Success is a matter of perspective. What some define as success is the equivalent of failure for others. In different hands, a documentary about Jerry "Swamp Dogg" Williams Jr. could have been a treatise on which side of the coin cult R&B musician falls. But directors Isaac Gale and Ryan Olson, along with co-director and cinematographer David McMurry, smartly eschew the "could have been huge" narrative for one that's more nuanced, empathetic and turns traditional notions of showbiz success on its head in Swamp Dogg Gets His Pool Painted.
Rather than relaying Williams's triumphs and tragedies linearly with talking heads, the filmmakers frame his story around its titular act, Swamp Dogg, while he gets his pool repainted. While he watches the action poolside in the suburbs of Los Angeles, he's joined by family, friends and admirers. Their conversations traverse a career spanning the breadth of popular music, from the earliest days of rock 'n' roll to today.
Williams dropped his first single as Lil Jerry Williams in 1954 at just 12 years old. Numerous sides followed, recorded both under his own name and by other artists. Some did well, others not so much.
He adopted the alter ego Swamp Dogg in 1970. He signed with Elektra Records, but was later dropped after the FBI labelled him a "subversive" for his work with Jane Fonda's Free Army Tour, an anti-war show aimed at contrasting Bob Hope's USO tour. Undeterred, he did A&R for Atlantic Records, wrote for country legends, mentored the World Class Wreckin' Cru — the famed LA electro group that spawned Dr. Dre and DJ Yella — and founded his own record label. Among its many releases was Beatles Barkers, a collection of Beatles songs sung by barking dogs, pre-dating Jingle Cats by a decade.
Today, Williams has earned the respect of his peers like John Prine and Jenny Lewis. Meanwhile, his defiantly idiosyncratic records help feed a small but fervent group of fans obsessed with vintage and obscure R&B — and that's just the top-line highlights.
Taken in one light, Williams should have been an industry giant; taken in another, he's already a low-key legend. But Gale, Olson and McMurry aren't interested in either side of that dichotomy.
They have all worked with Williams prior to making Swamp Dogg Gets His Pool Painted: Olson produced some of Williams's recent work, while Gale and McMurry directed and shot, respectively, Swamp Dogg's "I'll Pretend" music video. They know firsthand the community that revolves around Williams: his daughter, friends like Johnny Knoxville, Mike Judge and Alonzo Williams, and his bandmates/roommates Guitar Shorty and Moogstar. Where the fleeting trappings of fame — mansions, cars — left him feeling empty, the collection of iconoclasts and oddballs that revolves around him makes him look like the richest man alive.
"Just be cool," he offers when asked his philosophy on life. It's "fun being yourself. That's fun like a motherfucker. But you gotta find yourself."
That Williams found himself and built his career his way is perhaps the greatest success of all.