When it comes to listening to music, I've always been an eclectic person at heart. In other words, I've always been open to pretty much every musical genre out there: pop, hip-hop, rap, dub, reggae, soul, post-rock, Krautrock, jazz...you get the picture. I'm not one to stay pigeonholed as far as listening to music is concerned. Likewise, when it comes to describing some of my all-time favorite albums, I try to keep things open & as interesting as possible. On a recent road trip which led me all the way to Sidney, Ohio, I had to put on Shuggie Otis' Inspiration Information, which'll be the CD of choice for this present review.
Released in 1974, Inspiration Information sounds like a more upbeat, sunnier version of Sly & The Family Stone's 1971 masterpiece of woozy, narcotic funky bliss, There's A Riot Goin' On & in a sense it is. Almost 3 years in the making, Inspiration is a song cycle which sounded far ahead of its time in more ways than one. It wasn't just soul, or straight R & B, or even funk - as a matter of fact, it sounds like a blurring of all three genres into something refreshingly beautiful & unique. If that isn't enough, virtually all the instruments - organ, electric piano, drums, bass, guitar, drum machine - were played by Shuggie himself. Talk about an awesome one-man band!! (& a precursor to like-minded folks like Prince, who performed primarily all by his lonesome on many of his early releases.)
Tim Gane, from the group Stereolab, remarked concerning this album, "...(Inspiration Information) is almost like a new style of music that could've developed but never did... That's the problem. It never developed past this record." To this day, I can't help but agree with Gane, because his observations about Inspiration Information are so right on. Add to the fact that Shuggie got dropped by his label (Epic) after finally completing his masterpiece; one wonders what could have been. In the musical climate of 1974, Inspiration sounded too futuristic, too startlingly unique. And yet this music sounds equally fresh in the present day as much as it did back then. Not only that, but it has also found ways to remain revolutionary & groundbreaking - as time has shown, it foretold other developments which would take place in popular music: DIY-style recording (of which Prince was a master, among others), post-rock, organic computer music, just to name a few.
Side two of the original album - BTW, 80% instrumentals - is an outstanding example of why Inspiration Information is still as startingly fresh & innovative over three decades later. From the proto-techno drum-machine marathon of "XL-30," the ambient soundscape done slow-jam style which is "Pling!", the angular reggae/funk of "Not Available," Shuggie was capable of demonstrating his strengths not only as a songwriter but also as an arranger, knowing what instrumentation to put into the mix as well as where & when to put it in. Side one follows the exact same lines as the second, with Shuggie's soulful vocals revealing a warmth & intimacy seldom found in too many musicians these days.
Inspiration Information, for me, was & has always been one of my favorite albums, bar none. (& despite the fact that I only fully embraced it after multiple listens...lol.) It isn't just R & B. Not soul either. Not just funk. In fact, it's all of the above & much more; good enough reason why I'm still singing praises about music in general.
Released in 1974, Inspiration Information sounds like a more upbeat, sunnier version of Sly & The Family Stone's 1971 masterpiece of woozy, narcotic funky bliss, There's A Riot Goin' On & in a sense it is. Almost 3 years in the making, Inspiration is a song cycle which sounded far ahead of its time in more ways than one. It wasn't just soul, or straight R & B, or even funk - as a matter of fact, it sounds like a blurring of all three genres into something refreshingly beautiful & unique. If that isn't enough, virtually all the instruments - organ, electric piano, drums, bass, guitar, drum machine - were played by Shuggie himself. Talk about an awesome one-man band!! (& a precursor to like-minded folks like Prince, who performed primarily all by his lonesome on many of his early releases.)
Tim Gane, from the group Stereolab, remarked concerning this album, "...(Inspiration Information) is almost like a new style of music that could've developed but never did... That's the problem. It never developed past this record." To this day, I can't help but agree with Gane, because his observations about Inspiration Information are so right on. Add to the fact that Shuggie got dropped by his label (Epic) after finally completing his masterpiece; one wonders what could have been. In the musical climate of 1974, Inspiration sounded too futuristic, too startlingly unique. And yet this music sounds equally fresh in the present day as much as it did back then. Not only that, but it has also found ways to remain revolutionary & groundbreaking - as time has shown, it foretold other developments which would take place in popular music: DIY-style recording (of which Prince was a master, among others), post-rock, organic computer music, just to name a few.
Side two of the original album - BTW, 80% instrumentals - is an outstanding example of why Inspiration Information is still as startingly fresh & innovative over three decades later. From the proto-techno drum-machine marathon of "XL-30," the ambient soundscape done slow-jam style which is "Pling!", the angular reggae/funk of "Not Available," Shuggie was capable of demonstrating his strengths not only as a songwriter but also as an arranger, knowing what instrumentation to put into the mix as well as where & when to put it in. Side one follows the exact same lines as the second, with Shuggie's soulful vocals revealing a warmth & intimacy seldom found in too many musicians these days.
Inspiration Information, for me, was & has always been one of my favorite albums, bar none. (& despite the fact that I only fully embraced it after multiple listens...lol.) It isn't just R & B. Not soul either. Not just funk. In fact, it's all of the above & much more; good enough reason why I'm still singing praises about music in general.
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