Wet Willie are a revelation, and this song is a mood elevator. The hows and whys of how and why I came across “Keep On Smilin’” are lost to posterity, but man I’m glad I did. It was a toss-up between this classic cut of Southern soul-pop, which was a minor hit in 1974, and Wet Willie’s “Baby Fat,” a funkier, slinkier, more electrified number. The gospel-ish anthemic uplift of “Keep On Smilin’” wins out, but if you can dig up “Baby Fat,” that’s a guaranteed winner, too.

Other terrific song titles by Wet Willie include “Macon Hambone Blues,” “Red Hot Chicken,” “Shout Bamalama,” and “Grits Ain’t Groceries.”

Wiki says Wet Willie were from Alabama. It’s actually a clever and accurate entry:

Formed in 1969, Wet Willie was a versatile, high-energy Southern Rock band that, from 1971 until 1978, produced an array of albums awash in good-time music, rollicking high-energy blues-rock, and white Southern soul, but racked up just one Top Ten hit and a lot of admirers. Wet Willie put out several albums on Capricorn Records between 1970 and 1976.

Capricorn Records—now there’s a great slice of Southern-fried culture. Ever hear Johnny Jenkins? Once was Otis Reddings chauffeur, then became a cult star in his own right whose epic cover of Dr. John’s “I Walk on Guilded Splinters” was eventually sampled for Beck’s “Loser.” But that’s a whole nother story…