Shuggie--Leave it to Raven to put out such a fine reissue
Thomas B. Mitchell | 02/23/2004
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Thanks to Luaka Bop, Shuggie Otis became sort of a backpackers' household name on the strength of the "Inspiration Information" reissue. The bonus cuts on this CD were a teaser for what remained only on dusty vinyl. Well, thanks to Raven (sort of the Australian equivalent of Rhino), funk/soul fans finally have (most of) the rest of the picture. And you only have to hear Shuggie tear through the opening funk/blues strains of "Oxford Gray" to be converted. "Inspiration" fans will be pleased to hear "Strawberry Letter" and "Freedom Flight" in context (at last).
Genre-bending and genre-blending, Shuggie Otis was a little too baroquely ornate to be called "blues." But he was also much too expressive and emotionally direct to be lumped in with the 70s California folk singer/songwriters. He had a flow all his own: experimental without being opaque, exact without being tiring, and soulful without cliche. Shuggie was definitely a musicians' musician; his multi-instrumentalist skills link him with one-man-band artists like Paul McCartney (1st solo record), Lenny Kravitz (Let Love Rule), Stevie Wonder (Talking Book), and Sly Stone (There's a Riot Goin On). Shuggie's do-everything-yourself tendencies came to fruition on "Inspiration Information," but you get to hear the seeds being planted on this reissue as Otis handles guitars, bass, vocals, organ, harpsichord, and piano. For the classic rock fan whose soul/blues collection only goes as far as Jimi...For the hiphop head who wants to hear the kind of hooks DJ Muggs would sample...For the exacting music fan who wants to add another gem to your collection...Pick up this disc. Now all we need is a decently remastered "Al Kooper Introduces Shuggie Otis"..."
A nice companion to Inspiration Information
T. Snyder | AZ | 01/06/2005
(3 out of 5 stars)
"This is a double shot of Shuggie albums on one cd, so you get almost an entire 80 minutes worth of music. However, this cd costs a small fortune.
It's amazing that both albums were recorded when he was still a teenager. There seems to be a lot of overlap with 'Inspiration Information', most notably 'Strawberry Letter 23'.
The albums feature good blues-guitar playing. The music was very much ahead of its time and very much ahead of his age. Overall, there's lots of good solid blues/R&B here.
As a side note, I swear a lot of the instrumental licks have been sampled by hiphop throughout the years; they're stone-cold grooving at times!
This double of Shuggie is good stuff, especially if you liked Inspiration Information. I'd say it's almost better than that one because this features more vocal tracks. A little pricey though...."
In time you discover new yet old things...
D. Burleigh | Vancouver, BC (Canada) & West Los Angeles, CA. (US | 05/23/2006
(5 out of 5 stars)
""Strawberry Letter 22," as I stand corrected, is the correct title (just listen to the lyrics contain within this track, it's not "Strawberry Letter 23"); I just found out that "Shuggie" is the original author for this song, I guess I missed that one...
His song inspired was covered by The Brothers Johnson's hit makers of (A&M Records Label) da "FUNK" music... Thank god for the evolution of music...
*notably, "Shuggie" played on stage with my Uncle "Pee Wee" Crayton and his dad Johnny Otis Sr.; as well as, a host of legendary blues fellas at the 1970 Monterey Jazz Festival ("Live at Monterey" CD ~ Johnny Otis)... These songs are packed with lots of innovation and freedom of unlimited expression, exhilarating to say the least!
--A. David Burleigh (aka: "Big Dave") an 'AmeriCanadian' Record Producre/ Artist/ Singer-Songwritre."
