Shuggie Otis - Inspiration Information

ngs in the "Should Have Been Huge" file. When Inspiration was released in 1974, a small circle of critics and musicians began talking about Otis as a next big thing. Part of their awe can be explained by Otis's production style: He played almost all the instruments, including a primitive drum machine, himself. His primary instrument is the guitar, and many of the great Inspirationtracks depend on a "guitar orchestra" of sorts, with cleanly plucked rhythm sharing the spotlight with tasteful wah-wah pedal work and easygoing, almost languorous leads. The songs range from sunny afternoon daydreams ("Island Letter") to gentle Weather Reportish Latin fusion ("XL-30") to colorful, idealistic funk in the Sly Stone mold ("Aht Uh Mi Hed").
For the next several decades, Inspiration exSophisticated and gently sung, dotted with jazzy interludes and psychedelic detours, Shuggie Otis's fourth albumInspiration Information beloisted mainly in the private stashes of hipsters and DJs. It was finally reissued in 2001, on a package that included Otis's original "Strawberry Letter 23." This time, the album drew fawning coverage in the press and prompted a long-overdue reappraisal of the singer and guitarist, who'd spent decades in a semi-spotlight on the West Coast blues circuit. It's easy to understand why contemporary urban musicians, whose art is built on endless repetition, would revere the loose, resolutely iconoclastic Inspiration: It calls from a time before the loop was king, before everybody followed the same worn-out playbook.


Track Listing:
01.Inspiration Information
02.Island Letter 
03.Sparkle City 
04.Aht Uh Mi Hed 
05.Happy House 
06.Rainy Day 
07.XL-30 
08.Pling 
09.Not Available 
10.Strawberry Letter 23 [*] 
11.Sweet Thang [*] - Shuggie Otis, Otis, Johnny 
12.Ice Cold Daydream [*] 
13.Freedom Flight [*]