Boz Scaggs - Boz Scaggs (1969) [Audio Fidelity 2013] PS3 ISO + DSD64 + Hi-Res FLAC

Boz Scaggs is the second album by American singer-songwriter and guitarist. After two years with the Steve Miller Band, Scaggs set out on his own, recording at Muscle Shoals Sound Studio in Sheffield, Alabama. Backing musicians on the album include Duane Allman, Eddie Hinton, Jimmy Johnson, Barry Beckett, David Hood, Roger Hawkins, and Al Lester. It was produced by Rolling Stone founder and editor Jann Wenner, Scaggs, and Marlin Greene. Mixed by Terry Manning of Stax Records, it was deleted from the catalog around 1974. The remix was the only version of the album available in digital form until December 2013 when Audio Fidelity reissued the album on SACD with Manning's 1969 mix. In 2012 the album was No. 496 on Rolling Stone magazine's The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time.

Departing from the Steve Miller Band after a two-album stint, Boz Scaggs found himself on his own but not without support. Rolling Stone publisher Jann Wenner, his friend, helped him sign with Atlantic Records and the label had him set up shop in Muscle Shoals, recording his debut album with that legendary set of studio musicians, known for their down-and-dirty backing work for Aretha Franklin and Wilson Pickett, among many other Southern soul legends. The Muscle Shoals rhythm section, occasionally augmented by guitarist Duane Allman, gives this music genuine grit, but this isn't necessarily a straight-up blue-eyed soul record, even if the opening "I'm Easy" and "I'll Be Long Gone" are certainly as deeply soulful as anything cut at Muscle Shoals. Even at this early stage Scaggs wasn't content to stay in one place, and he crafted a kind of Americana fantasia here, also dabbling in country and blues along with the soul and R&B that grounds this record. If the country shuffle "Now You're Gone" sounds just slightly a shade bit too vaudeville for its own good, it only stands out because the rest of the record is pitch-perfect, from the Jimmie Rodgers cover "Waiting for a Train" and the folky "Look What I Got!" to the extended 11-minute blues workout "Loan Me a Dime," which functions as much as a showcase for a blazing Duane Allman as it does for Boz. But even with that show-stealing turn, and even with the Muscle Shoals musicians giving this album its muscle and part of its soul, this album is still thoroughly a showcase for Boz Scaggs' musical vision, which even at this stage is wide and deep. It would grow smoother and more assured over the years, but the slight bit of raggedness suits the funky, down-home performances and helps make this not only a great debut, but also an enduring blue-eyed soul masterpiece.

Tracklist:

01. I'm Easy
02. I'll Be Long Gone
03. Another Day (Another Letter)
04. Now You're Gone
05. Finding Her
06. Look What I Got
07. Waiting For A Train
08. Loan Me A Dime
09. Sweet Release

Mastered by Kevin Gray at Cohearent Audio.


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Uncompressed SACD ISO size > 1,79 GB
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