Sweathog was an American

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...

band. Group members Lenny Goldsmith and David Leonard Johnson first met in 1967 while Johnson was playing in a group called The Persuaders at the

Wayne Manor Wayne Manor Estate (or simply Wayne Manor) is a fictional mansion appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. It is the personal residence of Bruce Wayne, who is also the superhero Batman. The residence is depicted as a large mansi ...

nightclub in

Sunnyvale, California Sunnyvale () is a city located in the Santa Clara Valley in northwest Santa Clara County in the U.S. state of California. Sunnyvale lies along the historic El Camino Real and Highway 101 and is bordered by portions of San Jose to the no ...

. After Johnson did a stint with

the Beach Boys The Beach Boys are an American Rock music, rock band that formed in Hawthorne, California, in 1961. The group's original lineup consisted of brothers Brian Wilson, Brian, Dennis Wilson, Dennis, and Carl Wilson, their cousin Mike Love, and frie ...

and

Dr. John Malcolm John Rebennack Jr. (November 20, 1941 – June 6, 2019), better known by his stage name Dr. John, was an American singer and songwriter. His music encompassed New Orleans blues, jazz, funk, and R&B. Active as a session musician from ...

, he reconvened with Lenny and formed Sweathog along with Barry "Frosty" Smith, also known as Bartholomew Eugene Smith-Frost, who at that time was playing with

Lee Michaels Lee Eugene Michaels (born Michael Olsen, November 24, 1945) is an American rock musician who sings and accompanies himself on organ, piano, or guitar. He is best known for his powerful soulful voice and his energetic virtuosity on the Hammond ...

and had been in Lenny's band in San Jose. Robert Morris "B.J." Jones (November 9, 1942 – June 15, 2013) played with Johnson in Blue Mountain Eagle and was invited to join Sweathog. In October 1970, Sweathog became the house band at The Chronicle, a night club in the San Fernando Valley managed by Ed Jordan. Soon after they released two

album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...

s on CBS Records in the early 1970s, and are best known for their 1971

hit single A hit song, also known as a hit record, hit single or simply a hit, is a recorded song or instrumental that becomes broadly popular or well-known. Although ''hit song'' means any widely played or big-selling song, the specific term ''hit record' ...

"Hallelujah", which hit #15 in Canada, #33 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart, and peaked at number 93 in Australia in 1972. Hallelujah was written by Mitch Bottler, Roberta Twain and

Gary Zekley Alan Gary Zekley (also known as Brandon Chase; January 4, 1943 – June 19, 1996) was an American West Coast record producer and songwriter associated with 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s bands and songs in the bubblegum, rock and roll, sunshine pop, and ...

Frank Barsalona Frank Barsalona (March 31, 1938 – November 22, 2012) was an American talent agent and founder of the first major rock and roll booking agency in the United States. Career Barsalona started out in the mail room at GAC, a New York-based talen ...

signed Sweathog to the Premier Talent Agency and became a top opening act for

Black Sabbath Black Sabbath were an English rock band formed in Birmingham in 1968 by guitarist Tony Iommi, drummer Bill Ward, bassist Geezer Butler and vocalist Ozzy Osbourne. They are often cited as pioneers of heavy metal music. The band helped de ...

Emerson, Lake & Palmer Emerson, Lake & Palmer (informally known as ELP) were an English progressive rock supergroup formed in London in 1970. The band consisted of Keith Emerson (keyboards), Greg Lake (vocals, bass, guitar, producer) and Carl Palmer (drums, percu ...

The J. Geils Band The J. Geils Band was an American rock band formed in 1967, in Worcester, Massachusetts, under the leadership of guitarist John "J." Geils. The original band members included vocalist Peter Wolf, harmonica and saxophone player Richard "Magic ...

Edgar Winter's White Trash Edgar Holland Winter (born December 28, 1946) is an American musician. He is a multi-instrumentalist, playing keyboards, guitar, saxophone, and percussion, as well as singing. His success peaked in the 1970s with his band the Edgar Winter Group ...

