's
' weird but wise broadsides on the world around him that set him apart, and if you've got a taste for his ranting, this will slake your thirst. ~ Mark Deming