Boz Scaggs | |
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 Scaggs in 2015 | |
| Background information | |
| Born | William Royce Scaggs (1944-06-08)June 8, 1944 (age 81) Canton, Ohio, U.S. |
| Origin | Plano, Texas, U.S. |
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| Years active | 1963–present |
| Labels | |
| Website | bozscaggs.com |
William Royce"Boz" Scaggs (born June 8, 1944) is an American singer, songwriter, and guitarist.[2] He was a bandmate ofSteve Miller inthe Ardells in the early 1960s and a member of theSteve Miller Band from 1967 to 1968.
Scaggs began his solo career in 1969, though he lacked a major hit until his 1976 album,Silk Degrees, peaked at number 2 on theBillboard 200 and produced the hit singles "Lido Shuffle" and "Lowdown". Scaggs produced two moreplatinum-certified albums inDown Two Then Left andMiddle Man, the latter of which produced the top-40 singles "Breakdown Dead Ahead" and "Jojo".
After a hiatus for most of the 1980s, he returned to recording and touring in 1988, releasingOther Roads and later joiningthe New York Rock and Soul Revue. Scaggs opened the nightclubSlim's, a popular music venue in San Francisco (it closed in 2020).[3] He has continued to record and tour throughout the 1990s, 2000s and 2010s, with his most recent albums being 2018'sOut of the Blues and 2025'sDetour.
Scaggs is credited for helping the formation ofToto. For his 1976 album,Silk Degrees, he hand-picked musicians after taking suggestions from several people.[4] These musicians wereDavid Paich,David Hungate andJeff Porcaro. The three were already friends and had frequently performed together on other albums, such asSteely Dan'sPretzel Logic. By going on tour with Scaggs, it solidified the prospect of starting a band.Columbia picked up on this talent by offering the new group a contract "without audition".Steve Porcaro described this as "a record deal thrown in our laps".[5] Paich stated, "I'm not sure if Toto would have happened as soon, or quite the same way, withoutSilk Degrees".[6] Their friendship has continued throughout the decades, shown by the varying collaborations and concerts performed together. Paich teamed up once more for Scaggs' 2001 album,Dig, contributing to 6 out of the 11 songs.[7]
Scaggs was born inCanton, Ohio,[2] the eldest child to Royce and Helen Scaggs. His father was a traveling salesman who had flown in theArmy Air Corps duringWorld War II. Their family moved toMcAlester, Oklahoma, then toPlano, Texas (at that time a farm town), just north ofDallas. He learned his first instrument, thecello, at age 9. He received a scholarship to attend a private school in Dallas,St. Mark's School of Texas.[8]
At St. Mark's, he met Steve Miller, who helped him to learn the guitar at age 12. A classmate wanted to give Scaggs a "weird" nickname. This started out as "Bosley", then "Boswell" and "Bosworth".[9] The name was later shortened toBoz.[10]
In 1959, he became the vocalist for Steve Miller's band, the Marksmen. After graduation in 1962, the pair later attended theUniversity of Wisconsin–Madison together, playing inblues bands like the Ardells and the Fabulous Knight Trains.[2]
Scaggs left school in 1963 to pursue a career in music. He signed up for the Army Reserve and formed a new band, the Wigs with John "Toad" Andrews and Bob Arthur. By 1965, the band joined the burgeoningR&B scene in London. Achieving little success, the group disbanded within a few months. Scaggs traveled throughoutEurope, earning money bybusking. He arrived inStockholm,Sweden, where he recorded his first solo debut album,Boz, in 1965 with theKarusell Grammofon AB label, which failed commercially.[2] He had a brief stint with the band the Other Side withMac MacLeod and Jack Downing.
Returning to the US, Scaggs promptly headed for the boomingpsychedelic music center ofSan Francisco in 1967 after receiving a postcard invitation from Steve Miller to join his band. He appeared on the Steve Miller Band's first two albums,Children of the Future andSailor in 1968.[11] He left the band due to different music tastes and tension between himself and Miller at the time. Scaggs secured a solo contract withAtlantic Records in 1968, releasing his second album,Boz Scaggs, a year later. It was produced byJann Wenner (co-founder of the magazineRolling Stone) and features theMuscle Shoals Rhythm Section andsession guitaristDuane Allman.[11] Despite good reviews, this release achieved only moderate sales. Scaggs briefly hooked up with San Francisco Bay Area bandMother Earth in a supporting role on their second albumMake a Joyful Noise on guitar and backup vocals.
