Silk Degrees Explained

Silk Degrees
Type:studio
Artist:Boz Scaggs
Cover:Album Silk Degrees.jpg
Released:18 February 1976
Recorded:September–October 1975
Studio:Davlen Sound Studios, North Hollywood, California; Hollywood Sound Recorders, Los Angeles, California
Genre:
  • Blue-eyed soul
  • R&B[1]
  • disco[2]
Length:41:32
Label:Columbia 33920
Producer:Joe Wissert
Prev Title:Slow Dancer
Prev Year:1974
Next Title:Down Two Then Left
Next Year:1977

Silk Degrees is the seventh solo album by Boz Scaggs, released on Columbia Records in February 1976. The album peaked at No. 2 and spent 115 weeks on the Billboard 200. It has been certified five times platinum by the RIAA and remains Scaggs's best selling album.

Silk Degrees spawned four singles. "It's Over" (No. 38), "Lowdown" (No. 3) and "Lido Shuffle" (No. 11) made the Top 40, while "What Can I Say" peaked at No. 42.

Production

The album was recorded at Davlen Sound Studios and Hollywood Sound Recorders in Los Angeles. Among the accompanying musicians, David Paich, Jeff Porcaro, and David Hungate became members of Toto, while Fred Tackett became a member of Little Feat. The album marked Scaggs's commercial zenith, a mix of pop rock ("Jump Street" and "Lido Shuffle"), soul ("What Can I Say" and "Lowdown"), and ballads ("Harbor Lights" and "We're All Alone", which became a hit for Rita Coolidge). Scaggs wrote "Jump Street" 10 minutes before recording it, only having a rough idea of the lyrics. He stated he'd scream out words that "worked phonetically".

Title and cover art

Scaggs recalled that the album's title "was just something I had scribbled on the side of a page. The last thing I do after I record an album is name it. Silk Degrees doesn't mean anything specifically. It's just an image I couldn't get out of my head."[3]

The front cover photograph was by Moshe Brakha of Scaggs at Casino Point, Avalon, California.[4]

Release and reception

"Lowdown" reached the top 5 on the club play, black, disco, and pop charts and also did respectably on the AC chart, with its peak at number 3 on the pop chart. The song is an airplay staple to this day, particularly on AC, oldies, and smooth jazz radio stations. "It's Over", "What Can I Say", and "Lido Shuffle" reached numbers 38, 42 and 11, respectively, on the pop chart. At the Grammy Awards of 1977, "Lowdown" won the Grammy for Best R&B Song. Scaggs also received nominations for Album of the Year, Best LP Package, Best Pop Vocal by a Male, and Best R&B Vocal Performance by a Male for "Lowdown" and Joe Wissert received a nomination for Producer of the Year.

Reviewing for The Village Voice in 1976, Robert Christgau praised the album as "white soul with a sense of humor that isn't consumed in self-parody." The Leader-Post determined that, "occasionally, the melodies and arrangements ... are rather too perfected, and fall into soulful anonymity."[5] Alex Henderson of music database website AllMusic wrote that Scaggs "hit the R&B charts in a big way with the addictive, sly 'Lowdown' [...] and expressed his love of smooth soul music almost as well on the appealing 'What Can I Say'", nonetheless noting that "Scaggs was essentially a pop/rocker, and in that area he has a considerable amount of fun". Henderson found that while the more adult contemporary-leaning ballads are less remarkable, they "have more heart than most of the bland material dominating that format."

On February 27, 2007, Silk Degrees was reissued by Legacy Records with three bonus tracks recorded live at the Greek Theatre on August 15, 1976.

Track listing

Side one

Side two

2007 bonus tracks

Personnel

Production personnel

Charts

Weekly charts

Chart (1976–1978)Peak
position
Australian Albums (Kent Music Report)[7] 1
Canadian Albums (RPM)[8] 2

Year-end charts

Chart (1976)Rank
Canadian Albums (RPM)[9] 17
US Billboard Albums[10] 17
Chart (1977)Rank
Australian Albums (Kent Music Report)[11] 1
Canadian Albums (RPM)[12] 70
New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)[13] 28
US Billboard Albums[14] 8
Chart (1978)Rank
Australian Albums (Kent Music Report)[15] 20
New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)[16] 17

External links

Notes and References

  1. Book: Puterbaugh, Parke. Brackett. Nathan. Nathan Brackett. Hoard. Christian. Christian Hoard. Boz Scaggs. The New Rolling Stone Album Guide. The Rolling Stone Album Guide. Simon & Schuster. 4th. 2004. 0-7432-0169-8. 719–20.
  2. Book: Puterbaugh, Parke. Brackett. Nathan. Nathan Brackett. Hoard. Christian. Christian Hoard. Boz Scaggs. The New Rolling Stone Album Guide. The Rolling Stone Album Guide. Simon & Schuster. 4th. 2004. 0-7432-0169-8. 719–20.
  3. Web site: Boz Scaggs talks about his lost album.
  4. Web site: Musical Maps .
  5. News: Deane . Gary . Deane's discs . The Leader-Post . 2 Jul 1976 . 14.
  6. News: Boz Scaggs Explains How He Became The Father Of Toto . Noise11 Music Newsletter. 2014-04-14 . Cashmere, Paul. mdy-all.
  7. Book: Kent, David . David Kent (historian) . Australian Chart Book 1970–1992 . Australian Chart Book . St Ives, New South Wales, Australia . 1993 . 0-646-11917-6.
  8. RPM Top Albums . . 26 . 2 . 29 . October 9, 1976 . January 31, 2019.
  9. Brendan . Lyttle . Top 100 Albums of '76 . RPM . 26 . 14 & 15 . 11 . January 8, 1977 . January 31, 2019.
  10. Top Pop Albums . Billboard . TA-12 . December 25, 1976. ("Talent in Action" supplement)
  11. Kent (1993). p. 429.
  12. Top 100 Albums of '77 . RPM . 28 . 14 . 15 . December 31, 1977 . January 31, 2019.
  13. Web site: Top Selling Albums of 1977 . Recorded Music NZ . January 31, 2019.
  14. Top Pop Albums . Billboard . 66 . December 24, 1977.
  15. Kent (1993). p. 430.
  16. Web site: Top Selling Albums of 1978 . Recorded Music NZ . January 31, 2019.