I truely 4got how fresh and ahead of its time this album was,,,and for a 32 years old one @ that.



I'm not gonna analyze this album(I already how hipped most of ya'll to this shit) but I'll say this, its a doggone shame that Otis stopped what could've been a landmark empire, considering that it was his last released album.

I'm glad it got reissued and is easy to find.

..I bought this back in 2001..still gets heavy play on my discplayer. This LP is so tight that even Sly was blown away by it. You can definetly hear the influence he had on P, D'Angelo and Lewis Taylor.

SPYZFAN1 said:

It's that good?

6sixx6 said:

HELL YES it's that good. I've been championing Shuggie ever since I've been on this site. This album is a stone classic and like my boy Spyz stated, Shuggie was a MAJOR influence on P and perhaps even more so, on Lewis Taylor.

I had this on vinyl since like 1989..GET IT !!!!!

prettymansson said:

i've been trying to get Shuggie's music for quite some time.. somebody help me!!!

Pr3ttyM3ss said:

http://www.amazon.com/Ins...F8&s=music

prettymansson said:

thank you, thank you... i actually hit the 'smart' button after my post and found him on itunes and rhapsody (sp?)... thanks again... ...

If I'm not mistaken, he was one of the 1st who were bold enough to use a drum machine

Big deal, all he did was rip off the feel of "There's A Riot Goin' On". There are no hooks in his material either - he's extremely over-rated.

Explain to me how Shuggie's a huge influence on Prince - he's just a Sly Stone clone.

Mong said:

He's basicaly a bluse-orineted musician. Way out of Sly's alley.

But Sly did influence him,,,,though you gotta give Shuggie his credit.

Mong said:

He's a sly clone that was young enough to justify borrowing "elements" of someone else' style..he was a better guitarist than both sly and prince (on his first few albums..For you . Prince,Dirtry mind & Controversy..) also ..he had amazing arrangements on that album..and who said it was a commercial album ?? and does "hooks" equal quality to you ????? I guess miles davis is a free form loser then ?? Right
[Edited 9/26/06 7:11am]

prettymansson said:

...

Yup, I think People forget how much Shuggie accomplished as a teenager...

remember he started hittin the professional circuit at age 13, playing with his father Blues R&B bandleader Johnny Otis (they had to paint a fake moustache on him so that he'd look older), and by age 14, he had recorded with Frank Zappa on the Hot Rats album (on the tune, "Peaches en Regalia")

In 1969, at age 14, Shuggie began recording his first record with CBS, "Al Kooper Introduces Shuggie Otis". It was followed the next year with "Here Comes Shuggie Otis!" (Epic-BN 26511)... later that year, he was onstage backing such blues and r&b legends as Joe Turner, Roy Brown, Ivory Joe Hunter, Pee Wee Crayton, and Margie Evans. His third album, 1971's "Freedom Flight" contained the now-classic tune "Strawberry Letter 23"...

around this time, the legendary keyboardist Billy Preston phoned Shuggie to say that the Rolling Stones wanted to ask him to join the band to fill the lead guitar spot vacated by the departing Mick Taylor. Shuggie declined.

"I had my own group. my own label deal," he says. "I just wanted to do what I want to do. I had my own identity."

Shuggie his fourth solo album, 1974's "Inspiration Information"(at age 19) was definitely the high water mark. A DIY project, with Shuggie having played every instrument except for the strings and horns. And he wrote all the arrangements for those. His father Johnny Otis , says, "I was listed on the album as executive producer, but I really didn't have anything to do. I remember at one point calling for strings and horns at Shuggie's request, but that was about it. He already had the arrangements down."
Unfortunately, Otis spent a great deal of time recording the album which Epic was unhappy about, and when it failed to become a hit, the record label dropped his contract.

At the time, he says he assumed that it wouldn't be hard to sign with another label. But No one picked him up. Plagued by lingering health problems, Shuggie faded from the spotlight, emerging only for the occasional session gigs and live date's with his father's band.




...
[Edited 9/26/06 18:11pm]

prettymansson said:

Definitely not a better guitarist than Prince. Maybe I should explain the term "hooks" to you - it refers to something that holds your attention. Nothing on his albums do that for me.

You must be Shuggie's mum or something to take my opinion so personally. Get a life.

Woah, sound fantastic!



There's just too much music, too much!

Mong said:

Thing is, Mong is not alone. It ain't the 1st time I heard people say that I.I. is overrated and so unrevolutionary(Check allmusic.com review of the album). A local music(friend of mine) said the album was a helluva groove, it ain't a Shuggie Otis bag(so to speak). Said that ALL of Shuggie's guitar licks and tricks are very fimiliar long b4 the album was made

Didn't get it then, and I sure as hell don't get it now

While I don't agree with their lack of enthusiasm, I am fimiliar with it and tend to except it.

Harlepolis said:

I don't know how in the hell my post got jammed up with them other mutha's, posts, but whatever. My point basically is that it's all subjective. U either "get it" or u don't. If folks think Shuggie is overhyped, so what. Believe it or not, but there are many folks who think P's little ass is overhyped. Whatever. To each's own. Me, ...Shuggie was a bad motherfucker who deserves his props.

blackguitaristz said:

Yeah, I'm all for subjectiveness,,,but goddamn, make me understand why you think this shit is overhyped? I always ask 'em this ?uestion.

And they all give me the same unsatisfying answers

I guess I was right when I said that Shuggie ain't exactly accessible.

..everything Paligap said was dead on it. Shuggie admitted to being influenced by Sly when he did "Inspiration" (production, sounds, instrumentation) but he took Sly's influence and created a whole different, soulful and melodic vibe.

Like my Brutha B said, you either get Shuggie or you don't.

Harlepolis said:

Damn, you're sexy. U do know that, right?

SPYZFAN1 said:

Tell it, SPYZ.

Mong said:

I am not shuggie's mom and i have a life that im very happy with thank you.. and by the way Shuggie at 19 had better blues and jazz chops than peince does to this day..maybe some people should back up off P's nuts long enough to respect other talents and other org members...
[Edited 9/26/06 15:57pm]

shit.