Shuggie Where You Been?

The first time I heard Shuggie Otis was on a Frank Zappa album called Hot Rats. I did not get it at first, but then I realized that his bass playing was a bit complex, but he was a child prodigy and you could tell he was wise beyond his years. The fact that he was he was only sixteen years old when he was on that album was amazing. It made me think of Tony Williams and his drumming at about the same age. Shuggie was famous already because his father. His father Johnny Otis was a legend in the R&B world as a bandleader and musician. His eagerness to learn and play was great. Shuggie was so good that he turned down the offer to replace Mick Taylor in the Rolling Stones.

I was told by a friend that Shuggie recorded albums, but none of them were in print. So I was on the hunt for his work. I just wanted anything that had his stamp on it. I was told I would enjoy the fuzzy guitar and the funky grooves that came with his music. For a while I had problems finding his music. I went to my usual haunts and could find very little. I even went to the record stores in the city. I found them, but they were pretty expensive. I just wondered how was going to find this guys stuff.



I did not do much downloading when I went back to school in 2000 so looking for his stuff was put on the back burner. Then one day at the radio station I worked at the station and one of the music directors came up to me and asked if I knew anything about him. I was shocked to see that there was a CD. I read the press release that came with the CD and it told me that this was a re-issue of one of his classic albums. It came with some extra bonus material and some great liner notes. When I went into the studio to play it, I finally understood why this man was so good. Each song had a wonderful groove and hook to it. The music was alive with organ, fuzzy guitar, bass and wonderful drumming.

The notes in the CD spoke of this wonderful praise. In the notes it talks of his father telling us the readers that he was born to play guitar and how he really could no wrong. People who saw him play called him the musician, musician. Shuggie was once as one of the best west coast musicians and would have been a huge star. His unique sound was not of this earth I read and I am glad I found him.



His unique sound spilled over to his songs on Here Come Shuggie Otis. When you listen to this album you can hear that he loved the blues and playing with his father in the clubs. His imitations of fellow blues musicians on" Shuggie's Boogie" are spot on. Even the song "Hurricane" has a wonderful groove to it. All his albums have a wonderful feel that was not really around at that time. Classic Rock took a front seat and most of this wonderful lost Soul and R&B took a while to catch up. Shuggie put all on the line. His short career in the 70's proved you could do something yourself. That was pretty rare those days.

If you want to add some Funk, Soul, R&B to your collection you might want to pick this up. Shuggie and his genius put out some well crafted music out. He made people think that you can do it and have fun. What I like is the fact the music is fresh and wonderful to listen to. I put his music on the other day and it sounded so great that I wish I was back in the early 70's just listening to this stuff with headphones on. He could rock like no other and I promise you that it will be a treat to the ears. Enjoy!