Your Complete Guide to the Chicago Blues Scene
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Your Complete Guide to the Chicago Blues Scene |
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By James Porter
Long before teenaged blues artists became a "thing," Shuggie Otis was a
precocious phenomenon whose talent demanded to be taken seriously. Born
on November 30, 1953, Shuggie was all of fifteen years old when the
world first heard him with his father, Johnny Otis, as part of the
Johnny Otis Show in early 1969, on the album
Cold Shot! At a time when the
blues revival was in full swing, with plenty of originators and
pretenders in equal measure, there was no doubt that this album was the
genuine article.
Starting with Johnny, Sr. -- born Ioannis Alexandres Veliotes, he
rechristened himself "Johnny Otis"— he was the son of Greek immigrants
who became entranced with black culture. Proficient on drums, vibraphone
and piano, Otis gained fame as a bandleader in L.A., scoring a grip of
hits under the name of the Johnny Otis Show in the 1940s and ‘50s,
including “Harlem Nocturne,” “Willie and the Hand Jive,” and “Mambo
Boogie.” A singer, musician, composer, arranger, bandleader, talent
scout, DJ, record producer, TV show host, artist, author, journalist,
preacher and impresario, Otis was known as the “Godfather of Rhythm and
Blues” and was a major influence on the history of American music. He
discovered artists like Etta James, Big Mama Thornton, Big Jay McNeely,
Esther Phillips and others.
Cold Shot! was his comeback album in 1969, after being out of music for some years. Delmar "Mighty Mouth" Evans was the leather-lunged vocalist who took the mic when it wasn't being used by Johnny and Don "Sugarcane" Harris, formerly half of the rock & roll duo Don & Dewey, who also sang a number or two on the LP.
And then there was Shuggie, the guitar wizard pictured on the front cover wearing a Nehru jacket and flashing the peace sign. (Mighty Mouth was the one in the Afro wig throwing the power sign with his fist; Papa Johnny was in the center, extending his middle finger.) Born John Alexander Veliotes, Jr., Shuggie started with the drums at a young age before getting his first guitar at ten. By his teenage years, he had progressed to playing in the elder Otis' band. After the fabled Cold Shot! album was released, he was sought out by the rock stars of the day, including Al Kooper (who generously gave him co-billing on the Kooper Session LP) and Frank Zappa (you can hear Shuggie's licks on Frank's Hot Rats album).
Soon it was time for young Shuggie to step out on his own, with three albums that neatly charted the course of where he was musically. 1970's Here Comes Shuggie Otis was primarily a blues guitar affair; 1974's Inspiration Information was futuristic progressive soul. 1971's Freedom Flight was, musically and chronologically, somewhere between the two, with bluesier tracks like "Me & My Woman" sharing vinyl space with experimental tracks like "Strawberry Letter 23," which would later become a hit single in 1977 for the Brothers Johnson.
Despite this early promise (so much so that he turned down the offer to replace Mick Taylor in the Rolling Stones), Shuggie's solo career never really took off the way it was expected to. His profile for the next couple of decades remained low, although some may have spotted him when the Johnny Otis Show played the Chicago Blues Festival in 1993. There were stories of record deals that didn't work out (including an aborted project with Quincy Jones producing at A&M), and to hear Shuggie tell it, at one point he was working a few non-musical day gigs. In the meantime, Inspiration Information became a bit of a cult favorite, audibly influencing the music of Lenny Kravitz and Prince.
In 2001, David Byrne reissued this overlooked platter on his own Luaka
Bop label, adding a few extra songs from Freedom Flight. From
here, the comeback slowly began, with
appearances on David Letterman and Conan O'Brien's late-night talk
shows. While he is said to be putting the finishing touches on an album
of all-new material, in the meantime he has been performing regularly,
bringing his incendiary psychedelic soul-blues-rock mix to the public.
He last appeared in the Chicago area two years ago at Lincoln Hall.
On July
17,
2015 he returns to Chicago, this time at
City Winery.
We caught up with him recently via e-mail, and here's what he had to
say.
Q.
Your father enjoyed a long and illustrious career. He was so successful
and multi-talented in many different aspects of the music and media
worlds. He got you involved at a young age. Were you intimidated by the
prospect of following in Dad's very large footsteps? Or were you totally
confident in your own talent and prospects for a successful career of
your own?
Shuggie: No to first question. Yes to second.
Q. You were only 12 when you started playing with your father’s band and
you had to wear a fake mustache and try to look much older to get into
the clubs. What was that experience like? What lessons did you learn
from the elder musicians at that time? Some of them were quite famous.
Shuggie: I never wore the fake mustache!
This was a deliberate deception which was exclusively designed by my
father to add to the amusement of a teenager wearing disguises to mask
his age so as not to be noticed as a child playing on stage in
nightclubs. I did wear the black shades though! What an interesting
experience living my early musical years in such a beautiful gift of
light, and, beautiful dark, but viewing it solely in darkness.
My first solo album, Here Comes
Shuggie Otis, includes a dialog by me telling stories about my first
gigs. Actually, the entire script was thought out and written for me by
my father.
My experience as a youth who did have a family, two sisters and one
brother, couldn't have been any happier. As time rolled on, I realized
how fortunate having this accommodation was. Times were very bright in
my toddler years. Things would change as time went on. The experience
(getting the chance to play with some musical stars, and some not so
starry), was very pleasant. As a small child I had been accustomed to
being involved with the people of the night life, since my father's band
and friends were like my uncles and aunts. I loved them all, and they
loved me! Meeting some of those people was very, very influential in
educating me as well as bringing to me a certain joy that I'll always
cherish.
Q. Your first recording was with your father Johnny on his album, Cold
Shot! What
was it like being in the studio with legends like Mighty Mouth Evans and
Don "Sugarcane" Harris?
Shuggie: Cold Shot! Was just
that! A Cold Shot! If you hear the album, you might find it a bit funny.
Delmar Evans a/k/a Mighy Mouth, and Don Harris a/k/a Sugarcane, were two
of my favorite buddies. Comedic, eccentric, shady, lovable,
exhilarating, and free! Just to say less. I'd shared many joyous, and
wonderful times in and out of the studio with those two respectively
amazing talents.
Shuggie: On the album, Kooper
Session, Al chose all of the songs. I was quite pleased with the
outcome.
Shuggie: I was listening to all of the sounds that were reachable to my
ears. As far as my favorites go? There are far too many to mention.
Shuggie: I could tell you many, many, stories depicting my adventures
with these entertainers, but I wouldn't know where to start. Most of my
recollections often relate to how humorous many of them were, whether
intentional, unintentional, funny, or unfunny. Some of them were truly
comical, others were deficient. The memoirs of the good people, I will
always cherish! There are also the cantankerous ones. They are usually
outnumbered once the band starts up!
Shuggie: My father called me out to help him co-produce a set of R & B
Oldies that featured many great musicians. It was a very cool easy going
project.
I am working on a new record right now for Cleopatra Records. It is all new stuff and in a brand new direction. I'm excited about it and it will be done in the fall. ~~~~
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