Boz Scaggs: Greatest Hits Live

Elly Roberts reviews

Boz Scaggs:
Greatest Hits Live (DVD & Double CD)
Distributed by
Mailboat Studios (CD) & Coming Home Studios (DVD)

    CoverCD:
    DVD:

  • Released: 11/10/04 (CD) / 01/11/04 (DVD)
  • Cat. No: GCD4001 (CD) / CHS10029 (DVD)
  • Price: £11.99 (CD) / £12.99 (DVD)
  • Rating: 10/10
  • DVD Extras: Booklet with credits, Photo gallery, Behind the scenesdocumentary, Special bonus track

    Track listing:

      1. Lowdown
      2. Slow Dancer
      3. Heart Of Mine
      4. It All Went Down The Drain
      5. Harbor Lights
      6. Jojo
      7. Ask Me ‘ Bout Nothin’ But The Blues
      8. Breakdown Dead Ahead
      9. Look What You’ve Done To Me
      10. I Just Go
      11. Georgia
      12. Miss Sun
      13. Lido Shuffle
      14. Runnin’ Blue
      15. Loan Me A Dime
      16. We’re All Alone

Double-delight for genuine music lovers as American singer-songwriter Boz Scaggshas a simultaneous release on DVD (Coming Home Studios) and CD(Mailboat Records) of his Greatest Hits Live.

Released on 11 October, this wonderful concert finds Scaggs on top form ashe plays an intimate concert at the Great American Music Hall in San Franciscoon 27 August 2003.

Born William Royce Scaggs on 8 June 1944 in Ohio, he struggled to make an impactin his formative music career. Eventually, he hit a purple patch with abrief excursion into the British singles charts in late 1976 through to theend of 1977 – sadly he hasn’t charted since.

His stunning album Silk Degrees (5 million seller, and one of my all-timefavourites) spawned most of his best known hits – Lowdown, What Can I Say,and Lido Shuffle. They are in reality only the tip of the iceberg, becausehe’s been consistently releasing excellent albums since 1966.

Over the years, his eclectic range of music has drawn music luminaries likeCarlos Santana, David Paich, Steve Lukather, Jeff Porcaro (all Toto members),Nathan East (Eric Clapton’s bassist), Booker T Jones, Duane Allman, VictorFeldman to contribute to his studio work. He’s very difficult to pigeon-hole,but to get that kind of talent on your side you simply have to be respected.


Now comes this sophisticated gig where he draws on material from albums SilkDegrees, Boz The Ballade, Middle Man and others making this his first everlive DVD. Grammy award-winning Scaggs and his 8 piece band tackle jazz,blues ballads and pre – Fun Lovin’ Criminals urban jazz – soul. His blue –eyed soul voice is highly distinctive on record, and it sounds even betterlive.

Melt at his brilliant Harbor Lights, dance to Lido Shuffle, get sad toLoan Me Dime – there’s something here for everyone. There simply isn’t a badsong on this collection and I guarantee you’ll enjoy it whether you’rewatching the DVD or listening to the CD – from the funky baseline of theopener Lowdown – you’ll be hooked. Speaking of the performance, Scaggs says,“It’s not every night or just any band that can pull off this song list.”

The DVD, directed by Lawrence Jordan, also features behind the scenesfootage including rehearsals and back stage dialogue, a photo gallery, andbonus performance of Harbor Lights by Boz’s Jazz Quintet.

This is a far cry from the days he wandered around Europe as a street singerin the early ’60 – he learnt his trade well – and it shows . Absolute CLASS.

[Up to the top of this page]


Loading…