Scaggs signed withColumbia Records releasing the albumsMoments in 1971 andMy Time in 1972. These first Columbia albums were modest sellers. Seeking a new more soulful direction, Columbia brought in formerMotown producerJohnny Bristol for Scaggs' next album,Slow Dancer (1974).[11] Although the album only made No. 81 on the US Billboard Album Chart, it subsequently attainedgold status, no doubt getting a boost from the huge success of Scaggs's next album,Silk Degrees.[2]
In 1976, using session musicians who later formed the band Toto, he recordedSilk Degrees,[11] withJoe Wissert on producing duties.[2] The album, which received aGrammy nomination for album of the year and a further nomination for Wissert as Producer of the Year, reached No. 2 on the USBillboard 200, and No. 1 in a number of other countries, spawning four hitsingles: "It's Over", "Lowdown", "What Can I Say", and "Lido Shuffle",[2] as well as the poignant ballad "We're All Alone",[11] whichRita Coolidge (who had performed backing vocals on an earlier Scaggs album) took to the top of the charts in 1977. "Lowdown" sold over one million copies in the US[12] and won theGrammy Award for Best R&B Song, which was shared by Scaggs andDavid Paich. InSaturday Night Fever,John Travolta choreographed his dance to "Lowdown".
In an interview, Travolta states "TheBee Gees weren't even involved in the movie in the beginning, I was dancing toStevie Wonder and Boz Scaggs."[13] However,Columbia denied the song's use as there was another disco movie using "Lowdown" (Looking for Mr. Goodbar).[14]
A sellout world tour followed. Scaggs was performing atAvery Fisher Hall (now the David Geffen Hall) in New York'sLincoln Center during the infamousJuly 13th New York City blackout in 1977. He was around 15 minutes into the concert when the power went out. Scaggs told the audience to save theirticket stubs as he would do a repeat concert on the Friday night, a few days after.[15] Scaggs performed withFleetwood Mac for a few concerts between 1976 and 1977.[16]
His follow-up album in 1977Down Two Then Left did not sell as well asSilk Degrees and neither of its singles reached the Top 40.[2] ForDown Two Then Left, Scaggs continued working with Toto and additionallyRay Parker Jr, who later created theGhostbusterstheme song in 1984.
The 1980 albumMiddle Man spawned two top 20 hits, "Breakdown Dead Ahead" (No. 15,Hot 100) and "Jojo" (No. 17, Hot 100); and Scaggs also enjoyed two more top 20 hits in 1980–81, "Look What You've Done to Me", from theUrban Cowboy soundtrack, and "Miss Sun", from a greatest hits set, both reaching No. 14 on the Hot 100. "Miss Sun" was an unreleased Toto demo from 1977 .
Scaggs took a long break from recording as he felt making music had become a "career" and that music had "left him". He did attempt to make a new album in 1983, but "it didn't feel right". In 1985, he succumbed to feelings of anxiety and felt he had to get a record out as there was "something very big missing" in his life.[17]
Scaggs' next album,Other Roads, did not appear until 1988[11] due to Columbia rejecting the record as "they didn't feel they had a strong hit single",[17] making Scaggs spend more time perfecting the album. "Heart of Mine", fromOther Roads, is Scaggs' last top-40 hit as of 2018.[2] Also in 1988, he opened the San Francisco nightclub,Slim's, and remained the owner of the venue until the club's closure in 2020.[18]
In 1992, Scaggs performed at Toto's tribute concert forJeff Porcaro, along withDon Henley, Donald Fagen,Eddie Van Halen,George Harrison, and Michael McDonald.[19]
His next solo release was the albumSome Change in 1994. He issuedCome On Home, an album ofrhythm and blues,[11] andMy Time: A Boz Scaggs Anthology, an anthology, in 1997.
