Sometimes, possibly in the very late 90s, perhaps 1999(?) I read a review for a re-released record. At the time I was intrigued but couldn’t get my hands on a copy of the CD. For some reason, I recently remembered this and am trying to find out what this record was from what I can hazily remember. Here are the facts:
The record was originally released on the early 70s, perhaps c. 1972.
The artist was a solo black musician who some people called the next Jimi Hendrix.
His first record was “sonically adventurous,” hence the Hendrix comparison (more than the guitar playing).
It might have been a bit too “out there” and didn’t sell very well despite good reviews.
I think personal problems (drug?) might have played a part, but the artist never made another record.
As I wrote, the record was finally re-released on CD in the late 90s, absolutely certainly no later than 2002.
I actually knew about the film Searching for Sugar Man. Rodriguez matches in time frame and style, but I’m pretty sure I read about him in a record review column…
We have a winner! That’s exactly who I was thinking of. And, thank god that after all those years trying to remember his name, I wasn’t disappointed when I checked his music out. Great stuff.
Thanks! Shuggie was featured in the Rock Snob Dictionary (for real) as an example of an artist a rock snob should know - kinda like Big Star, Television, the use of the words jangly and shambolic, etc. I read the same review the OP remembered reading - but at the time, did get the album and enjoyed it - before I read the RSDictionary
We’re incredibly spoiled. When I first read about Shuggie, I went looking for his CD at my local record stores. No luck, and I ended up not even knowing exactly how his music sounded.
Now, within only seconds of learning his name, I was listening to Inspiration Information on YouTube. It used to be that being a music snob required time, money and some luck.
I’m 52, and remember the hassle of finding obscure music. Prowling through record stores was the easy part…when that failed, you had to plow through an issue of Goldmine, stuffed with ads in the tiniest printing ever seen by man. A typical Goldmine ad was like reading microfilm with your bare eyes.
I have on CD that took me more than 10 years to find. I finally managed to order it from Japan via a Japanese record store in a super market in a suburb of Chicago. We have since put it up on YouTube, so that anyone can easily find it.
The title is Strawberry Letter 23. It’s confusing because that’s never mentioned in the lyrics; in the chorus he sings about strawberry letter 22. I only have the Brothers Johnson cover from the Jackie Brown soundtrack. I’ve never gotten around to checking out the original, but this sound better than the cover.
My girlfriend and I were excited to see Shuggie live a few months ago, having been fans since picking up the Luaka Bop reissue of “Inspiration Information” in 2001. Unfortunately, it was probably the worst show I’ve ever attended. He didn’t come on until close to midnight (doors opened at 8:30), he clearly hadn’t rehearsed much (his backing band took over a lot of his lead vocals) and wasn’t into it, and after a couple classic soul songs he launched into some of the horrible '80s material featured on the latest reissue and the kind of interminable blues jams you could hear at a dozen bars in New Orleans any night of the week for free. Just boring and uninspired. Just a warning if you’re planning on buying tickets.
