This review and hundreds more like it can also be found in my
SOUNDS GOOD Music Book: 1960s and 1970s MUSIC Volume 2
- Exceptional CD Remasters
It contains over 210 in-depth reviews (a whopping 2400+ e-Pages)
And is available to buy/download at Amazon at the following link...
And is available to buy/download at Amazon at the following link...
"…Sharpest Cat In Town...Must Be Hercules…"
With his 1969 Atlantic
Records debut album under his perfectly coiffured belt (it didn't chart in
either the UK or USA) - William Royce Scaggs singed to Columbia Records in the
early Seventies and hoped for bigger things.
Beat Goes On of the UK have
already reissued his 2nd and 3rd albums "Moments" and "Boz
Scaggs & Band" (both from 1971) onto 1CD in this series - here you get
the next in line from 1972 and 1974 lumped together onto another single CD. You
can literally hear the Rock/Soulful songwriter he would become with 1976's
breakthrough album "Silk Degrees" coming to the fore on these
records. Here are the tuneful Seventies details...
Originally UK released March
2008 (reissued 2010 and 2015) - "My Time/Slow dancer" by BOZ SCAGGS
on Beat Goes On BGOCD813 (Barcode 5017261208132) features his 4th and 5th
albums remastered onto one CD and breaks down as follows (69:56 minutes):
1. Dinah Flo
2. Slowly In The West
3. Full-Lock Power Slide
4. Old Time Lovin'
5. Might Have To Cry
6. Hello My Lover [Side 2]
7. Freedom For The Stallion
8. He's A Fool For You
9. We're Gonna Roll
10. My Time
Tracks 1 to 10 are his 3rd LP
"My Time" - issued September 1972 in the USA on Columbia KC 31384 and
in the UK on CBS S 64975
Tracks 1, 3, 5, 8, 9 and 10
are Boz Scaggs originals. "Slowly In The West" is a David Brown (aka
Norton Buffalo) cover, "Old Time Lovin'" is an Al Green cover and
both "Hello My Lover" and "Freedom For The Stallion" are
Allen Toussaint songs. EDDIE HINTON plays guitar on Tracks 1, 2, 5, 6, 8 and
10.
11. You Make It So Hard (To
Say No) [Boz Scaggs]
12. Slow Dancer [Boz
Scaggs/George Daly]
13. Angel Lady (Come Just In
Time) [Scaggs/Johnny Bristol/Jim McDonagh]
14. There Is Someone Else
[Boz Scaggs]
15. Hercules [Allen Toussaint
song/Meters cover]
16. Pain Of Love [Johnny
Bristol] [Side 2]
17. Sail On White Moon
[Johnny Bristol]
18. Let It Happen [Boz
Scaggs/Johnny Bristol]
19. I Got Your Number [Johnny
Bristol/Greg Reeves]
20. Take It For Granted [Boz
Scaggs/Barry Beckett]
Tracks 11 to 20 are his 4th
LP "Slow Dancer" - issued March 1974 in the USA on Columbia KC 32760
and April 1974 in the UK on CBS 65963. Songwriting credits listed
track-by-track above.
The 12-page inlay has
affectionate and knowledgeable liner notes by noted music writer JOHN O'REGAN
and features repro'd artwork and full musician/album credits. There's a nice
card-wrap on the outside of the jewel case and the sound quality is beautifully
clear and punchy throughout - digitally remastered in 2008 by ANDREW THOMPSON
at Sound Performance in London.
That template of Soulful Rock
he would adopt for much of the Seventies and Eighties kicks in with the
"Dinah Flo" opener - strings and girl singers and a slightly funky
edge to his Rock. Sweeter is the ballad "Slowly In The West" which is
followed by the Big-Guitars Rock of "Full-Lock Power Slide" - a sort
of Joe Walsh riff that boogies along very nicely. But Side One belongs to his
gorgeous cover of an Al Green Hi Records classic "Old Time Lovin'"
where Boz's band sound not just comfortable but positively inhabiting the
Soulfulness of the tune (big organ sound and lady singers throughout). The
remaster on the love song "Might Have To Cry" is gorgeous - so sweet.
Things are taken up a New Orleans notch or too with the excellent Toussaint
tracks - the funky "Hello My Lover" and the Gospel feel of
"Freedom For The Stallion". After the guitar-poppy "We're Gonna
Roll" - the "My Time" album ends of a very Soulful note - the
title track - sounding so smooth. And two of my session heroes get their
moments – EDDIE HINTON plays Acoustic Guitar on Tracks 1, 2, 5, 6, 8 and 10 alongside
his pal BARRY BECKETT who lays down Piano on the same six tracks.
Things move a very big step
towards 1976's "Silk Degrees" with the slinky "Slow Dancer
album" from 1974. It opens with the very Philly strings and brass of
"You Make It So Hard (To Say No)" - a hit single if ever there was
one. After the smooch of "Slow Dancer" we get down to Funky business
with "Angel Lady..." where Boz has clearly been listening to Stevie
Wonder. After the "gotta go with someone else" pleading smooze of
"There Is Someone Else" fades - we get the fantastic
"Hercules" (written by Allen Toussaint and covered by The Meters) - a
track that for me single-handedly elevates the whole album into something
special - what a tune. This is followed by a clump of Johnny Bristol white-boy
soulful jaunts like "Let It Happen" and "I Got Your Number"
which are very 1974 Funk Rock.
It's not all genius for sure
and his 1976 return with "Silk Degree" would finally culminate in a
worldwide winner - but this is where that class started. And with the nice
presentation and superb sound - a must-have for fans...
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