If you put Jimi Hendrix and Stevie Wonder in a blender, the result would be Shuggie Otis. Shuggie Otis, a session musician mostly, produced a few albums that were quickly forgotten. I would argue those albums were way ahead of their time. Partly R&B, partly dance music, partly pop Shuggie Otis’s music defied categorization. Otis played with Al Kooper on one of the Super Session albums. When you listen to these remastered tracks from the 1970s, you can hear the terrific musicianship and the unique talent Otis projects. Inspiration Information presents the best songs Shuggie Otis wrote and performed for Epic Records while he was under contract for them for years. Wings of Love is a new collection of unreleased work available for the first time. If you’re in the mood for something different, Shuggie Otis will take you there. Check out the sample below.
TRACK LIST:Disc 1
1 Inspiration Information (4:15)
2 Island Letter (4:44)
3 Sparkle City (6:02)
4 Aht Uh Mi Hed (4:18)
5 Happy House (1:21)
6 Rainy Day (2:48)
7 XL-30 (2:12)
8 Pling! (4:32)
9 Not Available (2:37)
10 Miss Pretty (2:15)
11 Magic (4:28)
12 Things We Like To Do (3:10)
13 Castle Top Jam (3:37)
Disc 2
1 Intro (0:04)
2 Special (4:35)
3 Give Me Something Good (3:47)
4 Tryin’ To Get Close To You (3:18)
5 Walkin’ Down The Country (4:24)
6 Doin’ What’s Right (2:46)
7 Wings Of Love (11:36)
8 Give Me A Chance (5:20)
9 Don’t You Run Away (5:13)
10 Fireball of Love (5:25)
11 Fawn (6:04)
12 If You’d Be Mine (5:41)
13 Black Belt Sheriff (6:35)
14 Destination You! (4:39)
I am intrigued.
I believe he wrote “Strawberry Letter 22,” which was a minor hit for the Brothers Johnson in the 1970s and was more recently sampled on a rap/hip-hop song (don’t ask me which one, I heard it on one of my kid’s iPods).
Sorry–it’s “Strawberry Letter 23” and this internets thingy informs me that the song has been sampled multiple times by everyone from OutKast to Beyonce. Hope Shuggie made a little cash from that!
Patti, INSPIRATION INFORMATION/WINGS OF LOVE is well worth a listen.
Deb, you’re right about Shuggie writing STRAWBERRY LETTER 23. He also played as a session musician on a bunch of hits. Very talented!
Have you listened to any of the Johnny Otis Show recordings with young Shuggie (JO being his father)? Solid stuff.
Yes, Todd, I have listened to Johnny Otis recordings. Solid stuff, indeed! Shuggie got some great genes from his dad.
I was going to mention that, Todd. When Johnny Otis died last year (at 90) it was the first time I realized he was the son of Greek immigrants.
Hmm. I expected something on Jack Vance here today.
Rick, it’s Forgotten Music Thursday. I’ll have a tribute to Jack Vance next week. He was 96 so his death is not a surprise. But he was a giant.
This is a great blog. Yes Shuggie learned from his wonderful father, Johnny also. Tu. So many things can be said about Johnny, his contributions to the music world is incredible If you love the music of Etta James, you can thank Johnny.! There are others. Thursday Aug 13, is the 68th anniversary of the great song, “Hound Dog”. Again, you can thank Johnny. I will keep this short. It was Johnny Otis who in the morning of Aug 12th, 1952 called Mike Stoller [one of the writers to Hound Dog] and asked if he was familiar with Willie “Mae” [big mama] Thornton. He and Jerry leiber [the other writer], were not familiar with her. Big Mama was a singer in Johnny’s band. Long story short, [It’s a great story], Hound Dog was written in about twelve minutes, and after two rehearsals, Johnny said, OK, “We’re recording it tomorrow”, so on August 13, 1952, Big Mama Willie “Mae” Thornton, Jerry Leiber, Mike Stoller, Johnny Otis and his band, “Hound Dog” was born. Johnny played the drums, which Jerry Leiber in one of is many interviews stated concerning Otis, “Johnny Otis sat in on drums, and created the beat that was to become the beat of the hit record” I have linked to the original song below. Turn up the volume, and enjoy!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OB0ZM_oXc4E
Jim, thanks for the link!