Shuggie Otis is the son of rhythm and blues musician and bandleader Johnny Otis. Somewhat of a guitar prodigy, his professional career began at the age of 12. He performed on various artists albums before releasing his solo efforts, which there are sadly not as many as there should be. Between 1969 and 1974 he produced four solo albums, the masterpiece of which was the classic Inspiration Information, one of my favourites. As I mentioned in an earlier post. Even if you aren't familiar with Shuggie, you may well be familiar with Strawberry Letter 23 originally released on Freedom Flight from 1971, which was covered by the Brothers Johnson and included in the Jackie Brown soundtrack. Inspiration Information was re-released on David Byrne's Luaka Bop label in 2001 with some bonus tracks. Since releasing these albums in the early 70s he has pretty much withdrawn from the music scene, although records bits and bobs now and then.
Anyway, here is Shuggie's Bootie Cooler from the album Here Comes Shuggie Otis, released in 1970. Bit of a blurry video, but well worth it for the dancing. Those of you who have mastered James Brown's Robot from last week can now try these moves. Happy days.
