Boz Scaggs Silk Degrees CD

Boz Scaggs's 1976 breakthrough, SILK DEGREES, was not only his biggest-selling album, it was also one of his best. Here Scaggs collaborated with keyboardist and bandleader David Paich, who would soon form the hugely successful band Toto with this record's drummer, Jeff Porcaro. In Paich, Scaggs found a foil who added just enough pop gloss to make his blues- and R&B-tinged material palatable to the masses. Crucially, though, the pair keeps Scaggs's remarkable voice at the center of things, never going too far overboard with the studio polish. As a result, hit singles "Lowdown" and, particularly, the horn-spiked R&B of "Lido Shuffle" still sound fresh, while the ballads remain soulful. A year or so later, Rita Coolidge would take one of those ballads, "We're All Alone," into the Billboard Top Ten with her own version.

Additional Tracks

Recorded at Davlen Sound Studios and Hollywood Sound Studios, Los Angeles, California.

Personnel: Louie Shelton, Fred Tackett (guitar); Chuck Findley, Dick Hyde, Jim Horn, Plas Johnson , Tom Scott, Vincent DeRosa, Paul Hubinon, Bud Shank (horns); David Paich (keyboards); David Hungate (bass guitar); Jeff Porcaro (drum).

Personnel: Boz Scaggs (vocals); Fred Tackett, Louie Shelton (guitars); Les Dudek (slide guitar); Plas Johnson (tenor saxophone, horns); Bud Shank (saxophones, horns); Chuck Findley (horns, flugelhorn); Jim Horn, Tom Scott, Dick Hyde, Paul Hubinon, Vincent deRosa (horns); David Paich (keyboards, synthesizer); David Hungate (bass); Jeff Porcaro (drums, percussion); Carolyn Willis, Marty McCall, Jim Gilstrap, Augie Johnson, Maxine Green, Pepper Swenson (background vocals).

Mojo (Publisher) (p.130) - 4 stars out of 5 -- "[T]he record is solid the whole way through, luxuriating in a range of styles from R&B to reggae to rock."