Shuggie Otis – Things We Like To Do
As you should all be aware of by now (especially after our interview last week!) Shuggie Otis’ legendary 1974 album Inspiration Information has been re-reissued by Legacy. In contrast to the Luaka Bop issue from the early part of this century, this version includes a wealth of things we’ve never heard before. All told there are a full 17 tracks that have been previously unreleased until this release. As Shuggie mentioned in the interview, a lot of the post-Inspiration music was recorded at his home studio over the years (roughly 1975-2000) in the hopes of having enough material to release another album. It took a long time coming, but I think we’re all thankful it’s finally come out. The most fascinating aspect of this release for me is the unreleased music that was recorded in between Freedom Flight and Inspiration Information. 4 tracks are included here (“Things We Like To Do” above) that were originally recorded to be a part of his next record, but for whatever reason Shuggie decided to go a different way and the rest is history as they say…however thanks to this release we’re now able to hear these tracks and marvel at even more music from early 1970s Shuggie Otis, and what might have been and what still may be.