I've been a Boz Scaggs fan since the tender age of eight when I somehow got hold of an avocado-green handheld AM radio and spent the summer of '77 for the first time listening to just the music I wanted to hear. It turned into a remarkable three summers before I finally broke or lost that radio. I got to know acts like Boz, Steely Dan, Exile, The Cars, Billy Joel, ELO, Blondie, and so many more. Musically, the years 1977-1983 were pivotal for me, and if I'm not letting nostalgia color my judgment too much, some of the best years for rock, too.
Scaggs dropped out for most of the '80s and it wouldn't be until he hit paydirt again with "Dig" in 2001 that I took notice of a new album. I was right there two years later when he followed that up with today's Underappreciated Album, the totally unexpected "But Beautiful — Standards: Volume I."
Critics seemed to like it but the album peaked, as it were, at #167 on the pop charts.
But Boz wasn't looking to record another set of pop hits. He wanted to record beautiful music from the Great American Songbook, and he wanted to do it with a quiet jazz quartet. He brought in Paul Nagel on grand piano, John Shifflett on bass, Jason Lewis on drums, and Eric Crystal on sax.
Scaggs's famous guitar is nowhere to be heard on the entire set.
It's the kind of music I heard one weekend after another when Mom used to drag my 10-, 11-, 12-year-old self to every smoky jazz club in St. Louis. Again, I hope I'm not letting nostalgia color my vision, but Boz brings me back to some fond times with every one of these songs.
Let's start with "Sophisticated Lady," music by Duke Ellington and lyrics courtesy of Irving Mills and Mitchell Parish. For my money, this is the only version equal to (or maybe even a little better than) Rosemary Clooney's classic 1956 recording.
Boz's album of old standards opens, ironically enough, with Bob Haggart and Johnny Burke's "What's New?"
I'll wrap up the selections with Rodgers & Hart's "Bewitched, Bothered, And Bewildered," where Crystal's saxophone truly shines.
One last thing. It's nothing much; it's just a personal message to Boz about the serious off-chance he's a VIP member.
Boz, it's been 21 years since you released Volume I, and you are now 80 years old. If you're ever going to be kind enough to give us Volume II, please get working on it sooner rather than later.
Related: Underappreciated Albums: Steppin'
P.S. Thank you once more for your VIP membership and your support. You don't just keep us out from under Big Tech's thumb; you also give us the chance to share gems like this one we otherwise couldn't.
