Interview:
Isaac Gale,
co-director,
Ben Wu,
producer,
"Swamp Dogg Gets His Pool Painted"
Singer, songwriter, musician, producer, arranger, record label owner, entrepreneur—R&B and Southern soul legend Swamp Dogg has been all these and more during his long and eventful music career. Except a household name. But the documentary Swamp Dogg Gets His Pool Painted—directed by Isaac Gale and Ryan Olson and produced by, among others, Austin’s Ben Wu—may change this for the musician born Jerry Williams Jr. in Portsmouth, Va., in 1942. He began recording in 1954 at the tender age of 12, first billed as Little Jerry and then as Little Jerry Williams, before adopting the persona of Swamp Dogg in 1970 as a response to an identity crisis. He quickly developed a cult following with such albums as 1970’s “Total Destruction to Your Mind” and 1971’s “Rat On!,” and he continues to record to this day, most recently releasing the 2020 country-themed “Sorry You Couldn't Make It,” featuring John Prine and Jenny Lewis, and last year’s “Blackgrass: From West Virginia to 125th St.” He also wrote or co-wrote many hits recorded by other artists, including “She's a Heartbreaker” by Gene Pitney and “She's All I Got” by Johnny Paycheck. Swamp Dogg Gets His Pool Painted not just chronicles the musician’s life and career but pays tribute to his late wife and business manager Yvonne; explores his relationship with close collaborators and housemates Guitar Shorty and Moogstar; and takes viewers inside the modest San Fernando Valley house he has transformed into a creative hub and draws such admirers as Johnny Knoxville and Mike Judge. And, yes, the documentary is framed around Swamp Dogg getting his pool painted by artist Jesse Willenbring in celebration of his 80th birthday. Swamp Dogg Gets His Pool Painted, which premiered locally during last year’s SXSW Film & TV Festival, opens May 30 at the AFS Cinema. The Minneapolis-based music video director Isaac Gale makes his feature-length documentary directorial debut with Swamp Dogg Gets His Pool Painted. He also directed the music video for Swamp Dogg's "I'll Pretend" from the Ryan Olson-produced 2018 album "Love, Loss & Autotune." Austin-based documentary filmmaker Ben Wu previously directed 2015’s In Transit with Albert Maysles, Lynn True, and David Usui and directed the 2020 short American Nomads with David Usui.
Note: Ben Wu is a volunteer with KOOP Radio. Aired: April 30, 2025. Web sites: https://www.magpictures.com/swampdogg/ https://www.austinfilm.org/ |
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