Charlie Whitehead
and
Swamp Dogg
had collaborated on several releases before this 1973 album, most prominently on the 1970 LP
Raw Spitt
(which, though it featured
Whitehead
on vocals, was billed as a
record).
Charlie Whitehead and the Swamp Dogg Band
has the some of the odd juxtapositions of friendly
soul
-
funk
and quirky lyrics so characteristic of
compositions, but it's far more stretched-out than
, with four of its six songs lasting between five and ten minutes. It's competent but somewhat unstructured, occasionally listless period
. Some of the songs go on too long, for one thing, but also the material often isn't anything special, though
"Shaft's Mama"
has some of
's strange humor in its goofy drama.
"Help (God Help America)"
is certainly the standout, with
's characteristic dignified critique of the waste that was the Vietnam War (and various other American social ills). Elsewhere, however, there's a dull
blues
takeoff (
"The B.B. King"
), generic proto-
disco
(
"Gazelle"
"She's All I Got"
), and the suggestive nine-minute grinder
"Let's Do It Again, Pts. 3 & 4."
The entire album's been reissued as part of the
compilation CD
Songs to Sing: The Charlie Whitehead Anthology 1969-1973
. ~ Richie Unterberger