Reclusive soul legend Shuggie Otis is 67 today. Beyond his cult-classic album Inspiration Information, he played on Frank Zappa’s “Peaches en Regalia”; wrote “Strawberry Letter 23”; and famously turned down an offer to join the Rolling Stones. A thread of tracks to know. 
1974’s Inspiration Information is a once-in-a-lifetime album. Joyous and funky and sad and just begging to be sampled. Parts almost sound like a Dilla beat tape. Here’s the invigorating title track.
The Inspiration ballad “Aht Uh Mi Hed” is truly unforgettable. The strings and the drum machine and the organ and... you’ll see.
Shuggie’s “XL-30,” also from Inspiration, is a strange, futuristic slice of organ funk. I’ve never heard anything else like it.
The Brothers Johnson had a #5 hit with the immortal “Strawberry Letter 23” in 1977. But Shuggie wrote it!
Shuggie’s version.
Best known as a guitarist, but a true multi-instrumentalist, Shuggie is the bass player on Frank Zappa’s “Peaches en Regalia”!
Another one of my favorite Shuggie tracks is the African-influenced “Special.” I’ve always detected a King Sunny Ade influence on this one.
Is Shuggie influential? Well, David Byrne reissued Inspiration Information in the early 2000s. And here’s SHARON JONES covering the title track.
I never thought I’d get to see Shuggie live, but he played a show in Brooklyn in 2013 and I went! I remember it started kind of tentative, and then something clicked and it was like seeing god. They made a live album from that show! shuggieotis.bandcamp.com/album/live-in-…
Anyway, he’s a genius, and I hope we get to hear more from him. Anyone else want to chime in? @vurnt22?
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