How to play “Shuggie,” part 1 Andy Timmons teaches a song from his album, Electric Truth, called “Shuggie,” which is an homage to the legendary R&B/blues artist Shuggie Otis. Shuggie, son of R&B impresario Johnny Otis, started out playing guitar in his father’s band at the young age of 11. He began recording for Epic Records in his late teens and in 1971 released the album Freedom Flight that included the song “Strawberry Letter #23,” which went to become a smash hit for the Brothers Johnson in 1977. #AndyTimmons #ElectricTruth
00:00Hey everybody, Andy Timmons here. Welcome back to Melodic Muse and we're going to get a little
00:22retro today. There's a tune called Shuggy on my recent Electric Truth record and it's very much
00:28a thinly veiled homage to the great Shuggy Otis, prodigy blues guitar player. Johnny Otis's son
00:36started recording for Epic Records in his late teens I think it was. But it relates to a classic
00:44tune by the Brothers Johnson that is a record that I was very fond of growing up in the 70s
00:49called Strawberry Letter 23. And it just reminds me of how fortunate growing up in the 70s was
00:56because radio just wasn't segregated in any way. You know, you could hear Dolly Parton into Queen
01:02into ZZ Top and Earth, Wind and Fire. There was just any, all these great songs kind of coexisting
01:08on the airwaves and you know, we were just all soaking it up. But one of my favorite tracks of
01:14the 70s, I'm not sure when the Brothers Johnson track came out, somewhere in the mid, mid 70s.
01:18There's this particular guitar break in this harmonized guitar part that's always leapt out.
01:23It was just always one of my favorite moments in recorded guitar history, right? Years later,
01:28I think it was the early 2000s, somebody handed me a CD of a guy named Shuggy Otis. And it was a
01:34reissue of two records that he made in the 70s. One called Freedom Flight from 1971 and one called
01:39Inspiration Information from 1974. But on that record, on his first record from 71 was his version
01:47because he's the original author of Strawberry Letter 23. And I was gobsmacked when I heard this
01:52incredible track. And it's basically the Brothers Johnson pretty much lifted it note for note from
01:57his arrangement. And he was, he was one of the early guys like Rundgren and eventually Prince that
02:02was just playing, he was playing all the instruments on his records. Very creative. The writing was
02:06great. Amazing soul. But the tune, so listen, if you can dig out both the Brothers Johnson version of
02:12Strawberry Letter 23. And then if you're likely familiar with that, but then go hear Shuggy Otis's
02:18original version. A bit earthier, a bit more acoustic on there, but the same bells and then
02:23that guitar break comes in at the end. And it's just absolutely glorious. So as that being one of
02:29my biggest, you know, and favorite guitar moments, I thought, well, I'd like to recreate that in my own
02:34way, write a tune around it. And that's what ended up becoming Shuggy on the new Electric Truth record.
02:38So we're going to go over those, the kind of dual guitar lead part of that breakdown. And again,
02:45it's, it's similar to what Shuggy had played. And I believe it was the great Lee Rittenauer that
02:49played on the Brothers Johnson version. Maybe Harvey Mason on drums, if I'm not mistaken. But let's get
02:54into it. It's a fun little triplet lick. And I hope you have a good time playing it.
03:15Okay. So let's break down this. This is the higher harmony part of the tune Shuggy. And
03:31I'm starting with two up picks.
03:44And then it's alternate picking.
03:47So that last, so up, up, down, up, down, and then you're ready for the up pick. So
03:53the key really to this is, is the separation of the notes. So there's the, the first two notes are
03:59really emphasized in staccato. So really, it's almost like the, the Purdy Poccaro shuffle,
04:08which, uh, yeah, it's a figure that got used a lot in rhythm guitar playing too. I remember Luca,
04:18they're playing that on maybe breakdown dead ahead or some of these other things, but a very cool,
04:23um, kind of feel to get together. It's very shuffly and swinging. Slow it down. So that's the,
04:30that's the first part of it. I'm just kind of thinking in, uh, the court, let's, it's always good
04:34to know the harmony that you're playing, right? So that first chord is G major seven. Then it goes
04:40to B flat major seven. Then it's an F major seven over the A. So like a first inversion.
04:48Then it goes down to A flat major seven. So nice, really kind of subtle chord changes.
04:54G major seven, D flat major seven, F major seven over A and then A flat major seven.
05:02So we're following that initially in that G major seven. The top note is the major seven. It's a real
05:09sweet kind of sound. And we're just in the pentatonic right below it. Kind of like thinking
05:14about like B minor or D major pentatonic.
05:20Now the harmony moves up a minor third. So we're just going to move that lick up a minor
05:24third up to the, the A is the top note now. So we're kind of in F major pentatonic.
05:29So that F major is a really nice sound over that B flat major seven. It's a major pentatonic
05:40from the fifth of a major seven. Always sounds beautiful because it contains the nine and
05:44the major seven. Very nice. So then when the harmony changes to the F major seven, it actually
05:52kind of permits that, that line to stay the same. So over the third, over the second and
05:59third chord, it's that same. Then when it goes down to A flat major seven, I move that same
06:09shape down a whole step because now we've got E flat major seven, which is that harmony.
06:15It sounds so nice over that major seven chord. Remember the major pentatonic from the fifth scale
06:21degree or the fifth of that chord. So it's, so if we start on that G major seven,
06:39and I'm getting also getting a lot of additional, um, you know, separation between the notes with my
06:44right hand. So it's, if you hear those first two notes, I'm really getting the right hand
06:50kind of the palm mute thing. Not a bad sound because it's a really, it's a really tricky
07:03thing at this tempo to get really precisely in the groove with the band, right? It's, it's
07:08not, it's, it's, you have to be fairly relaxed and that you can, it's real easy to sound on
07:12top. So trying to get that definition in the palm and he kind of helps with the pocket of,
07:17of the feel. Start a little slower if you need to. There you go.
07:35Okay. So let's dig into, this is the lower part of the show.
08:02Okay. So let's dig into, this is the lower part of the Shuggy harmony. And it's a, essentially,
08:07it's going to stick to the same exact technique. It's really the same phrasing.
08:12And it's actually the same fingering. We're just actually moving down a string or up a string.
08:18We started on the B string before. Now we're starting on the G string with the note G.
08:22So basically just the harmony underneath the top note, right? So it's D and
08:32right there in that B minor D major pentatonic. Up a minor third. Stay there. Convenient.
08:43Down a whole step. Repeat. Rinse. It's hard to talk and play that one. Three, seven.
08:52Again, that palm mute really helps with the groove.
09:04Right. I think you got it. A lot of fun would be if you've, if you've got a multi-track capability to lay the first part down then harmonize with it.
09:10Cause it's just a wonderful feel. Even if it's on top of my recording, or if you even have a phone voice record memo, just record your one part and then play along with it.
09:30It's a blast to hear that really tight swinging guitar harmony.
09:34So as we started the, the top harmonies on the mate, that major seven of the G major seven, right?
09:42So we're just going basically to the next lowest chord tone, which is the fifth.
09:50So the first harmony is actually like a major third, how that lines up in the, in that triadic formation.
09:57But the next three notes are kind of, kind of fourth, fifth harmony.
10:03And it's the same up here. We've got the major seven of the B flat, but we start on the F, which is the fifth.
10:11And then the harmony changes, which tends to be, turns out to be the root, the F.
10:18And down to that, the E flat major pentatonic over that A flat, which is the...
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