Boz Scaggs: Boz Scaggs (1969)

The Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section was already legend in 1969, when Boz Scaggs went down to Alabama to record his first album after leaving the Steve Miller Band. AMG calls it an "enduring blue-eyed soul masterpiece". Such labels are easily given, but this album deserves it, i guess. Not least due to the input of a skinny, long-haired guy named Duane Allman playing guitar.

Wikipedia: "The album was originally mixed by Stax Records' engineer Terry Manning, but was remixed in 1977 to spotlight Duane Allman's guitar playing. The result was that many of the background voices and keyboards were mixed much lower in the mix, not to mention a weird 30 second volume drop at the end of Finding Her. This remix is the only version currently available on CD"

Lucky me, i found a British vinyl from 1972 in pristine condition for only € 5,-! This is how the album was initially intended to sound. And it sounds wonderful: earthy, soulful, a little raw, with a very clear mix nonetheless.

This is not Boz solo debut, btw. He recorded an folk blues album in Skandinavia in 1964.

The opening trio of songs - with the funky I'm Easy, the churchy I'll Be Long Gone and the mournful Another Day, Another Letter - shows three variations of Boz' and the Muscle Shoals group's specific blue-eyed soul sound.

Now You're Gone, although a country tune, fits in nicely. Finding Her has a mesmerising three/four rhythm and wonderful guitar. Look What i Got is probably the emotional highpoint of the album, with a staggering performance from Boz and music that manages to sound soulful and country at the same time.

Loan Me a Dime is Duane's big feature and he sure smokes. I'm not the biggest fan of 12 minute blues jams, though, so this is a track i play only ocassionally.

Boz sounds a lot like Van Morrison on Sweet Release. This similarity between Boz and Van would become even more apparent on later Scaggs' albums. A smililarity not only in material and arrangements, but in a sometimes almost irritating likeness of the voices.

With it's mix of soul, blues and country and it's seemingly archaic black and white cover pic, "Boz Scaggs" fits into the "back to the roots" trend of the late 1960s, as represented by Dylan and The Band for instance. Wherefore the AMG states that it "isn't necessarily a straight-up blue-eyed soul record" but "a kind of Americana fantasia". 

I'm Easy (Scaggs, Barry Beckett) - 3:05
I'll Be Long Gone - 4:13
Another Day (Another Letter) - 2:53
Now You're Gone - 3:47
Finding Her - 3:56
Look What I Got (Charles Chalmers, Donna Rhodes) - 4:10
Waiting for a Train (Jimmie Rodgers) - 2:40
Loan Me a Dime (Fenton Robinson) - 12:30
Sweet Release (aka Desolation Avenue) (Scaggs, Beckett) - 6:13

All tracks by Boz Scaggs, except as noted

Personnel:
Boz Scaggs (voc, g) Duane Allman, Eddie Hinton (g, slide-g, dobro), Jimmy Johnson (g),  Barry Beckett (key), Al Lester (vln), David Hood (b), Roger Hawkins (d), Joe Arnold, Charles Chalmers (ts), James Mitchell, Floyd Newman (bs), Ben Cauley (tp), Gene Bowlegs Miller (tb, tp), Joyce Dunn, Mary Holliday, Tracy Nelson, Jeanie Greene, Irma Routen, Donna Jean Godchaux (bg voc)