| After first
finding acclaim as a member of the Steve Miller Band, singer/
songwriter Boz Scaggs went on to enjoy considerable solo success
in the 1970s. Born William Royce Scaggs in Ohio on June 8, 1944,
he was raised in Oklahoma and Texas, and while attending prep
school in Dallas met guitarist Steve Miller.
After joining Miller's group
the Marksmen as a vocalist in 1959, the pair later attended
the University of Wisconsin together, playing in blues bands
like the Ardells and the Fabulous Knight Trains.
In 1963 Scaggs returned to Dallas
alone, fronting an R&B unit dubbed the Wigs; after relocating
to England, the group promptly disbanded, and two of its members
— John Andrews and Bob Arthur — soon formed Mother Earth.
Scaggs remained in Europe, singing
on street corners; in Sweden he recorded a failed solo LP, 1965's
Boz, before returning to the U.S. two years later.
Upon settling in San Francisco,
he reunited with Miller, joining the fledgling Steve Miller
Band; after recording two acclaimed albums with the group, Children
of the Future and Sailor, Scaggs exited in 1968 to mount a solo
career.With the aid
of Rolling Stone magazine publisher Jann Wenner, Scaggs secured
a contract with Atlantic. Sporting a cameo from Duane Allman,
1968's soulful Boz Scaggs failed to find an audience despite
winning critical favor; the track "Loan Me a Dime" later became
the subject of a court battle when blues man Fenton Robinson
successfully sued for composer credit.
After signing to Columbia, Scaggs
teamed with producer Glyn Johns to record 1971's Moments, a
skillful blend of rock and R&B which, like its predecessor,
failed to make much of an impression on the charts.
Scaggs remained a critics' darling
over the course of LPs like 1972's My Time and 1974's Slow Dancer,
but he did not achieve a commercial breakthrough until 1976's
Silk Degrees, which reached number two on the album charts while
spawning the Top Three single "Lowdown," as well as the smash
"Lido Shuffle."
1977's Down Two, Then Left was
also a success, and 1980's Middle Man reached the Top Ten on
the strength of the singles "Breakdown Dead Ahead" and "Jo Jo."
However, Scaggs spent much of
the 1980s in retirement, owning and operating the San Francisco
nightclub Slim's and limiting his performances primarily to
the club's annual black-tie New Year's Eve concerts.
Finally, in 1988 he resurfaced
with the album Other Roads, followed three years later by a
tour with Donald Fagen's Rock and Soul Revue. The solo Some
Change appeared in 1994, with Come on Home released in 1997. |
