Boz Scaggs

Boz Scaggs' augmented his solid blues rock credentials and smoky blue-eyed croon with mellow Philly soul strings on his biggest seller. Silk Degrees contains the brilliant, strutting, hipster taunt "Lowdown," the disco-rocking "It's Over" and the megahit "Lido Shuffle," making it the soundtrack to mid-'70s condo life, pool parties and bay cruises.

Last year's Slow Dancer, like his classic first album, suggested that Boz Scaggs might break
out of his San Francisco Bay Area cult to a larger national following. Dancer wasn't a radical
departure from his earlier recordings, but for the first time Scaggs played no instrument,
concentrating instead on singing. Joe Wissert has replaced Johnny Bristol as producer, but
Silk Degrees, although blander, is similar in style to its predecessor. "Georgia," a... More >

Scaggs is criticized for his detachment, but I say it's subtlety and I say thank god for it. In the past, he's sometimes bought (not to mention sold) his own lushness, but this collection is cooled by droll undercurrents--white soul with a sense of humor that isn't consumed in self-parody. Inspirational Verse: "Gotta have a jones for this/Jones for that/This runnin' with the joneses, boy/Just ain't where it's at." (Grade - A-)