Shuggie Otis
Shuggie Otis (born November 30, 1953 in Los Angeles , actually Johnny Alexander Veliotes ) is an American rhythm and blues , rock , blues and funk singer or musician, songwriter and music producer . The son of the Greek-born musician and producer Johnny Otis plays guitar, piano, organ and electric bass.
Live and act
Shuggie Otis was heavily influenced by the guitarists of his father's Johnny Otis Show , Jimmy Nolen and Johnny Guitar Watson , from an early age . A guitar teacher refused to teach him because he was too advanced. When he was twelve, his father took him to the recording of Lily of the Valleys "I Had a Sweet Dream". The album Cold Shot! (1969) his father introduced him at the age of 15 on guitar with accompanists such as Don Sugarcane Harris and Delmar Evans; the album was commercially successful and also led to a recording deal for Shuggie Otis. He also played bass on Frank Zappa's song Peaches en Regalia from his album Hot Rats from the same year.
In the next few years numerous studio and live albums followed under his own name. In the 1970s, Otis also produced albums by T-Bone Walker , Louis Jordan and Joe Liggins .
His best-known titles include Sweet Thang and Strawberry Letter 23 from the 1971 album Freedom Flight , which was an international single hit in 1977 in the version of the Brothers Johnson , and Aht Uh Mi Hed from the LP Inspiration Information (1974). The German rap group Absolute Beginner sampled this song in 1998 in their Liebes Lied . The song Aht Uh Mi Hed inspired the Icelandic electronic band Gus Gus to write their piece Hateful .
Otis lives in Sebastopol, California . He was initially with Miss Mercy from the GTO’s and is married to Lilian Wilson, the daughter of Gerald Wilson .
Discography (selection)
- Al Kooper Introduces Shuggie Otis (1969, CBS )
- Here Comes Shuggie Otis (1970, CBS)
- Freedom Flight (1971, Epic )
- Inspiration Information (1974, Epic)
- In Session (2009, Goldenlane Records)
- Live in Williamsburg (2014, Cleopatra)
Web links
- Shuggie Otis at Discogs (English)
- Shuggie Otis at Allmusic (English)
- 'I could have been a millionaire, but that wasn't on my mind' , The Guardian, March 31, 2016
Individual evidence
- ↑ George Lipsitz : Midnight at the Barrelhouse: The Johnny Otis Story. University of Minnesota Press 2010, p. 122
- ^ A b Johnny Otis Upside Your Head !: Rhythm and Blues on Central Avenue Wesleyan 1993, p. Xxix
- ^ Johnny Otis Upside Your Head !: Rhythm and Blues on Central Avenue Wesleyan 1993, p. 11
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Otis, Shuggie |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Veliotes, Johnny Alexander (real name) |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | American musician and record producer |
| DATE OF BIRTH | November 30, 1953 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | los Angeles |