MELODIC MUSE by Andy Timmons
STRAWBERRY FIELD
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
STRAWBERRY FIELD
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
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MusicTranscript
00:00 [music]
00:07 Hey everybody, Andy Timmons here.
00:19 Welcome back to Melodic Muse, and we're going to get a little retro today.
00:23 There's a tune called "Sugie" on my recent Electric Truth record, and it's very much
00:28 a thinly veiled homage to the great Sugie Otis, prodigy blues guitar player, Johnny
00:35 Otis' son.
00:36 I started recording for Epic Records in his late teens, I think it was.
00:42 But it relates to a classic tune by the Brothers Johnson that is a record that I was very fond
00:47 of growing up in the '70s called "Strawberry Letter 23."
00:51 And it just reminds me of how fortunate growing up in the '70s was, because radio just wasn't
00:58 segregated in any way.
01:00 You could hear Dolly Parton into Queen into ZZ Top into Earth, Wind & Fire.
01:05 There was just all these great songs kind of coexisting on the airwaves, and we were
01:10 just all soaking it up.
01:12 But one of my favorite tracks of the '70s, and I'm not sure when the Brothers Johnson
01:15 track came out, somewhere in the mid '70s, there's this particular guitar break in this
01:20 harmonized guitar part that's always leapt out.
01:23 It was just always one of my favorite moments in recorded guitar history.
01:27 Years later, I think it was the early 2000s, somebody handed me a CD of a guy named Shuggie
01:32 Otis, and it was a reissue of two records that he made in the '70s, one called "Freedom
01:37 Flight" from 1971 and one called "Inspiration Information" from 1974.
01:42 But on that record, on his first record from '71, was his version, because he's the original
01:47 author of "Strawberry Letter 23."
01:49 And I was gobsmacked when I heard this incredible track.
01:53 And it's basically, the Brothers Johnson pretty much lifted it note for note from his arrangement.
01:58 And he was one of the early guys like Rundgren and eventually Prince that was just playing
02:03 all the instruments on his records.
02:05 Very creative, the writing was great, amazing soul, but the tune.
02:09 So listen, if you can dig out both the Brothers Johnson version of "Strawberry Letter 23,"
02:14 and then, you're likely familiar with that, but then go hear Shuggie Otis' original version.
02:19 A bit earthier, a bit more acoustic on there, but the same bells and then that guitar break
02:23 comes in at the end, and it's just absolutely glorious.
02:27 So as that being one of my biggest and favorite guitar moments, I thought, "Well, I'd like
02:32 to recreate that in my own way, write a tune around it."
02:35 And that's what ended up becoming Shuggie on the new "Electric Truth" record.
02:38 So we're going to go over the kind of dual guitar lead part of that breakdown.
02:45 And again, it's similar to what Shuggie had played, and I believe it was the great Lee
02:49 Rittenour that played on the Brothers Johnson version.
02:51 Maybe Harvey Mason on drums, if I'm not mistaken.
02:53 But let's get into it.
02:55 It's a fun little triplet-y lick, and I hope you have a good time playing it.
02:59 [music]
03:26 Okay, so let's break down.
03:27 This is the higher harmony part of the tune Shuggie.
03:31 And I'm starting with two up picks.
03:38 [music]
03:45 And then it's alternate picking.
03:48 So that lasts.
03:49 So up, up, down, up, down.
03:51 And then you're ready for the up pick.
03:54 And the key really to this is the separation of the notes.
03:58 So the first two notes are really emphasized in staccato.
04:03 So really, it's almost like the purdy Pocaro shuffle.
04:09 [music]
04:13 Which, yeah, it's a figure that got used a lot in rhythm guitar playing, too.
04:18 I remember Luca there playing that on maybe "Breakdown, Dead Ahead" or some of these other things.
04:22 A very cool kind of feel to get together.
04:25 It's very shuffley and swingy.
04:27 Slow it down.
