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 mansio ...

nightclub in Sunnyvale, California. After Johnson did a stint with

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

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 Hammo ...

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), vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early 20th century as individual 78 rpm records co ...

s on

CBS Records CBS Records may refer to: * CBS Records or CBS/Sony, former name of Sony Music, a global record company * CBS Records International, label for Columbia Records recordings released outside North America from 1962 to 1990 * CBS Records (2006), founde ...

in the early 1970s, and are best known for their 1971 hit single "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 music, rock band formed in Birmingham in 1968 by guitarist Tony Iommi, drummer Bill Ward (musician), Bill Ward, bassist Geezer Butler and vocalist Ozzy Osbourne. They are often cited as pioneers of heavy met ...

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, percus ...

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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 ...

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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'' (1 ...

. 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 seat and largest city of Travis County, with portions extending into Hays and Williamson counties. Incorporated on December 27, 1839, it is the 11th-most-populous city ...

(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 general ...

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 Malib ...

and his sons Taylor and Griffin are in the band

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, Jones died June 15, 2013 in

South Dakota South Dakota (; Sioux: , ) is a U.S. state in the North Central region of the United States. It is also part of the Great Plains. South Dakota is named after the Lakota and Dakota Sioux Native American tribes, who comprise a large porti ...

at age 70, and Johnson owns an

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, 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 Moun ...

. 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 (loc ...

) 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 withou ...

keyboards Keyboard may refer to: Text input * Keyboard, part of a typewriter * Computer keyboard ** Keyboard layout, the software control of computer keyboards and their mapping ** Keyboard technology, computer keyboard hardware and firmware Music * Musi ...

) *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 strin ...

; 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 ...

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

) * Leonard Stogel (

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, ''The Billboard Book of Top 40 Hits''. 7th edn, 2000, * Sweathogat Allmusic.com {{Authority control Rock music groups from California