Grand Funk Railroad Grand Funk Railroad (often shortened to Grand Funk) is an American rock band formed in 1968 in Flint, Michigan, by Mark Farner (vocals, guitar), Don Brewer (drums, vocals), and Mel Schacher (bass). The band achieved peak popularity and succ ...

and more. In 1973, Johnson and Jones reformed Sweathog with Warren Rex Ludwick and Bobby Burns. Johnson met Burns during the 1965

Shindig! ''Shindig!'' is an American musical variety series which aired on ABC from September 16, 1964 to January 8, 1966. The show was hosted by Jimmy O'Neill, a disc jockey in Los Angeles,Willie Nelson Willie Hugh Nelson (born April 29, 1933) is an American country musician. The critical success of the album ''Shotgun Willie'' (1973), combined with the critical and commercial success of '' Red Headed Stranger'' (1975) and ''Stardust'' (1978 ...

. Of the four original members, Frosty relocated to

Austin, Texas Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of Texas, as well as the county seat, seat and largest city of Travis County, Texas, Travis County, with portions extending into Hays County, Texas, Hays and Williamson County, Texas, Williamson co ...

(where he died in 2017), Goldsmith is in the

real estate Real estate is property consisting of land and the buildings on it, along with its natural resources such as crops, minerals or water; immovable property of this nature; an interest vested in this (also) an item of real property, (more genera ...

business in

Malibu, California Malibu ( ; es, Malibú; Chumash: ) is a beach city in the Santa Monica Mountains region of Los Angeles County, California, situated about west of Downtown Los Angeles. It is known for its Mediterranean climate and its strip of the Mali ...

and his sons Taylor and Griffin are in the band

Dawes Dawes may refer to: Places *Dawes (Parish), New South Wales, Australia *Dawes Point, New South Wales, Australia *Dawes Arboretum, in Newark, Ohio, U.S. *Dawes County, Nebraska, U.S. *Dawes Township, Thurston County, Nebraska, U.S. Other uses *Dawe ...

, Jones died June 15, 2013 in

South Dakota South Dakota (; Sioux language, Sioux: , ) is a U.S. state in the West North Central states, North Central region of the United States. It is also part of the Great Plains. South Dakota is named after the Lakota people, Lakota and Dakota peo ...

at age 70, and Johnson owns an

advertising agency An advertising agency, often referred to as a creative agency or an ad agency, is a business dedicated to creating, planning, and handling advertising and sometimes other forms of promotion and marketing for its clients. An ad agency is generall ...

, ReMIX Media Group, in

Aspen, Colorado Aspen is a home rule municipality that is the county seat and the most populous municipality of Pitkin County, Colorado, United States. The city population was 7,004 at the 2020 United States Census. Aspen is in a remote area of the Rocky Mo ...

. Barry "Frosty" Smith (born Barry Eugene Smith on March 20, 1946 in

Bellingham, Washington Bellingham ( ) is the most populous city in, and county seat of Whatcom County in the U.S. state of Washington. It lies south of the U.S.–Canada border in between two major cities of the Pacific Northwest: Vancouver, British Columbia (lo ...

) died after a long illness on April 12, 2017, at the age of 71.Barry Eugene Smith of Austin, Texas , 1946 - 2017 , Obituary
accessdate December 4, 2017

Band members

*Lenny Lee Goldsmith (

vocals Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or witho ...

, keyboards) *Robert Morris "B.J." Jones (

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected string ...

; died 2013) *David L. Johnson (

bass guitar The bass guitar, electric bass or simply bass (), is the lowest-pitched member of the string family. It is a plucked string instrument similar in appearance and construction to an electric or an acoustic guitar, but with a longer neck and s ...

) *Barry "Frosty" Smith ( drums; died 2017) *Rex W. Ludwick ( drums) *Bobby Burns (

, keyboards) *

Leonard Stogel Leonard Stogel (September 23, 1934 – May 25, 1979) was an American music business manager, promoter, record producer and executive for the music festivals California Jam, California Jam II, and Canada Jam. He also managed Sweathog, The Cowsi ...

(

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business. Management includes the activities ...

)

Discography

*''Sweathog'' (CBS Records, 1971) *''Hallelujah'' (CBS, 1972)

References

External Links

* ;Further reading *

Joel Whitburn Joel Carver Whitburn (November 29, 1939 – June 14, 2022) was an American author and music historian, responsible for setting up the Record Research, Inc. series of books on record chart placings. Early life Joel Carver Whitburn was born in Wa ...

, ''The Billboard Book of Top 40 Hits''. 7th edn, 2000, *

Sweathog Sweathog was an American rock band. Group members Lenny Goldsmith and David Leonard Johnson first met in 1967 while Johnson was playing in a group called The Persuaders at the Wayne Manor nightclub in Sunnyvale, California. After Johnson did a st ...

at Allmusic.com {{Authority control Rock music groups from California