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If you are musician who cuts an album at Royal Studios in Memphis, you are operating on hallowed ground. Al Green did some of his best work for Willie Mitchell’s Hi Records at Royal Studios.
It is special when a performer such as Boz Scaggs, who is a legend in his own right, decides to pay tribute to a place and a sound, and it is more special when he does it in his own personal way. So, you might expect Scaggs to cover an Al Green tune, which is exactly what Scaggs did on Memphis, his new record. Now the predictable play would be for Scaggs to cover “Let’s Stay Together,” “Love and Happiness” or one of Green’s big hits. Instead, Scaggs opts to cover “So Glad to Be Here” in an arrangement that is true to the spirit of Green and Mitchell at their creative best. The song features the strings that were a staple of Green’s tunes along with horns and a guitar that resides in the place where the blues and country intersect.
If you are musician who cuts an album at Royal Studios in Memphis, you are operating on hallowed ground. Al Green did some of his best work for Willie Mitchell’s Hi Records at Royal Studios.
It is special when a performer such as Boz Scaggs, who is a legend in his own right, decides to pay tribute to a place and a sound, and it is more special when he does it in his own personal way. So, you might expect Scaggs to cover an Al Green tune, which is exactly what Scaggs did on Memphis, his new record. Now the predictable play would be for Scaggs to cover “Let’s Stay Together,” “Love and Happiness” or one of Green’s big hits. Instead, Scaggs opts to cover “So Glad to Be Here” in an arrangement that is true to the spirit of Green and Mitchell at their creative best. The song features the strings that were a staple of Green’s tunes along with horns and a guitar that resides in the place where the blues and country intersect.
Ten of the 12 songs on Memphis are covers. Those remakes run the gamut from tracks such as “Rainy Night in Georgia” that frequently appear on soul music compilations, to songs like Steely Dan’s “Pearl of the Quarter” that do not.
High points include Memphis’ two original tunes. Scaggs draws inspiration from the venue on the opening track, “Gone Baby Gone,” which sports the electric organ, blues based guitar licks and funky bass line that defined Royal Studios and 1970s Memphis Soul. The years have deepened Scaggs’ voice and ragged edges have emerged. Yet, that soft leather feel works to good effect on the mournful “Sunny Gone,” a song that finds the vocalist recounting a wintertime romance that ended too soon. The guitar solo shows that Scaggs fingering is as good as ever.
The sidemen that Scaggs assembled for this project are another highlight. Musicians include keyboardists Spooner Oldham and Charles Hodges, guitarists Keb Mo and Ray Parker Jr. and drummer Steve Jordan. Jordan served as producer on the album. These veterans provided the blues/rock kick on numbers such as the rollicking “Cadillac Walk.”
The album sports a good balance between well-known covers and some Scaggs favorites that receive a much-deserved reintroduction. “Pearl of the Quarter” is one of Steely Dan’s lesser know cuts, so Scaggs and Jordan had the advantage of sticking close to the original, which is fitting because Scaggs’ sings with that shot of whisky drawl that distinguished Donald Fagen’s vocals. Another highlight is Scaggs’ version of “Can I Change My Mind,” a song made famous by Tyrone Davis. The tune is slowed down here, stepping away from Davis’s southern soul and moving toward more of an R&B sound.
Scaggs has been in the music business nearly 50 years, and he has seen the highs and lows of the industry. The highest of the highs came in the 1970s with the album Silk Degrees. That album and the single “Lowdown” defined Scaggs’ career. Some artists would seek to avoid a close connection with a hit record. Scaggs doesn’t run from the association, and when fans scream for “Lowdown” at concerts, he complies. Still, Memphis provides Scaggs with an opportunity to move into territory that is both uncharted and familiar, allowing him to move deeper into his love for rhythm & blues and to put his very personal imprint on a very enjoyable collection of classic and new tunes. And Fans of Memphis soul will appreciate Scaggs’ detour off the beaten path. Recommended.
By Howard Dukes