Boz Scaggs probably has as much to do with the pop musical heritage of the Bay Area as any established San Francisco act. Born in 1944, the successful singer/songwriter /guitarist recorded this memorable show as part of a multiple night showcase staged at the Paramount Theatre in Oakland during March of 1974. Scaggs was promoting Slow Dancer, an album that would give him enough momentum to write and record Silk Degrees, his commercial breakthrough album, which was released two years after this show. And though his national recognition was still very much in a growing phase, in…entire summary

Boz Scaggs - vocals, guitar
Les Dudek - guitar, vocals
Coke Escovedo - percussion
Chris Michie - guitar
Gene Santini - bass
Rick Schlosser - drums
Joachim Young - keyboards
Mark Jordan - keyboards, guitar
Mel Martin - horns
Pat O’Hara - horns
Tom Slope - horns
Julia Tillman - backing vocals
Caronline Willis - backing vocals
Merna Matthews - backing vocals
Orchestra conducted by Fred Merge

Boz Scaggs probably has as much to do with the pop musical heritage of the Bay Area as any established San Francisco act. Born in 1944, the successful singer/songwriter /guitarist recorded this memorable show as part of a multiple night showcase staged at the Paramount Theatre in Oakland during March of 1974. Scaggs was promoting Slow Dancer, an album that would give him enough momentum to write and record Silk Degrees, his commercial breakthrough album, which was released two years after this show. And though his national recognition was still very much in a growing phase, in the Bay Area he had become a genuine musical hero. For this run of shows, Scaggs assembled a brilliant backup band of the area’s best players and supplemented them with additional vocalists, as well as a string section.

Born in the heartland of Ohio, Scaggs spent time growing up in both Oklahoma and Texas, where he attended boarding school. While there, he began playing guitar. Soon after, Scaggs met and befriended Steve Miller, another blues enthusiast and guitarist, and the two played in cover and blues bands (most notably the Marksmen) before leaving to attend the University of Wisconsin. But Scaggs opted for a life on the road. He got another blues-based band together, and after touring Europe, he stayed while his bandmates returned home. Scaggs became a street musician in Sweden, where he eventually generated enough interest to record his first album, Boz, in 1965. Today this album is a rare collector’s item, but back then it failed to find an audience in Europe and was soon forgotten.

Discouraged but not defeated, Scaggs returned to the U.S. and settled in the Bay Area, where his good friend Steve Miller was living and working as a professional musician. Miller asked Scaggs to join the then-unknown Steve Miller Band. Scaggs didn’t like the idea of being a backing musician, but because it was his old friend, he agreed. Between 1967 and 1968, Scaggs made sizable contributions to Sailor and Children of the Future, two acclaimed albums that came out during this period.

His friendship with Miller, who was fast becoming a star, proved to be advantageous. Scaggs had become friends with Rolling Stone publisher Jann Wenner, who was able to help secure a solo deal with Atlantic Records for Scaggs. Simply entitled Boz Scaggs, his first solo was a critical success, but a commercial flop.

One notable exception was the soulful blues track, “Loan Me A Dime,” which featured another unknown studio musician: Duane Allman. The Atlantic album gave Scaggs enough clout to make a move to Columbia Records, where Clive Davis was still at the helm as president. Columbia stuck it out with Scaggs until Silk Degrees made him a pop music champion between 1976 and the early 1980s. Scaggs then took a decade off to open a popular Bay Area restaurant called Slims, but he returned to music and touring in the mid-1990s.

Take a ride on the way back machine and enjoy this timeless classic from 1974.

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