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Artist Swamp Dogg
Release Rat On
Year 1971
Label Elektra # EKS 74089
Format LP · Album
Country USA
Language English
Songs here 3 in the archive
Citation: Justin A. Brummer, Vietnam War Song Project (VWSP) — Swamp Dogg, Rat On; cite each song by its SongID

Rat On

1971 · Album · Elektra # EKS 74089 · USA
3 songs from this release are in the archive, listed below in catalogue order. Track positions are not recorded; the release may carry other songs that do not reference the war. Most common themes: Anti-War, Civil Rights.
Annotation
Artist background
Soul singer Swamp Dogg, born Jerry Williams, Jr. in 1942 in Portsmouth, Virginia, across the Elizabeth River from Norfolk - a navy seaside town in which the 'Norfolk Sound' soul music developed in the early 1960s. He also recorded under the name Little Jerry Williams. He adopted the name Swamp Dogg in 1970: "I became Swamp Dogg in 1970 in order to have an alter-ego and someone to occupy the body while the search party was out looking for Jerry Williams, who was mentally missing in action due to certain pressures, mal-treatments and failure to get paid royalties" - from the linear notes of the 2005 compilation The Best of 25 Years of Swamp Dogg. Note that in 1972 he released the single Sam Stone (Cream # 1021), a cover of the John Prine song about the plight of a Vietnam veteran.
The album Rat On! (Elektra Records # EKS 74089) included many references to the social-political issues of the time, such as Civil Rights, war, and religion. The front cover also strangely featured Williams sitting on a rat. He later wrote that: "I turned out to be everything that Elektra didn't want - Anti-War, Pro-Black, Peace movement participant and very candid. As if this was not enough I designed the album cover with me mounted on the back of a smiling white rat, symbolizing the Black Man getting a ride for a change and called it "Rat On"" - from the linear notes of the 2000 compilation The Little Jerry Williams Anthology.

Firstly it included the song "Do You Believe" which questioned the audience on topical issues, including the Uncle Sam war machine: "in integration, and liberation...do you believe in the NAACP, the Ku Klux Klan, Uncle Sam?" - note NAACP stood for The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. The standout track "God Bless America (For What)" questioned the disparity between the treatment of African-American in the US and the significant role they played in the conflict (Civil Rights): "oh what a joke is the statue of liberty...black folks still ain't free...kids growing up just to fight another war". This theme appeared in dozen of African-American Vietnam songs. The track "Remember I said Tomorrow" criticised the broken promises of politicians, such as Richard Nixon, who adopted a policy of bringing US soldiers home from Vietnam ("Vietnamisation" and the "Guam Doctrine") - yet he expanded the war into Cambodia and Laos, and the US continued to fight in Vietnam until 1973.
Annotation by Justin A. Brummer
Collections
Songs from this release appear in these 3 curated collections.
The songs
1.
1971 · Album · Elektra # EKS 74089 · New York City, New York · Rat On

Born 14 July 1942, Portsmouth, Virginia, USA

2.
1971 · Album · Elektra # EKS 74089 · New York City, New York · Rat On

Born 14 July 1942, Portsmouth, Virginia, USA

3.
1971 · Album · Elektra # EKS 74089 · New York City, New York · Rat On

Born 14 July 1942, Portsmouth, Virginia, USA