A music-obsessed, retired San Francisco lawyer, and author of the rock & roll memoir Jittery White Guy Music (available on Amazon)... picking a random album or song in his collection every day or so and sharing a few thoughts.
On his second solo album, 1971's Freedom Flight, singer/guitarist Shuggie Otis delivered a sweeping melting pot of musical styles, from R&B to blues to pop. "Strawberry Letter 23" in particular renders a striking cross-section of post-60s music influences, a lush radio-friendly pop song that has a distinctively early 70s vibe but incorporates sly psychedelic and funk touches that elevate it above its yachty soft rock foundation. It works just fine as a pretty little song from way back, but there's something ephemeral and lost-in-time about it, particularly those chimes and whoo-ooh-oohs.Live 2013:Brothers Johnson's hit version:Phish!Petra Haden version:
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