Aynsley Dunbar with Shuggie Otis

Shuggie Otis - Freedom Flight (1971)


On Freedom Flight, the roots of Inspiration Information are everywhere. Shuggie wrote four of the album's seven tunes, did all the arrangements, and helped Johnny with production suggestions. The senior Otis produced the set and allowed all of Shuggie's "weird" ideas full-reign in production, and he was joined by a host of musicians from the first album, along with George Duke, Aynsley Dunbar, and the backing chorus of Clydie King, Venetta Field, and Shirley Matthews, among others. Shuggie plays a slew of instruments on the set. Its centerpiece is "Strawberry Letter 23" that filled out Inspiration Information's reissue, but there are no weak cuts here. Sample the guitars on "Sweet Thang," "Purple," and "Freedom Flight," the latter displays two extended jamming exercises with lots of wondrously magical production touches; the former is a visionary bottleneck number that is warm and oozes soul. The bassline on "Me And My Woman" prefigures that distorted keyboard bass P-Funk trademarked earlier, by two years. The CD is rounded out by the inclusion of "One Room Country Shack," a cut from Al Kooper Introduces Shuggie Otis.There are fine if unexciting liner notes and some cool photos, as well as complete discographical information in the booklet making this package every bit as essential as Inspiration Information. - Thom Jurek, All Music Guide

Bukan suatu kebetulan Jika Aynsley Dunbar dan George Duke (yang pada saat itu keduanya masih bermain bersama Frank Zappa) membantu album Shuggie Otis ini. Mereka melihat talenta yang luar biasa dari seorang bocah berusia 15 tahun yang bermain bersama Al Kooper dan Mike Bloomfield dalam album Kooper Session, pada saat album Freedom Flight ini dibuat Shuggie berusia 17 tahun. Shuggie juga bermain piano, organ, drums, dan bass. Shuggie Otis juga pernah ditawari untuk ikut bermain dalam tour dunia 1975 The Rolling Stones oleh Billy Preston tetapi tawaran itu ditolaknya. Setelah dirilisnya album Inspiration Information pada tahun 1974 Shuggie Otis menghilang dari kancah permusikan dan tak banyak keterangan yang bisa saya dperoleh setelah itu. Enjoy!

Track list:
1. Ice Cold Daydream
2. Strawberry Letter 23
3. Sweet Thang
4. Me and My Woman
5. Someone's Always Singing
6. Purple
7. Freedom Flight

Line up:
Richard Aplanalp - Flute
James Bradshaw - Harmonica, Vocals
George Duke - Keyboards
Aynsley Dunbar - Drums
Wilton Felder - Bass
Venetta Fields - Vocals
Clydie King - Vocals
Mike Kowalski - Drums
Sherlie Matthews - Vocals
Johnny Otis - Piano, Drums
Shuggie Otis - Bass, Guitar, Vocals

http://rapidshare.com/files/259016799/1971_-_Freedom_Flight_bbq.rar

"Life is A Lot Like Music... It's Best When You Improvise"