Alpha Dogg.(Swamp Dogg )(Sound recording review)

In 1970, after more than a decade in the record business as a producer for Atlantic Records and then, briefly, as a recording artist, Jerry Williams took the stage name Swamp Dogg and released "Total Destruction to Your Mind," a crazed, brilliant blast of protest soul that compared favorably with the best work of Sly Stone, Curtis Mayfield, and Funkadelic. Over the next few years, Williams proved himself to be a superb singer, a talented arranger, a gonzo songwriter, and a genuine eccentric--the cover art of the second Swamp Dogg album showed him riding a giant white rat--but sales were poor, and his recorded output tapered off. And then, this spring, with no fanfare--how could there be?--came "Resurrection" (Swamp Dogg), which is exactly what the title says, a rousing return to form by one of soul music's greatest cult artists.

The album opens with swirling percussion, stabbing horns, and a passionate series of questions: "In time of war, who wins? / When you choose sides, how do you distinguish your friends?" The song goes on to mention blood, burials, and body bags before chucking the whole nasty ...