Boz Scaggs Silk Degrees 180g LP (Vinyl)

Boz Scaggs is a unique and marvelous singer. His soulful voice can be, in turn, silky-smooth and sensual or funky and upbeat, depending on the material, but it is always compelling. This voice comes through superbly on the ten great tunes featured on 1976's Silk Degrees.

Scaggs, a solid composer in his own right, wrote three tracks on his own and co-wrote five more with David Paich. Paich contributed the delightful "Love Me Tomorrow" by himself. Also included is a cover of Allen Toussaint's excellent "What Do You Want The Girl To Do".

Stylistically, the compositions are a nice blend of Philly soul-influenced pop and rock. The production is very slick and sophisticated thanks to the arrangements by future Toto keyboardist David Paich, the orchestral direction (strings and brass) by Sid Sharp, the soulful back-up vocals, and the sheer artistry of all the musicians involved.

A classic of elegant, well crafted music.

Both artistically and commercially, Boz Scaggs had his greatest success with Silk Degrees. The laid-back singer hit the R&B charts in a big way with the addictive, sly 'Lowdown' (which has been sampled by more than a few rappers and remains a favorite among baby-boomer soul fans) and expressed his love of smooth soul music almost as well on the appealing 'What Can I Say.' But Scaggs was essentially a pop/rocker, and in that area he has a considerable amount of fun on 'Lido Shuffle' (another major hit single), 'What Do You Want the Girl to Do,' and 'Jump Street.' Meanwhile, 'We're All Alone' and 'Harbor Lights' became staples on adult contemporary radio.