1. Johnny Shuggie Otis was born on Johnny Alexander Veliotes Jr.
16 Facts About Shuggie Otis
1. 2.
The name "Shuggie Otis" was coined by Phyllis when he was a newborn.
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Shuggie Otis began playing guitar when he was two years old and performing professionally with his father's band at the age of eleven, often disguising himself with dark glasses and a false mustache so that he could play with his father's band in after-hours nightclubs.
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Shuggie Otis is primarily known as a guitarist and sings and plays a multitude of other instruments.
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In 1969, Al Kooper asked Shuggie Otis to be the featured guest on the second installment of the Super Session album series that had previously included Stephen Stills and Mike Bloomfield.
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Kooper and the then-fifteen-year-old Shuggie Otis recorded the whole album over one weekend in New York.
7.
King, who was quoted in a 1970 issue of Guitar Player magazine saying Shuggie Otis was his "favorite new guitarist".
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Some artists Shuggie Otis performed and recorded with during that time include Frank Zappa, Etta James, Eddie Vinson, Richard Berry, Louis Jordan, and Bobby 'Blue' Bland, among many others.
9.
The album Shuggie Otis received the most recognition for was his second Epic Records release in 1971, Freedom Flight, which featured his hit "Strawberry Letter 23".
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In 1974, Shuggie Otis released Inspiration Information, his third and final album for Epic Records.
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Shuggie Otis declined the offer, along with the chance to work with Quincy Jones in helping produce Otis's next album.
12.
Shuggie Otis's only credited works throughout the mid-1970s were done as a session musician for his father's recording projects.
13.
Shuggie Otis is featured in every one of his father Johnny's books, as well as Alligator Records Presents West Coast Blues, issued in August 1998.
14.
Otis and a band entitled Shuggie Otis Rite toured internationally in 2013 in support of the release, including Australia, Japan, the US, Ireland and the UK Their performances earned rave reviews from critics.
15.
Shuggie Otis had a son named Johnny III, known as Lucky Shuggie Otis, with his first wife Miss Mercy of The GTOs, an all-girl group produced by Frank Zappa.
16.
Shuggie Otis has fronted a 13-piece rhythm-and-blues orchestra, The New Johnny Otis All-Stars, continuing his grandfather's Big Band legacy.