Album: Boz Scaggs
Artist: Boz Scaggs
Release Date: August 19, 1969
Genre: Americana Country
Length: 0:44:13
Label: Atlantic Records
Producer: Jann Wenner
Rolling Stone Top 500 (2012): #496
Rolling Stone Top 500 (2020): N/A
He should've stayed with Steve Miller...
Boz Scaggs started off as a guitarist in the Steve Miller Band, assisting in the group's first records before he decided to pursue a solo career. After writing a few songs, Scaggs approached his next-door neighbor, producer Jann Wenner, who found Scaggs' material to be impressive. Wenner was in the process of creating Rolling Stone Magazine at the time, and in order to get funding he gave some of Scaggs' early demos to Atlantic Records. Atlantic enjoyed Scaggs' work and decided to give him a record deal. Scaggs found his backing band shortly after this, one member being Duane Allman of the Allman Brothers Band (before their fame). The album was essentially a huge flop when it was released, only selling 20,000 total copies years after its release. Only listeners and critics post-release have found Boz Scaggs to be one of the most underrated albums of the 1960s. The album did finally deserve widespread recognition when it was reissued in 1976 and reached as high as 176 on the Billboard 200.
Boz Scaggs features a few blues and country songs throughout its nine track list. The blues songs are far superior to the country ones due to the fact his voice just doesn't sound to be made for country singing. Just look at the first two songs "I'm Easy" and "I'll Be Long Gone" for instance. These songs put Scaggs at the forefront and make him a bluesy rock king, with the addition of the beautiful background vocals complementing him perfectly. On top of that, the horn section in the song adds a sense of vibrancy and royalty to his kingmanship. But how quickly a king can fall from his throne. Taking a look at the more country songs on the album, "Now You're Gone" and "Look What I Got", Scaggs falls to become an amusing jester as these songs are almost laughable. His voice just seems to be trying almost too hard at sounding like some of the country influences he may have had in the '60s, but fast-forward to 2020, this album just doesn't hold up to the test of time.
The greatest thing about this album is the instrumentation. If this album included more instrumental songs, it may have been more popular than it was with Boz Scaggs singing. This just shows me why Duane Allman ultimately left the band and formed the Allman Brothers Band with his brother, Gregg Allman, and could explain why the Allman Brothers Band had a significant amount of success instead of Scaggs. One thing saving this album altogether is the song "Loan Me a Dime". Even though it's over twelve total minutes, the majority of the song Scaggs doesn't sing and that is definitely for the better. I'm unsure as to how this album made it into the Rolling Stone list. Even though it's far from the worst album I've listened to in my life, it's also not memorable at all. My two theories on why it was included on the top 500 list is that it seemed to have paved the way for Duane Allman, but I also think it may have something to do with the producer, Jann Wenner, being a co-creator of Rolling Stone Magazine. Seems like a sketchy conflict of interest to me and I just don't buy it. I would recommend listening to "Loan Me a Dime" if you want to listen to the only good part of this album and save yourself from the torture of the remaining 32 minutes of the record.
Favorite Song: "Loan Me a Dime" Least Favorite Songs: "Now You're Gone" & "Look What I Got" Production Quality:
Mix = 4/10
Innovation = 7/10
Songwriting Quality:
Arrangement = 8/10
Lyricism = 8/10
Instrumentation Quality:
Vocal Timbre = 4/10
Instrumental Timbre = 8/10
Group Chemistry = 8/10
Overall Likability:
My Personal Rating = 3/10
Overall Rating: 6/10
Any confusion on how the rating is weighted/calculated, please look at the "About" page.
Remember this is all my opinion! Let me know if you agree, disagree or have any comments!
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