''Sorry You Couldn't Make It'' is a studio album by American musician and producer

Swamp Dogg Jerry Williams Jr. (born July 12, 1942), generally credited under the pseudonym Swamp Dogg after 1970, is an American Southern soul, country soul and R&B singer, musician, songwriter and record producer. Williams has been described as "one of the ...

. It was released on March 6, 2020 via

Joyful Noise Recordings Joyful Noise Recordings is an independent record label with headquarters in Indianapolis, Indiana. The label was founded in 2003 in Bloomington, Indiana by Karl Hofstetter, who also played drums on several of the label's first releases. Joyful N ...

in partnership with Pioneer Works Press. Recording sessions took place at Sound Emporium in

Nashville Nashville, often known as Music City, is the capital and List of municipalities in Tennessee, most populous city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County in Middle Tennessee, locat ...

. It features contributions from

John Prine John Edward Prine (; October 10, 1946 – April 7, 2020) was an American singer-songwriter of country-folk music. Widely cited as one of the most influential songwriters of his generation, Prine was known for his signature blend of humoro ...

Justin Vernon Justin DeYarmond Edison Vernon (born April 30, 1981) is an American singer, songwriter, producer and multi-instrumentalist. He is best-known as the primary songwriter and Lead vocalist, frontman of indie folk band Bon Iver. He is also a member o ...

Jenny Lewis Jennifer Diane Lewis (born January 8, 1976) is an American singer-songwriter, musician, and actress. She is the lead singer, rhythm guitarist, and keyboardist for the indie rock band Rilo Kiley. Lewis gained prominence in the 1980s as a child ...

, and Ryan Olson among others. The duet sung between Swamp Dogg and John Prine appearing at the end of the album ("Please Let Me Go Round Again") is one of John Prine's final in-studio recording sessions. Swamp Dogg had known Prine since 1972, when he covered the country singer's ballad " Sam Stone" on his album third LP ''Cuffed, Collared & Tagged''.

Critical reception

''Sorry You Couldn't Make It'' was met with generally favorable reviews from critics. At

Metacritic Metacritic is an American website that aggregates reviews of films, television shows, music albums, video games, and formerly books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created ...

, which assigns a weighted average rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream publications, this release received an average score of 79, based on eight reviews. The aggregator Album of the Year has the critical consensus of the album at a 77 out of 100, based on eleven reviews. Steven Edelstone of ''

Paste Paste is a term for any very thick viscous fluid. It may refer to: Science and technology * Adhesive or paste ** Wallpaper paste ** Wheatpaste, a liquid adhesive made from vegetable starch and water * Paste (rheology), a substance that behaves as ...

'' praised the album saying "''Sorry You Couldn't Make It'' represents yet another late-career experiment in a lengthy one filled with them, a back-to-basics approach by an artist who's seen it all. There’s no telling where

goes from here, but if his most recent handful of releases are anything to go off of, it'll likely sound nothing like ''Sorry You Couldn't Make It''. But it also means that no matter what genre he tries on next, the results will be astounding". Scott Zuppardo of ''

PopMatters ''PopMatters'' is an international online magazine of cultural criticism that covers aspects of popular culture. ''PopMatters'' publishes reviews, interviews, and essays on cultural products and expressions in areas such as music, television, ...

'' stated "Sure, he loves his horns, we all do, but his country roots are showing on this record, and it's glorious". John Lewis of '' Uncut'' said "The lyrics are presented with such conviction that it becomes quietly devastating. Rather like Swamp Dogg himself". Allison Hussey of ''

Pitchfork A pitchfork or hay fork is an agricultural tool used to pitch loose material, such as hay, straw, manure, or leaves. It has a long handle and usually two to five thin tines designed to efficiently move such materials. The term is also applie ...

'' said "His new album ''Sorry You Couldn't Make It'' restores him to a more even keel, examining grief from greater distance while savoring life's little sweetnesses. Billed as Williams'

country A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. When referring to a specific polity, the term "country" may refer to a sovereign state, state with limited recognition, constituent country, ...

album, ''Sorry You Couldn't Make It'' hits its thematic marks within funkified arrangements".

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

's Mark Deming said "''Sorry You Couldn't Make It'' declares there should be a place for Swamp Dogg in the country pantheon alongside

Charley Pride Charley Frank Pride (March 18, 1934 – December 12, 2020) was an American Country music, country singer. Beginning his career as a Negro league baseball player in the early-1950s, he later pursued a career in country music, becoming the gen ...

, Stoney Edwards,

Darius Rucker Darius Carlos Rucker (born May 13, 1966) is an American singer, musician, and songwriter. He first gained fame as the lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist of rock band Hootie & the Blowfish, which he founded in 1986 at the University of South Carol ...

, and the other brave artists who've confronted the color line in

". Kaelen Bell of ''

Exclaim! ''Exclaim!'' is a Canadian music and entertainment publisher based in Toronto, which features coverage of new music across all genres with a special focus on Canadian and emerging artists. The monthly ''Exclaim!'' print magazine publishes seven ...