In the summer of 1998, Boz toured as the opening act forStevie Nicks.[citation needed]
After another hiatus from recording, his next album,Dig, received good reviews. However, the CD was released on an unfortunate date – September 11, 2001.[20] In May 2003, Scaggs releasedBut Beautiful, a collection ofjazz standards that debuted at number one on the jazz chart. In 2008 he releasedSpeak Low, which he described in the liner notes as "a sort of progressive, experimental effort ... along the lines of some of the ideas that Gil Evans explored." During 2004, he released aDVD and a live 16-track CDGreatest Hits Live that was recorded August 2003 at theGreat American Music Hall in San Francisco. Dig was re-released in 2006, with the exception of the song 'Get on the Natch'.
After a break in recording, he undertook a series of shows across the US in 2008. Two years later he joinedDonald Fagen andMichael McDonald for concerts entitled theDukes of September Rhythm Revue.
His next albumMemphis was released in March 2013. It was recorded in that Southern American city at theRoyal Studios. The album included some of his favorite compositions from other artists. A tour of theUnited States,Canada andJapan followed the release. Before the year ended, he added live dates across North America and Australia for 2014. In 2015, he releasedA Fool to Care, a compilation of mostly covers, including "Whispering Pines" withLucinda Williams, and one original blues composition, "Hell to Pay", performed withBonnie Raitt. The album rose to number 1 on theBillboard Blues Album chart and number 54 on the Billboard 200.[21] In 2018, he releasedOut of the Blues, reaching number 1 on the Billboard Top Blues Albums chart.
In February 2024, he made his first post-pandemic visit toJapan, touring for seven shows in five locations throughout the country. From the stage of hisTokyo show, he announced that he would donate the guitars he used for his Japan tour to a charity auction to support the recovery from the2024 Noto Peninsula Earthquake which had struck on New Year's Day that year.[citation needed]
Scaggs married Donna Carmella Storniola,[22] his first wife, in 1973. They had two sons,Austin and Oscar. Scaggs and Carmella divorced in 1980[23] and three and a half years later, Scaggs won joint custody of his sons.[9] Austin is now a music journalist forRolling Stone. Oscar died on December 31, 1998, from a heroin overdose.[24][25] Carmella died in February 2017.[26]
In 1992, Scaggs married Dominique Gioia.[27] In 1996, they moved to Napa Valley and planted 2.2 acres of Grenache, Mourvedre, Syrah, and Counoise grapes.[28] In 2000 they made their first wine, and in 2006 Scaggs Vineyard was certified organic.[29] In 2016, Scaggs sold his plot to Newfound Wines.[30]
In October 2017, the couple's house burned down in theNorthern California wildfires. He and his wife were on tour at the time. He lost everything: the vineyard, cars, and sentimental objects such as decades worth of legal pads and cocktail napkins with lyrics on them.[31]
| Year | Type | Category | For |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1977 | Nominee | Album of the Year | Silk Degrees |
| Best R&B Vocal Performance, Male | "Lowdown" | ||
| Best Pop Vocal Performance, Male | Silk Degrees | ||
| Best Recording Package | |||
| Winner | Best Rhythm & Blues Song | "Lowdown" | |
| 1981 | Nominee | Best Album of Original Score Written for a Motion Picture or a Television Special | "Look What You've Done to Me" |
| 1998 | Nominee | Best Contemporary Blues Album | Come On Home |
| 2019 | Nominee | Best Contemporary Blues Album | Out of the Blues |
In 2019, Scaggs was awarded the Texas Medal of Arts.
