In Session Information is an entirely different release than another Shuggie Otis compilation that came out in 2002 with a similar title, In Session: Great Rhythm & Blues. The confusion is enhanced by similar contents on both discs, however, as each assembles Otis session work on which he backed ’50s R&B stars who were long past their commercial prime. In fact, about half of In Session Information’s 15 cuts also appear on the 22-track In Session: Great Rhythm & Blues, so you’ll have to get both CDs if you’re serious about your Otis session appearance library. The larger question is whether such session work is worth acquiring, even if you’re a serious Otis fan, for these songs are acceptable but hardly great mid-’70s recordings for father Johnny Otis’ Blues Spectrum label, in which the sounds (and, often, one-time hit songs) of veterans Richard Berry, Roy Milton, Eddie Vinson, Charles Brown, Joe Liggins, and Johnny Otis himself were updated with soul and funk arrangements. It’s not a Shuggie Otis album, though he’s the billed artist on the cover; he adds good blues-rock-R&B guitar licks, but he’s not the star of the show, and this is far from his most original work. For that matter, the original versions of tracks like Johnny Otis’ “Signifying Monkey” and “Willie and the Hand Jive,” Berry’s “Louie Louie,” and Brown’s “Black Night” are certainly preferable to these competent remakes. – Richie Unterberger
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