March 2025
Atlantic Records / Acoustic Sounds SD 8239 /APA 070-45
Format: LP
Musical Performance
Sound Quality
Overall Enjoyment
Boz Scaggs recorded his first solo album in Stockholm, Sweden, in 1965. Polydor Records released Boz in 1966, but it didn’t get wide distribution. On his return to the US, he joined up with Steve Miller in San Francisco. Scaggs had known Miller since high school, and they had played together in bands in high school and college.
Scaggs appeared on the Steve Miller Band’s first two LPs, Children of the Future and Sailor, both of which were released in 1968. He had written songs for both albums and decided to embark on a solo career. One of Scaggs’s neighbors in the Bay Area was Jann Wenner, the publisher of Rolling Stone. Scaggs played him some of his new songs, and Wenner encouraged him to record a demo. Wenner passed the demo along to Jerry Wexler, one of the presidents of Atlantic Records.
Scaggs signed with Atlantic in early 1969, and Wenner produced the singer’s first album on the label. Wenner advised Scaggs to record at Muscle Shoals Sound Studio, which had been formed that year by Barry Beckett, Roger Hawkins, Jimmy Johnson, and David Hood—four musicians who had played on sessions at nearby FAME Studios. They had already appeared on recordings by Aretha Franklin, Wilson Pickett, and many others while they were with FAME, and would attract many of the same musicians to their new studio.
Wenner and Scaggs were hoping that Duane Allman, who had developed an impressive reputation in the previous year by playing on sessions at FAME, would appear on Scaggs’s album. They were disappointed to learn that Allman had left for Macon, Georgia, where he was starting his own band. Wenner convinced him to come to Muscle Shoals for a week, and Scaggs entered the studio with the Muscle Shoals players, Allman, and other musicians and backing vocalists to record Boz Scaggs, which Atlantic Records released in August 1969. Marlin Greene, an engineer at the studio, recorded and coproduced the album.
Boz Scaggs is the latest release in the Atlantic 75 Audiophile Series, which Analogue Productions and Atlantic began in 2023 to celebrate the label’s 75th anniversary. It was cut at 45 rpm by Kevin Gray, and pressed at Quality Record Pressings on two 180gm records. I’ll be comparing it to a copy I bought in 1971.
Discogs.com reports that my copy was pressed in 1969 at Presswell Records Manufacturing Company in New Jersey, and Longwell Plating created the stampers for the LP. I couldn’t see any initials on the dead wax that would tell me who cut the lacquer for the album. The “AT” etched into the vinyl just indicates that it was cut by someone on staff at Atlantic.
I was pleased that after more than 50 years, my copy of Boz Scaggs was relatively quiet. I bought it a few years before I got a light-tracking cartridge, so the album logged some hours on less-than-hi-fi ’tables. When I dropped the needle on this reissue from Quality Record Pressings, though, the vinyl was so quiet that the groove wear on my original became more obvious during my comparisons.
“I’m Easy” shows Scaggs’s Southern-soul roots, and opens with conga, piano, and drums. On my system, I heard the conga in the left channel and the piano and drums on the right on the earlier pressing. On the Analogue Productions pressing, the drums were inclined toward the center, which gave all three instruments more room. The congas and drums sounded firmer and echoed more naturally on the new pressing. When Scaggs enters on vocals, his voice was much more three-dimensional and centered, as well as solidly out in front of the band. Hood’s bass pulls the song together and keeps it moving, and it was cleaner and snappier on the new release. It was much easier to hear Hood’s attack and to appreciate how melodic and inventive his bass lines are.
Hawkins’s kick drum sounds somewhat muted when I play my earlier pressing. On this reissue, it popped out of my speakers and worked together with Hood’s bass to give the song the soulful drive it needs. The horn arrangement on “I’m Easy” came through more clearly, as did the backing vocals. Allman’s guitar fills cut through with more intensity. “Another Day (Another Letter)” is another fine example of Scaggs’s soul chops, both as a songwriter and a singer. To my ear, Gray has presented the music on a wider, deeper soundstage that allows the instruments and background vocals to register clearly.
