Shuggie Otis: Inspiration Information
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Rolling Stone â€" Album Review â€" March 15, 2001
Shuggie Otis Inspiration Information 4 Stars Guitar prodigy Shuggie Otis cut his gap teeth in the Sixties, in his legendary dad's R&B-soul revue, the Johnny Otis Show. Recording his first album in his teens, he played with everybody from T-Bone Walker to Frank Zappa to Bob Dylan; in the mid-Seventies, he was even invited to replace Mick Taylor in the Rolling Stones. Otis' smooth, trippy soul-funk opus, Inspiration Information -- first released in 1974, now remastered and reissued by David Byrne's Luaka Bop label with four bonus tracks from 1971's Freedom Flight -- was his third album for Epic records; in the Stevie Wonder soul-auteur vein, he wrote, sang and played almost every instrument on the album. Songs like "Happy House" and "Strawberry Letter 23" (a Number One R&B hit for the Brothers Johnson) embraced the incense-and-peppermint psychedelia of the times without falling out of the pocket. The electronic grooves of "XL-30" and the Isaac Hayes-like power of "Not Available" reveals an expansive creativity that appeared unlimited -- maybe even a Prince-size talent in the making. But in the late Seventies, Otis largely faded from the scene, only to become a favorite of crate-digging DJs. This first-ever CD pressing of Inspiration Information should help change that. (RS 864) ANDY GENSLER |
TRACK LISTING
| Single Disc: | |||
| 1 | Inspiration Information | (4:13) | |
| 2 | Island Letter | (4:41) | |
| 3 | Sparkle City | (5:57) | |
| 4 | Aht Uh Mi Hed | (4:16) | |
| 5 | Happy House | (1:16) | |
| 6 | Rainy Day | (2:42) | |
| 7 | XL-30 | (2:08) | |
| 8 | Pling! | (4:28) | |
| 9 | Not Available | (2:30) | |
| 10 | Strawberry Letter 23 | (3:58) | |
| 11 | Sweet Thang | (4:02) | |
| 12 | Ice Cold Daydream | (2:30) | |
| 13 | Freedom Flight | (12:57) | |



