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| Courtesy of en.wikipedia.org |
Boz Scaggs, the Grammy award winning
vocalist, songwriter, rhythm guitarist and legend is coming to Thrasher-Horne
Center for the Arts and we couldn’t be more delighted. Scaggs and his band will
perform hits from his ultra-successful album, “Silk Degrees” and his most
recent, “A Fool to Care,” that Rolling Stone called the most eclectic album of
his long career.” (http://www.classicbands.com/scaggs.html)
SINGING
WITH STEVE MILLER
William Royce “Boz” Scaggs was
born in 1944 to Royce and Helen Scaggs in Canton, Ohio. His father was a
traveling salesman and early on moved the family to Oklahoma and eventually
settled in Plano, Texas. Boz was musically inclined from an early age and took
on his first instrument, the cello, at the age of nine.
At the dawn of the 60’s,
Scaggs was awarded a scholarship to St. Mark’s Academy in Dallas, where he met
and befriended the person who helped launch his musical career, Steve Miller. A
then aspiring musician, Miller encouraged Scaggs to learn the guitar so he
could join Miller’s band, The Marksmen. Their repertoire of music was drawn
from the likes of Jimmy Reed, Bobby Bland and the other R&B musicians of
the 60’s.
Steve Miller concluded his
studies at the University of Wisconsin at Madison and started a new blues band
called the Ardells. Boz Scaggs followed Miller to the university a year later
and joined the Ardells, though ultimately his real passion was to launch a solo
career.
TREKKING
THROUGH EUROPE
The high school buddies later
ventured to Europe, where Miller attended the University of Copenhagen to study
comparative literature. He dropped out just a few credits shy of earning a
degree and Scaggs stayed behind and worked as a street musician, singing on
street corners. While roving the streets of Europe, he recorded his debut
album, “Boz,” in Stockholm, Sweden under the name of William R. Scaggs. It
failed to find an audience in Europe, was never released in any other country
and went out of print immediately thereafter. Today it is a rare collector’s
item.
THE
SAN FRANCISCO SCENE
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| Courtesy of en.wikipedia.org |
Scaggs received a postcard
from his old friend, Steve Miller, inviting him to San Francisco, where the
vibrant counter-culture scene was thriving. The two reunited to further their
musical relationship which would prove to be advantageous to both musicians.
Though Scaggs still had his sights set on focusing on his solo career, he
joined the then unknown Steve Miller Band as a songwriter and rhythm guitarist.
He made notable contributions to two acclaimed albums, “Children of the Future”
and “Sailor.” San Francisco was the epicenter of the counter culture movement
at the time and the albums were rooted in the psychedelic blues style that
dominated the scene.
The Steve Miller Band was
gaining recognition and Scaggs’ tenure with the group proved to be a turning
point in his career. Boz became fast friends with Rolling Stone publisher Jann
Wenner, who helped him embark on a solo career by securing a record deal with
Atlantic Records. “Boz Scaggs,” his debut album, didn’t find a wide audience
upon its initial release, though it was critically acclaimed and had an
underground following. It was a perfect mix of natural soul, rock and blues that
produced one of the most soulful tracks of all time, “Loan me a dime,”
featuring the mind-blowing electric guitar skills of Duane Allman. The twelve
minute track got the attention of critics the world over and put Allman in a
league with Jimi Hendrix, until Allman’s tragic death two years later.
SILK
DEGREES
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| Courtesy of en.wikipedia.org |
Boz Scaggs remained a favorite
of critics, but his move to Columbia records catapulted his career. Clive Davis
was the president of Columbia records and provided the encouragement that led
to his biggest commercial success, “Silk Degrees,” in 1976, which reached
number two on the album charts. The collaboration with studio musicians who
would later form the band, Toto, set his career on fire. The album produced the
Grammy-winning single, “Lowdown,” as well as the hits “Lido Shuffle,” “It’s
Over,” and “What Can I Say.” Scaggs’ Grammy win for “Lowdown” made him the first
“blue-eyed soul man” to receive one for the R&B category.
SLOWING
DOWN IN THE 80’S
Boz Scaggs’ subsequent
releases didn’t quite match the success of “Silk Degrees,” and during that time
he owned and operated a San Francisco nightclub, Slim’s. Boz became known for
his black-tie events on New Year’s Eve, where he also performed. He did find
minor success with the release of “Middle Man,” and appeared on the soundtrack
of the film, “Urban Cowboy” in 1980.
A
COMEBACK
With the exception of an album
in 1988, Scaggs didn’t fully return to music until his appearance with Steely
Dan’s Donald Fagen, billed the New York Rock and Soul Review in 1992. There he
found audiences that never forgot his well-worn, textured voice and warm tenor.
Come the millennium, Boz set
out on a U.S. Tour promoting his album, “Dig,” which played to packed houses
and adoring fans. He continued to tour and record moderately successful albums
such as “But Beautiful” and “Speak Low” and finally climbed back up on the
charts with the critically acclaimed album, “Memphis” in 2013.
A
FOOL TO CARE
In March of 2015, Scaggs
released his most recent album, “A Fool to Care” that Rolling Stone touted as
“One of the most eclectic albums of his long career.” “Scaggs has stated that A Fool to Care might
serve as the second album of a trilogy, following his critically acclaimed Memphis that
appeared in 2013. What unites the two albums is that Scaggs worked again with
producer and acclaimed drummer Steve Jordan, as well as a core band of studio
musicians: Ray Parker, Jr., Willie Weeks, and Jim Cox. A
Fool to Care was recorded in four days in Nashville,
and some of that city’s talent showed up to sit in on individual songs. Most
notably, Bonnie Raitt plays slide guitar and duets with Scaggs on “Hell to
Pay”, the one song written by Scaggs and a highlight on the album. “Hell to
Pay” sounds more alt-country than smooth soul, which is true likewise for the
cover of the Band’s classic “Whispering Pines”, which Scaggs sings here with
Lucinda Williams.” (http://www.popmatters.com/review/192290-boz-scaggs-a-fool-to-care/)
The album reached number one
on the Billboard blues album chart and Scaggs is riding the wave. Says Scaggs, “I’m at a point where I’m having a lot of
fun with music, more than ever. It’s like I’m just going wherever I want to go
with it.” (http://www.bozscaggs.com/#bio)
Thrasher-Horne Center is
thrilled to bring Boz Scaggs and his eclectic, bluesy hits to Northeast Florida
on November 4, 2015. Listening to hits like “Lowdown” and “Lido Shuffle” two
tracks from his latest album, “A Fool to Care,” should make this an incredibly
memorable evening. Don’t miss it.
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