A wildly entertaining and fittingly unconventional music documentary about convention-defying singer, songwriter and record producer Jerry Williams, AKA Swamp Dogg, will screen February 3 at the Price Center in San Marcos. Considered one of the great cult figures of 20th-Century American music whose singular voice and ideas have shaped the history of soul music, Country, Hip-Hop and other genres, the 2024 documentary was directed by Isaac Gale, Ryan Olson and David McMurry.
According to Wikipedia, after recording as Little Jerry and Little Jerry Williams in the 1950s and 1960s, “Williams reinvented himself as Swamp Dogg, releasing a series of satirical, offbeat, and eccentric recordings, as well as continuing to write and produce for other musicians. He debuted his new sound on the “Total Destruction to Your Mind” album in 1970. In the 1980s, he helped to develop Alonzo Williams’ World Class Wreckin’ Cru, which produced Dr. Dre among others.”
While he never achieved mainstream fame, the film profiles Williams who lives with his friends and colleagues Larry “Moogstar” Clemons and David “Guitar Shorty” Kearney in a modest home in the San Fernando Valley.
The film premiered on March 8, 2024, at the SXSW festival, and was given a theatrical release in the United States on May 2, 2025, by Magnolia Pictures. Unfortunately Guitar Shorty died during the film’s production, with the aftermath of his death forming part of the film’s storyline.
Joe Gross of the “Austin Chronicle” wrote that “Gale and Olson bring a stoner energy to the proceedings, funny and a little hyper, amplifying Swamp’s stories with titles dropped into the footage and animated bits à la Mike Judge’s totally excellent series “Tales From the Tour Bus.” Judge pops in, in fact, as do Johnny Knoxville and voice actor Tom Kenny, mostly just to shoot the breeze with Swamp, poolside.”
For “The Hollywood Reporter,” Daniel Fienberg wrote that the film “isn’t the sort of “important” documentary that generally wins awards, but it’s a fine example of something even rarer: a documentary that draws its voice and aesthetic from the spirit of its subject, resulting in a tight 97 minutes that feel organic and satisfying and, as befits that subject, appealingly odd.” He concluded that “whether or not you know Jerry ‘Swamp Dogg’ Williams when the documentary begins, it’s easy to walk away feeling like this is pretty much exactly the spotlight that Swamp Dogg deserves.”
The documentary is presented in partnership with the Center for African American Studies at Texas State University and Sound Unseen Film and Music Festival, Austin.
Following the film, a question a question and answer session with Editor Paul Lovelace, Producer Ben Wu and Dr. Allex Austin, Center for African American Studies and TxState will take place.
Tickets are $9. Doors open at 6:15 p.m., complementary pizza and drinks will be served from 6:30 p.m., and the film starts at 7. The Price Center is located at 222 W. San Antonio St. in San Marcos. For more information and tickets, visit firsttuesdaysmtx.com.
