"Boz Scaggs [1969 Version + 1977 Remix Version]" by BOZ SCAGGS feat Duane Allman, Eddie Hinton and Barry Beckett (2015 Edsel/Rhino 2CD Remasters) - A Review by Mark Barry...

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"...Loan Me A Dime..."

After two albums with The Steve Miller Band in the late Sixties – it was time for the smooth Texan William Royce Scaggs to go solo. He signed to the prestigious Atlantic Records - gathering around him the cream of Muscle Shoals sessionmen (including the Memphis Horns) and set about recording his Bluesy/slightly Country debut album in 1969. Not that the world sat up and noticed. They didn’t.

His debut “Boz Scaggs” was released in the USA in August of 1969 but despite some favourable responses in the press - few in the public eye bought it. After four more albums with a patient Columbia Records between 1971 and 1974 that slowly built interest and chart presence – the Bozter finally found his inner Rock-Funk self and hit global paydirt with his March 1976 LP “Silk Degrees” which spanned massive worldwide radio-friendly hits like “Lido Shuffle”, “What Can I Say”, “Harbour Lights” and “Lowdown”. The album had legs past 1976 too into 1977.

So what with his debut containing rising luminaries like Eddie Hinton, Barry Beckett and especially the established cult guitar-hero Duane Allman in blistering form - Atlantic Records decided to call in Tom Perry to remix and re-launch the debut yet again for a modern day market (it didn’t take 2^nd time round either). And that’s where this UK 2CD reissue on Edsel/Rhino comes in – it brings together to the two versions of that debut album for the first time – and in remastered form with superb presentation and new 2015 interviews. Here are the slow starter details...

UK released May 2015 – "Boz Scaggs [1969 Version + 1977 Remix Version]" by BOZ SCAGGS on Edsel/Rhino EDSK 7093 (Barcode 740155709334) is a 2CD set in an outer card wrap and breaks down as follows:

Disc 1 (Original 1969 Version – see NOTES) (43:35 minutes)

1. I’m Easy [3:04 minutes]

2. I’ll Be Long Gone [4:11 minutes]

3. Another Day (Another Letter) [2:53 minutes]

4. Now You’re Gone [3:46 minutes]

5. Finding her [3:54 minutes]

6. Look What I Got [4:08 minutes]

7. Waiting For A Train [2:38 minutes]

8. Loan Me A Dime [12:29 minutes]

9. Sweet Release [6:13 minutes]

Disc 2 (1977 Remixed Version – see NOTES) (44:48 minutes):

1. I’m Easy [3:01 minutes]

2. I’ll Be Long Gone [4:02 minutes]

3. Another Day (Another Letter) [3:12 minutes]

4. Now You’re Gone [3:50 minutes]

5. Finding her [4:10 minutes]

6. Look What I Got [4:13 minutes]

7. Waiting For A Train [2:40 minutes]

8. Loan Me A Dime [13:02 minutes]

9. Sweet Release [6:20 minutes]

NOTES: Despite what the CDs say – someone has mistakenly placed the versions on the wrong discs – Disc 1 is in fact the 1977 REMIX and Disc 2 the 1969 ORIGINAL. What’s noticeable too from the timings provided above is that Perry slightly edited some of the tracks on the 1977 remix but elongated others by a tiny amount. The most pronounced is the indulgent thirteen-minutes of “Loan Me A Dime” lopped by a half-a-minute (and rightly so in my book). Most of the others have smaller changes – but it’s worth pointing out.

BOZ SCAGGS – Guitar and Lead Vocals

DUANE "Skydog" ALLMAN – Guitars and Dobro

EDDIE HINTON and JIMMY JOHNSON – Guitars

BARRY BECKETT – Keyboards

AL LESTER – Fiddle

DAVID HOOD – Bass

ROGER HAWKINS – Drums

Muscle Shoals Horn Section:

Joe Arnold – Tenor Saxophone

Charles Chalmers – Tenor Saxophone

Floyd Newman – Baritone Saxophone

James Mitchell – Baritone Saxophone on “I’m Easy”

Ben Cauley – Trumpet

Gene “Bowlegs” Miller – Trumpet & Trombone

Backing Singers:

Jeannie Greene, Donna Thatcher and Mary Holiday (on all selections)

Tracy Nelson, Irma Routen and Joyce Dunn on “Now You’re Gone” exclusively and additionally to Green, Thatcher and Holiday on “I’ll Be Long Gone”

There’s a tasty card wrap that lends the whole reissue a classy feel while the 20-page booklet features December 2014 liner notes by noted writer PAUL DYERS and a new interview with original LP producer JANN WENNER which throws light on how rushed the recordings were (Wenner, Scaggs and Marlin Greene produced the LP). There are label repros of the original LP on SD 8239 and lyrics (for the first time I believe) and tremendous photos of the fabulous band – David Hood, Jimmy Johnson, the backing lady singers, the Producer, Eddie Hinton and a naked Duane Allman standing in the woods with a hat on and his hands over his modesties. It’s beautifully done.

The howler mistake of wrong-mix/wrong-CD notwithstanding – all that anyone-can-make-mistake stuff pales against what you actually get here - a superb remaster for both albums (Peter Rynston at Tall Order Mastering). You can so hear how the record feels slightly empty and rushed first time around – and you can understand why Perry paired back the indulgent time length on the bluesy but brilliant “Loan Me A Dime” when he remixed the record in 1977. I actually prefer the 1977 version because it’s tighter and more importantly you can hear the musicianship more clearly – especially Duane Allman. The Dobro on “Look What I Got” (written by Muscle Shoals Sax player Charles Chambers and singer Donna Rhodes) is clearer as are the drums and backing singers. The same applies (times two) with his cover of the Jimmie Rogers yodelling song “Waiting For A Train” – Allman is very clear as is Beckett’s honky-tony piano runs.

I don’t know (even after another listen) if the album is actually any good – there’s a dreadful failure to ignite in too many of his songs – but then you’re hit with the fabulous Blues of “Loan Me A Dime”. Written by guitarist Fenton Robinson – it leads in with stunning organ work from Beckett – so Gospel, Blues and Soul all wrapped up in one. And then we get Duane in his “Skydog” looseness - letting rip on the frets half way in. On the remix his guitar is slightly more to the fore giving it more prominence and I agree completely with shortening the track on the remix (apparently this song is the reason why Wexler told them to close down recording faster and stop goofing around). It ends on “Sweet Release” – a slow six-minute Gospel lurch co-written by Scaggs and Barry Beckett.

With the best will in the world you could hardly call the “Boz Scaggs” album brilliant (it has its moments for sure) and in hindsight it’s easy to hear why it barely registered with the public. Having said that – there’s something about the quality of the remasters on offer here – and the different mixes too – that make you want to look at this record anew.

A superb reissue from Edsel – more of the same please...

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"My Time/Slow Dancer" by BOZ SCAGGS (March 2008 Beat Goes On CD Reissue - 2LPs on 1CD - Andrew Thompson Remaster) - A Review by Mark Barry...

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"…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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