04:30 So that's the first part of it.
04:31 I'm just kind of thinking in the chord.
04:34 It's always good to know the harmony that you're playing.
04:36 So that first chord is G major 7.
04:40 Then it goes to B flat major 7.
04:44 Then it's an F major 7 over the A, so like a first inversion.
04:49 Then it goes down to A flat major 7.
04:52 So nice, really kind of subtle chord changes.
04:55 G major 7, B flat major 7.
04:58 F major 7 over A.
05:01 And then A flat major 7.
05:02 So we're following that initially in that G major 7.
05:07 The top note is the major 7.
05:09 It's a real sweet kind of sound.
05:12 And we're just in the pentatonic right below it.
05:13 Kind of thinking about B minor or D major pentatonic.
05:21 The harmony moves up a minor third, so we're just going to move that lick up a minor third.
05:24 Up to the A's the top note now, so we're kind of in F major pentatonic.
05:32 That F major is a really nice sound over that B flat major 7.
05:38 It's a major pentatonic from the fifth of a major 7.
05:41 Always sounds beautiful because it contains the 9 and the major 7.
05:44 Very nice.
05:46 So, then when the harmony changes to the F major 7,
05:51 it actually kind of permits that line to stay the same.
05:55 So, over the second and third chord it's that same.
06:04 Then when it goes down to A flat major 7,
06:08 I move that same shape down a whole step because now we've got E flat major 7.
06:13 Which is that harmony that sounds so nice over that major 7 chord.
06:18 Remember the major pentatonic from the fifth scale degree, or the fifth of that chord.
06:23 So, if we start on that G major 7.
06:34 Down a whole step.
06:39 I'm also getting a lot of additional separation between the notes with my right hand.
06:45 So, if you hear those first two notes, I'm really getting the right hand, kind of the palm mute thing.
06:55 Without it, not a bad sound.
07:01 Because it's a really tricky thing at this tempo to get really precisely in the groove with the band.
07:08 You have to be fairly relaxed.
07:11 It's really easy to sound on top.
07:13 So, trying to get that definition in the palm mute kind of helps with the pocket of the feel.
07:21 Start a little slower if you need to.
07:34 There you go.
07:38 [music]
08:02 Okay, so let's dig into, this is the lower part of the Shogie harmony.
08:06 And it's essentially going to stick to the same exact technique.
08:11 It's really the same phrasing.
08:13 And it's actually the same fingering.
08:15 We're just actually moving down a string, or up a string.
08:19 We started on the B string before.
08:20 Now we're starting on the G string with the note G.
08:26 Basically just the harmony underneath the top note, right?
08:30 So it's D. And right there in that B minor, D major pentatonic.
08:37 Up a minor third.
08:40 Stay there.
08:42 Convenient.
08:44 Down a whole step.
08:47 Repeat. Rinse.
08:49 It's hard to talk and play that.
08:50 Three, seven.
09:02 Getting that palm mute really helps with the groove.
09:14 I think you got it.
09:16 A lot of fun would be if you've got a multi-track capability to lay the first part down,
09:21 then harmonize with it, because it's just a wonderful feel.
09:23 Even if it's on top of my recording.
09:25 Or if you even have a phone voice record memo, just record your one part,
09:29 and then play along with it.
09:30 It's a blast to hear that really tight, swinging guitar harmony.
09:35 So as we started, the top harmony is on that major seven of the G major seven.
09:42 So we're just going basically to the next lowest chord tone, which is the fifth.
09:51 So the first harmony is actually like a major third, how that lines up in that triadic formation.
09:58 But the next three notes are kind of fourth, fifth harmony.
10:03 And it's the same up here.
10:04 We've got the major seven of the B flat, but we start on the F, which is the fifth.
10:11 And then the harmony changes, which turns out to be the root, the F.
10:18 And down to that E flat major pentatonic over that A flat, which is the...
10:23 [Guitar playing]
10:29 [Music]
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