Boz Scaggs "Memphis"

 

So let us consider a similarly styled album to EC's "Elderly Legging."  Boz is just a few months Clapton's elder and gained fame in the 60's with The Steve Miller Band while EC garnered his through The Yardbirds and Cream.  EC is a three-time Rock Hall Of Famer, Boz won a Grammy.  Boz had a helluva run through my college years in the late 70's with five Gold/Platinum albums.  "Silk Degrees" was one of the soundtracks to a stroll across the Rollins College campus (when the weather allowed for open dorm windows) along with Steely Dan's "Aja" and Boston's debut. Boz took a lengthy hiatus from the music biz in the 80's, EC tried to drink himself to death.  Clapton's known for his guitar and has a recognizable singing voice,  Boz has that unmistakable voice yet he's never received the proper recognition for it.  OK, that's enough, on to the album comparison.

"Memphis" was recorded there in three days and uses the Al Green template for the soulful sounds, including the same producer and studio.  It's so predominant that even Mrs. Rocker said "Al Green" as a guess for the opener, not Boz!  It's one of the record's two new songs, both actually penned by the artist and not farmed out like Clapton's.  There are ten covers here, too, but these are given serious attention, not Clapton's casual, playful, more-worthy-of-a-karaoke-bar treatment.  You know what?  I've found the official promo for the album and it does a much better job of laying out the details than I could...



There's an old Steely Dan song included, likely born from running with Fagan in the NY Rock & Soul/Dukes Of September Rhythm Revue.  One of my favorites comes from the Mink Deville debut album from 1977...



Another shared tune from that album is Willy Deville's "Mixed Up, Shook Up Girl."  Now I'm going to have to dig out my vinyl copy (bullshit...Grooveshark, here I come...).

Two 68-year-old artists; ten covers/two originals; one debuts @ 7, the other 17; one sucks and the other one doesn't.  Do I have to say more?