The Key

R&B recording artist Shuggie Otis will celebrate the deluxe reissue of his 1974 record Inspiration Information (paired with a selection of unreleased tracks on Wings of Love) next Tuesday when the double album is released through Sony’s Legacy label.  Now streaming in full courtesy of NPR’s First Listen series, the release comes hand in hand with an international tour, which brings the iconic musician to Philadelphia for the first time in two decades in August.  From NPR:

Shuggie Otis has long been adjacent to worldwide stardom. His late father, the R&B legendJohnny Otis, is in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. The younger Otis’ most ardent fans consider his brief late-’60s and early-’70s recording career to have produced works on par with those of Sly Stone and Jimi Hendrix.

The nine-songInspiration Information… took three years to record, in part because Otis insisted on playing and singing every part himself. But the work itself — a sublime mix of psychedelia, blues, pop and soul — possesses a dreamy quality that’s intoxicating and untethered to any era.

Best known for his 1971 hit “Strawberry Letter 23″ (recorded by The Brothers Johnson and sampled by OutKast for “Ms. Jackson”), Otis has kept to himself over the years but has recently announced plans to work on a brand new album with his new band.  Get prepped for Shuggie Otis’s return by streaming Inspiration Information / Wings of Love here and watch him perform “Strawberry Letter 23″ live in London below.  XPN welcomes Otis to The Blockley with Mutlu on August 9th; tickets and information can be found here.