| Year | Album | US |
|---|---|---|
| 1968 | Children of the Future | 134 |
| 1968 | Sailor | 24 |
| Year | Title | Peak chart positions | Certifications | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US [32] | US R&B [33] | AUS [34] | UK [12] | |||||
| 1965 | Boz | — | — | — | — | |||
| 1969 | Boz Scaggs* | 171 | — | — | — | |||
| 1971 | Moments | 124 | — | — | — | |||
| 1971 | Boz Scaggs & Band | 198 | — | — | — | |||
| 1972 | My Time | 138 | — | — | — | |||
| 1974 | Slow Dancer | 81 | — | 62 | — | |||
| 1976 | Silk Degrees | 2 | 6 | 1 | 20 | |||
| 1977 | Down Two Then Left | 11 | — | 4 | 55 | |||
| 1980 | Middle Man | 8 | 36 | 11 | 52 |
| ||
| 1988 | Other Roads | 47 | — | 35 | — | |||
| 1994 | Some Change | 91 | — | — | — | |||
| 1996 | Fade into Light | — | — | — | — | |||
| 1997 | Come On Home | 94 | — | — | — | |||
| 2001 | Dig | 146 | — | — | — | |||
| 2003 | But Beautiful | 167 | — | — | — | |||
| 2008 | Speak Low | 128 | — | — | — | |||
| 2013 | Memphis[38] | 17 | — | — | — | |||
| 2015 | A Fool to Care | 54 | — | — | — | |||
| 2018 | Out of the Blues[39] | 82 | — | — | — | |||
| 2025 | Detour[40] | — | — | — | — | |||
| "—" denotes releases that did not chart or were not released in that territory. | ||||||||
* While the 1969 self-titled Atlantic album failed to chart upon initial release, it peaked at No. 171 when reissued in 1974. Three years later the album was reissued once again, this time as remixed by Tom Perry at Sound City in Los Angeles in October 1977. This version only bubbled under theBillboard 200, reaching No. 209, but the remix has been used for most subsequent reissues. In 2015 a 2CD was released combining both the 1969 original version and the 1977 remixed version.
*Rolling Stone ranked this album at number 496 on its list of the500 Greatest Albums of All Time.
| Year | Album | Peak chart positions | Certifications | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US [32] | AUS [34] | |||||||
| 1980 | Hits! | 24 | 9 |
| ||||
| 1984 | His Greatest Hits | — | 28 | |||||
| 1997 | My Time: A Boz Scaggs Anthology | — | — | |||||
| 2004 | Greatest Hits Live | — | — | |||||
| 2013 | The Essential Boz Scaggs | — | — | |||||
| 2019 | Japanese Singles Collection-Greatest Hits- [jp] | — | — | |||||
| "—" denotes releases that did not chart or were not released in that territory. | ||||||||
| Year | Title | Peak chart positions | Album | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US [41] | US AC [42] | CAN [43] | CAN AC [44] | UK [12] | IRE [45] | AUS [46] | NZ [47] | |||
| 1971 | "We Were Always Sweethearts" | 61 | — | 40 | — | — | — | — | — | Moments |
| "Near You" | 96 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1972 | "Dinah Flo" | 86 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | My Time |
| 1976 | "It's Over" | 38 | — | 79 | — | — | — | 63 | — | Silk Degrees |
| "Lowdown" | 3 | 11 | 2 | 7 | 28 | — | 54 | 35 | ||
| "What Can I Say" | 42 | 35 | 55 | 21 | 10 | — | 2 | — | ||
| 1977 | "Lido Shuffle" | 11 | — | 5 | — | 13 | — | 18 | ||
| "Hard Times" | 58 | — | 79 | — | — | — | 40 | — | Down Two Then Left | |
| 1978 | "Hollywood" | 49 | — | 44 | 23 | 33 | 19 | 43 | 7 | |
| 1980 | "Breakdown Dead Ahead" | 15 | — | 8 | — | — | — | 64 | — | Middle Man |
| "Jojo" | 17 | 29 | 15 | — | — | — | 73 | — | ||
| "Look What You've Done to Me" | 14 | 3 | 30 | 41 | — | — | — | — | Urban Cowboy (soundtrack) | |
| "Miss Sun" | 14 | 13 | 33 | — | — | — | — | — | Hits! | |
| 1988 | "Heart of Mine" | 35 | 3 | 25 | — | — | — | 60 | — | Other Roads |
| "Cool Running" | — | 39 | 43 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1994 | "Some Change" | — | — | 38 | — | — | — | — | — | Some Change |
| "I'll Be the One" | — | — | 68 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| Source:[2] | ||||||||||
One of the great blue-eyed soul singers, he started gritty but had more success when he turned toward smooth soft rock in the back half of the '70s. […] Boz Scaggs is a Grammy-winning, chart-topping blues, jazz, and R&B singer/songwriter and performer.
48.Boz Scag Presents Charity Auction for 2024 Noto Peninsula Earthquake Disaster Recovery, March 29, 2024-April 14, 2024
