"Shuggie Otis' 'Aht Uh Mi Hed' = semi-cover of 'Under My Thumb,' yeah?"
Late pass if necessary... but this morning I'm listening to Inspiration Information for the first time in forever and I notice that this song (one of the most popular from the album) sounds a LOT like a slightly futuristic version of the Rolling Stones song.
2. "I felt like it hit me over the head" In response to Reply # 1
Yeah, Shuggie's melody diverges from the Stones fairly early on, but generally it retains the feel of "Under My Thumb," including the structure with that reflective instrumental break.
4. "LOL" In response to Reply # 3 Tue Feb-07-12 08:47 AM by AFKAP_of_Darkness
I listened again too and felt maybe my initial response might have been slightly overstated... but I still maintain that the similarity is relatively prominent.
7. "I hear it. It's pretty stark actually." In response to Reply # 0
********** the test of a first-rate intelligence is the ability to hold two opposed ideas in the mind at the same time, and still retain the ability to function.
9. "I do have spotify though..." In response to Reply # 0 Tue Feb-07-12 10:21 AM by Jakob Hellberg
And yes, they are very similar. The rhythm of the vocal-melody in the verse is pretty much the same even if the end of the phrase in the stones-song contains more notes. And the structure of the melody with two repetitions of the main melodic phrase followed by a contrasting motive that's also rhytmically similar and of the same length in both cases makes it even more similar. Seems like he used the Stones-song as a blueprint/skeleton and filled it with his own notes. Nice catch...
EDIT:Semi-Cover though? Not sure what the definition is of that. The melody generally carry stronger weight than rhythm/structure so maybe it's like a quarter-cover or something...
10. "'quarter-cover'... lol I'll take that." In response to Reply # 9
But yeah, I supposed I went a bit hard with the "semi-cover" (hey, it was early in the morning) but it seems clear to me that Shuggie was probably fucking around with "Under My Thumb" on his newfangled keyboards and drum machines and then it took flight (no pun) from there.
And it's also interesting to note that around that period, the Stones had invited Shuggie to replace Mick Taylor.
12. "I didn't know that..." In response to Reply # 10 Tue Feb-07-12 10:39 AM by Jakob Hellberg
>And it's also interesting to note that around that period, the >Stones had invited Shuggie to replace Mick Taylor.
I knew his guitarplaying was popular with british rockers though even if I doubt it was because of this album. Ritchie Blackmore in Deep Purple of all people mentioned him as an influence on some of his solos on the "Fireball"-album and why they are a bit more mellow and "soulful" than the typical pyrotechnics. He also ripped off some licks straight up for the live-improvs with Deep Purple and later Rainbow. I get the impression Shuggie was cool in those circles for a while...
13. "Ritchie Blackmore? now that I did not know." In response to Reply # 12 Tue Feb-07-12 10:58 AM by AFKAP_of_Darkness
But then I guess I could see it since Deep Purple started leaning towards that soul/funk/rock fusion. But it's odd to think that there was a time that Shuggie was that much in demand, in light of what an obscure, marginal figure he's become since. But then again, he played with Al Kooper, whose sound was seen as pretty hip and forward thinking at the time, so I can understand him commanding some degree of esteem in those circles.