Swamp Dogg has only just stopped seeing monsters. Since being spiked with LSD back in the 1960s, which also influenced his distinct take on left-field soul music, the 82-year-old says he could still feel the impacts of it up until just a few years ago. “I was paranoid of crowds and paranoid of being alone,” he says. “I had high anxiety and could be sitting in a room with you and if I looked at you long enough, you’d start looking like some kind of monster.”
For a long period of time it was only through the help and support of his late wife that he was able to hold it together. “I didn’t trust but one person in life, and that was Yvonne,” he says. “I wouldn’t do anything without her. She’s why I’m still alive. Yvonne was my god.” There are similarly touching sentiments expressed about her in the offbeat, funny and strangely poignant new documentary about the cult artist and his curious world: Swamp Dogg Gets His Pool Painted.
