Boz Scaggs
High school Rock bands come and go. Rarely does a one manage to stay together - post-high school - and make it. Just as rare is having those high school relationships pay-off down the road.
Born in Canton, OH, Boz Scaggs' family made the trek west finally settling in Plano, TX, just north of Dallas. Though born with the name William Royce Scaggs, a classmate nicknamed him "Bosley." In no time that was shortened to "Boz." Scaggs joined a couple of another classmate's bands. Eventually, Scaggs and Steve Miller continued their musical partnership when they went to the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Looking for opportunities, Scaggs went to London where he got a recording contract and made his solo debut album "Boz." Unfortunately, the album was not a commercial success. Two years later, '67, Boz was in San Francisco. There he reconnected with Miller and played on the Steve Miller Band's first two albums, "Children Of The Future" and "Sailor."
That experience led to a solo contract with Atlantic Records. His first effort, "Boz Scaggs," failed to resonate. Subsequent efforts didn't fare any better.
In '76, Scaggs worked with session musicians who later formed Toto (David Paich, Jeff Porcaro and David Hungate). Despite the rather dubious connection, this proved to be the perfect backing for Scaggs. Containing the R&B flavored "Lowdown," and "What Can I Say," plus the ballad "We're All Alone" and the classic bass/synth driven "Lido Shuffle," "Silk Degrees" peaked at #2 on the album chart.
Expectations were high for the '77 follow-up "Down Two Then Left." But aside from the popish " Hollywood " there wasn't much. Three years later, "Middle Man" spawned the marginal hits "Breakdown Dead Ahead" and "Jojo."
The ballad "Look What You've Done To Me" landed on the "Urban Cowboy" soundtrack and "Miss Sun," which was a single from his "Greatest Hits," were Scaggs' last shots for awhile. He became a restaurateur, opening the Blue Light Cafe in San Francisco. "Fortune and fame aren't what they appear to be," Scaggs told Rolling Stone in an interview. "The demands that are created by a career on that level were more than I wanted to continue at that time. I wanted to step outside it." Most expected Scaggs to take a year - maybe two - off. Turned out closer to seven.
'88's "Other Roads" contained yet another Top 40 hit ballad (his last) "Heart Of Mine." Around this time Scaggs launched Slim's, a nightclub also in San Francisco. Semi-retired from the music biz, Scaggs toured and recorded infrequently.
The album to get, for obvious reasons, is "Silk Degrees." Classic songs with solid backing - not to mention Scaggs' unique blue-eyed soul vocals - make this his premier album. "Hits" just adds more ballads though "Breakdown Dead Ahead" is one of the few times, along with "Lido Shuffle," where Boz really cranks it up.