“I’ll Be Long Gone” and “Finding Her” are the kind of smooth, urban soul that Scaggs perfected during the ’70s. Both tracks demonstrate the versatility of the Muscle Shoals guys. When I switched from the earlier pressing to the new one, I heard what sounded like finger cymbals in the left channel—something I’d never noticed before. The horns were more prominent without being overwhelming, and Allman’s subtle guitar was easier to hear. The chimes in “Finding Her” sustained more solidly on the new pressing, and Allman’s beautiful and melodic slide-playing stepped forward to establish the mood for the song.
“Now You’re Gone” is a convincing slice of honky-tonk country. On the original pressing, the piano is in the right channel and Johnson’s rhythm guitar is in the left. On the Analogue Productions reissue, the channels are switched; however, Allman’s slide is in the right channel on both pressings. I did a little digging, and I believe Gray’s source was a 1978 remix that Atlantic used when the label reissued the album that year. In any case, all the instruments are more vibrant; by comparison, on the older pressing the piano sounded muffled and Allman’s slide didn’t cut as deeply.
Country-music great Jimmie Rodgers wrote “Waiting for a Train” in 1928, and the Muscle Shoals players again demonstrate their mastery of American music genres on this track. The new reissue has moved some instruments into different spots from the original, but the sound was much cleaner—I found it easier to hear the unique characteristics of Allman’s Dobro and the grit and conviction of Al Lester’s fiddle.
“Loan Me a Dime” is perhaps the high point of the album. A cover of a blues tune by Fenton Robinson that was inaccurately credited to Scaggs in the early pressings, the song runs nearly 13 minutes and gives Allman room to stretch out. Beckett’s Hammond organ opens the track, and on the new pressing I could hear the tone of the instrument’s Leslie speaker better. Beckett then adds piano, and while the organ and piano are in separate channels on the original, now they are arranged more closely to the center and presented in more detail.
Allman’s first solo is brighter and more cutting on this reissue, and I could hear how subtly he used his guitar pick to create dynamics and emphasis. The rise and fall in volume of Beckett’s organ swells was more noticeable, and Hood’s bass thumped more forcefully. The horns that filter in as the arrangement builds sounded more layered, and Beckett’s Hammond fills were clearer.
Allman begins a lengthy solo at about the halfway point, and I could hear every nuance with startling clarity on this new pressing. When the horns come back in to support him, they sounded a bit brighter and I could hear the trumpet better—listening to the earlier pressing, it was crowded out by the saxes. As Allman’s solo continues, I found it much easier now to hear the other musicians responding to him, supporting him and driving him on.
I did notice, however, that Johnson’s stellar rhythm guitar work on “Loan Me a Dime” was pulled back on the new pressing, especially in the second half of the song. On the original, I can hear how his playing locks in with Allman’s solo and grounds it. The track sounded so drastically different on this reissue that I felt even more certain the source was the 1978 remix of the album, and I prefer the original mix.
Otherwise, Gray’s cut of Boz Scaggs is an improvement over the original. Johnson’s playing is, thankfully, not pulled down on the other songs, and the other players are presented with more energy and clarity throughout the album than on the earlier release. I already mentioned Hood’s bass, but Hawkins’s snare-drum technique and his kick drum are better represented on this reissue, and Beckett’s keys sounded fuller and more realistic on my system. Scaggs benefits most. His voice rang out firmly in front of the music and his impressive skills as a singer showed through.
This reissue leans a little more to the treble than the original and it’s cut at a slightly higher output. I rolled the volume back a little on my system, which made the recording sound more balanced to me. I noted that the sequencing has been changed to ensure that each side runs about ten minutes. “Loan Me a Dime” takes up all of side 4 and closes the album. Originally, “Sweet Release” was the last track, but now it shares side 3 with “Waiting for a Train.”
The two LPs in my Atlantic 75 Audiophile Series copy of Boz Scaggs were beautifully pressed. The vinyl was silent, flat, and accurately centered. The gatefold cover is heavyweight cardboard, with tipped-on artwork that matches the matte finish of the original. Photo reproduction is excellent, and each LP is housed in a nice static-free sleeve.
Boz Scaggs received good reviews on first release but sold modestly. It was the singer’s only album for Atlantic, and Scaggs would enjoy greater success when he moved to Columbia Records. Duane Allman’s performance is one reason to own the album, but his guitar-playing doesn’t dominate it. It’s Boz’s record, and he would build on the versatility and songwriting skills he displays. The Muscle Shoals musicians and Allman put him on the right path.
. . . Joseph Taylor
josepht@soundstagenetwork.com
