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Inspiration Information | 
 enlarge | Artist: Shuggie Otis
Label: Luaka Bop
Category: Music
List Price: $14.98
Buy New: $8.49
You Save: $6.49 (43%)
New (33) Used (15) from $4.71
Rating:  85 reviews
Sales Rank: 9417
Format: Original Recording Reissued
Media: Audio CD
Discs: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2
Dimensions (in): 5.6 x 5 x 0.5
MPN: 90045
UPC: 680899004527
EAN: 0680899004527
ASIN: B0000CC833
Release Date: February 8, 2005
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Tracks:
| • | Inspiration Information | | • | Island Letter | | • | Sparkle City | | • | Aht Uh Mi Hed | | • | Happy House | | • | Rainy Day | | • | XL-30 | | • | Pling! | | • | Not Available | | • | Strawberry Letters 23 | | • | Sweet Thang | | • | Ice Cold Daydream | | • | Freedom Flight |
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| Editorial Reviews:
Amazon.com
Like Stevie Wonder and Allen Toussaint before him--and Prince and D'Angelo afterward--Shuggie Otis was a musical visionary whose early 1970s recordings showed he could do it all, writing, arranging, performing, and producing some of the decade's most satisfying, innovative, and, unfortunately, overlooked music. This reissue of his 1974 Inspiration Information album--a soulful song cycle that took three years to create and was worth every minute--ranges from early drum machine-driven experiments like "Xl-30" and "Aht Uh Mi Hed" (note the Sly Stone spelling influence) to Otis's most stunning pop confection ever, "Strawberry Letter 23." (The latter song, which ended up being a big hit for the Brothers Johnson, is one of four bonus tracks taken from Otis's 1971 Freedom Flight album). Otis, who once turned down an offer to replace Mick Taylor in the Rolling Stones, continues to perform around the Bay Area on his own and with his father, bandleader Johnny Otis. Hopefully, the long-awaited resurrection of this material will help bring him the attention he deserves. --Bill Forman
Album Description
Inspiration Information, the brainchild of guitar prodigy Shuggie Otis, more than justifies the cult following garnered in the years since its (largely ignored) 1974 release. Son of R&B legend Johnny Otis, Shuggie was a late-'60s celebrity due to his Super Session duets with Al Kooper. Opting out of arena rock -- he reputedly refused an offer to join the Rolling Stones -- the 19-year-old Otis spent three years in the studio generating this one-man opus. His multitracked rhythms recall the laid-back funk of the Meters embroidered with psychedelic filigree, and his voice resembles Allan Toussaint's. But in every other regard, this is singular, sexy music, dislocated in time. Drum machines propel "Island Letter" and the beat-box-plus-organ stabs of "XL-30" predate England's Young Marble Giants by several years. Also featured are four bonus cuts from the artist's 1971 set Freedom Flight, including "Strawberry Letter 23," which was later a hit for the Brothers Johnson. Heard here in its original form (with a surprise prog-guitar coda), the song conveys the impression of "Good Vibrations" being played by a lone musician. Unbelievably wonderful. - Billboard
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| Customer Reviews:
 Great soul December 1, 2008
Josh Austin
Sounds to me like a cross between Jimi Hendrix and early Sly & The Family Stone. Very cool stuff.
Lost gem alert! October 14, 2007
S. Perry (MA)
I love it when I stumble across albums like this on Amazon. Shuggie Otis is one of the few out there that can really pull off the one-man-band concept. The end product is 70'sish, soulful, laid-back, and upbeat. There's generous use of early drum machine tech, but unlike many people who have experimented with such devices he figured out how to incorporate it properly into his overall sound. I think where most people fail is they try to use it like a real drummer instead of treating it according to its own sonic characteristics. His guitar playing is just tasty and never too brash or overblown. In many ways this album is a masterpiece of understatement. Most musicians seem to try and kick your doors down to get their point across. Shuggie just lays it down and lets it soak in.
An overlooked masterpiece May 26, 2007
H Shariff (London, UK)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
This album is a work of subtlety, nuance and is best summed up by the word 'sublime'. From the soaring riffs and joyful intensity of 'inspiration information' to the introverted yet ex-corporeal spaciness of 'freedom flight', this is a thing of pure genius--not a single note is misplaced.
Let's take it back... February 22, 2007
E. Wilson (Los Angeles, CA USA)
...to real music like this here. I loved this Shuggie Otis album and I'll be buying more of his stuff. Why in the world don't you hear about people like Shuggie, a very young [at the time] musical protege who played all of his own instruments, mixed himself and sounded like El Debarge. I'm sure had he conformed to a more commercial sound he would've been world famous. Instead he chose to march to the beat of his own drum and the benefit is the listener's. Shuggie most recently, that I know of, played guitar on Mos Def's "The New Danger" album--another one I must get ASAP! BUY THIS ALBUM!!!
Inspiration Information April 10, 2006
Geminigirl (Philadelphia, PA United States)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
WOW! BRILLIANT! GENIUS!
Those are the few words I could utter as I listened to this disc. I decided to buy this disc after a few contemporary artists that I enjoy mentioned Shuggie Otis as an inspiration to them. I had never heard of him so when I talked to a few people about whether to get this disc or his previous release - those who HAD heard of Shuggie told me to definitely get this one first. I was assured that I'd fall head over heels in love with his music and that has turned out to be true!
I was mezmerized by this entire disc - Shuggie mixes funk, pop & r&b so successfully that it was almost impossible to pick out just one or two tracks as standing out above others - THEY'RE ALL MAGNIFICENT. The info contained in the liner notes made me sad to think that the public didn't "get" this music when it was originally released but maybe a new generation of fans can help get this genius the musical recognition he deserves.
To the undecided - in agreement with the reviewer's notes, if you love Prince, Maxwell & D'Angelo, you will ADORE this disc if you give it a chance - it is MAGNIFICENT!!
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