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psychicdeath

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Jan 21, 2015
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Dave's Song of the Day

Strawberry Letter 23 – Shuggie Otis

Thursday song of the day: Today’s song was written by a 17-year-old.



Shuggie Otis was a bit of a prodigy, who started to play guitar at the age of 2 and was performing in clubs (disguised with dark glasses and a fake mustache to make him look older) at 11. He recorded his first album at 15, and for his second album, Freedom Flight, two years later wrote Strawberry Letter 23. As the song became popular later, a lot of people thought it referred to strawberry scented paper that his girlfriend used to write to him. He explained that this was not the case. “What I pictured when I was writing that song, was a girl handing a guy a pink envelope. A love letter. The guy and the girl had written each other 22 letters so far. And the 23rd one he writes is a song. But no scents.”

The song was duly released in 1971, but did not make much of an impact. It was later heard by George Johnson, who happened to be dating Otis’s cousin at the time. George liked the song and decided to record it with his band The Brothers Johnson. It was included on their 1977 album Right on Time, and released as a single in July 1977. The Brothers Johnson version of Strawberry Letter 23 was funkier than the Otis original, with slick production by Quincy Jones. It was a big hit, placing #1 on the R&B chart and #5 on the overall Billboard Hot 100.

Shuggie Otis, 1971



The Brothers Johnson, 1977



Tomorrow: SHIT AIN’T LIKE THAT!