'' said "Though it still flirts with the

blues Blues is a music genre and musical form that originated among African Americans in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues has incorporated spiritual (music), spirituals, work songs, field hollers, Ring shout, shouts, cha ...

soul The soul is the purported Mind–body dualism, immaterial aspect or essence of a Outline of life forms, living being. It is typically believed to be Immortality, immortal and to exist apart from the material world. The three main theories that ...

and R&B that he's built his name on, the record has a country-fried warmth, coloured by slide guitar and Southern rhythms. That those Southern rhythms are played mostly by chintzy drum machine, that they're undermined by hip-hop-biting guitar samples or artificial horns, is the record's vaguely outlandish appeal". Music critic Tom Hull said "Jerry Williams, started out as an Atlantic r&b producer, released a brilliant debut as Swamp Dogg in 1970, and has been fading in and out ever since, his best moments the ones farthest out. Plays it safe here with a round of soulful blues, but lured

in to cameo on two nostalgic ones, which are daring enough".

Track listing

Personnel

*Jerry "

" Williams Jr. – vocals Vocalists * Channy Leaneagh – vocals (tracks: 1, 7) *

– vocals (tracks: 1, 7) *Mina Moore – vocals (tracks: 1, 7) *

– vocals (tracks: 2, 4),

piano A piano is a keyboard instrument that produces sound when its keys are depressed, activating an Action (music), action mechanism where hammers strike String (music), strings. Modern pianos have a row of 88 black and white keys, tuned to a c ...

(track 1),

guitar The guitar is a stringed musical instrument that is usually fretted (with Fretless guitar, some exceptions) and typically has six or Twelve-string guitar, twelve strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming ...

(tracks: 2-10) *Carmen Marks – vocals (track 3) *Courtland Williams – vocals (track 3) *Harry Watkins – vocals (track 3) *Leona Leshon – vocals (track 3) *Sherron Crenshaw – vocals (track 3) *Taj' London – vocals (track 3) *

– vocals (tracks: 6, 10) Instrumentalists *Jim Oblon – guitar (tracks: 1, 4) *Chris Bierden –

bass Bass or Basses may refer to: Fish * Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species Wood * Bass or basswood, the wood of the tilia americana tree Music * Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in th ...

(tracks: 1–7, 9, 10) *Larry "MoogStar" Clemon – synth (tracks: 1–3, 5–9),

conga The conga, also known as tumbadora, is a tall, narrow, single-headed drum from Cuba. Congas are staved like barrels and classified into three types: quinto (lead drum, highest), tres dos or tres golpes (middle), and tumba or salidor (lowest ...

s (track 6) * Carmen J. Camerieri –

horns Horns or The Horns may refer to: * Plural of Horn (anatomy) * Plural of Horn (instrument), a group of musical instruments all with a horn-shaped bells * The Horns (Colorado), a summit on Cheyenne Mountain * Horns (novel), ''Horns'' (novel), a dar ...

(tracks: 2, 3, 9) *Derrick Lee –

Hammond B-3 The Hammond organ is an electric organ invented by Laurens Hammond and John M. Hanert, first manufactured in 1935. Multiple models have been produced, most of which use sliding #Drawbars, drawbars to vary sounds. Until 1975, sound was created ...

(tracks: 1, 3, 10),

Rhodes piano The Rhodes piano (also known as the Fender Rhodes piano) is an electric piano invented by Harold Rhodes, which became popular in the 1970s. Like a conventional piano, the Rhodes generates sound with keys and hammers, but instead of strings, th ...

(tracks: 1, 2, 4, 5, 7, 10), piano (tracks: 3, 5–9), chorus arrangement (track 3) *Jacob Hanson – guitar (track 3) *Alistair Sung –

cello The violoncello ( , ), commonly abbreviated as cello ( ), is a middle pitched bowed (sometimes pizzicato, plucked and occasionally col legno, hit) string instrument of the violin family. Its four strings are usually intonation (music), tuned i ...

(tracks: 3–5, 7) *

Sam Amidon Samuel Tear Amidon (born June 3, 1981) is an American singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist. Early life Amidon's parents are folk artists Peter Amidon and Mary Alice Amidon. They were members of Bread and Puppet Theater in the 1970s ...

–

fiddle A fiddle is a Bow (music), bowed String instrument, string musical instrument, most often a violin or a bass. It is a colloquial term for the violin, used by players in all genres, including European classical music, classical music. Althou ...

(track 4) Technicals * Ryan Olson – producer *Mark Nevers – engineering, mixing *Zack Pancoast – assistant engineering *

Robert Weston Robert Weston ( – 20 May 1573) of Lichfield, Staffordshire, was an English civil lawyer, who was Dean of the Arches and Lord Chancellor of Ireland in the time of Queen Elizabeth. Life Robert Weston was the 3rd son of John Weston ...

– mastering *David McMurry – photography *Daniel Kent – design, layout *Ryan Hover – design, layout

References

External links

''Sorry You Couldn't Make It''
at

Bandcamp Bandcamp is an American online music distribution platform founded in 2008 by Oddpost co-founder Ethan Diamond and programmers Shawn Grunberger, Joe Holt and Neal Tucker, with an office and record store in Oakland, California. Acquired by Epic ...

* {{Authority control 2020 albums Swamp Dogg albums Joyful Noise Recordings albums