Orion: Boz Scaggs

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"Lowdown"
Boz Scaggs
Columbia 10367
August 1976 * #3 on Billboard Charts

* William "Boz" Scaggs achieved solo stardom in 1976 with the elegant, sophisticated, urban, blue-eyed soul of his sixth album, "Silk Degrees."

* A 5,000,000 seller, "Silk Degrees" first charted on March 20, 1976, and spawned three Top 40 hits: "Lowdown" (#3), "Lido Shuffle" (#11), and "It's Over (#38). When the songs achieved Top 40 status, Boz was further propelled into the limelight - a place that made him uncomfortable.

* "Silk Degrees" was the #2 album in America for five weeks and remained on the Billboard Hot 200 album charts for 115 weeks.

* "Lowdown" won Boz a Grammy for Best R&B Song of 1976.

* The producers of the movie "Saturday Night Fever" asked to use "Lowdown" in their movie, but Scaggs' manager turned them down - and it was instead used in the movie "Looking For Mr. Goodbar." (The soundtrack to "Saturday Night Fever" became one of the best-selling movie soundtracks of all time.)

* David Paich co-wrote "Lowdown" with Scaggs. Paich would later join Toto and write many of their hits.

* Scaggs came from the Texas dance band scene, where he and guitarist and high school friend Steve Miller formed a variety of local groups. In 1965, he moved to Europe, where he recorded a now-rare solo folk album. Then, he returned to the states, where he once again joined up with Miller, who was by then in San Francisco. He remained with the "Steve Miller Band" for its first two albums and then once again set out for a solo career.

* With the help of Rolling Stone magazine's Editor in Chief Jann Wenner, Scaggs obtained a contract with Atlantic Records. He recorded an album in Muscle Shoals, Alabama for the Atlantic label. (Boz uses the correct spelling of "Mussel Shoals" on his website, www.bozscaggs.com)

* He moved back to California, formed the "Boz Scaggs Band," and began touring regularly with the backing of his new label, Columbia. His record sales started off slowly, but began to surge in 1974 with the release of his "Slow Dancer" album.

* His next album was "Silk Degrees." When it hit the shelves in 1976, everything burst wide open. The album earned platinum status.

* In 1983, Scaggs announced his retirement from the music industry, choosing the more subdued life of operating a restaurant (Slim's) in San Francisco. Persuaded by his record label to resume his music career, he re-emerged in 1988 to record his album "Other Roads" and a single - "Heart of Mine" (#35 in 1988) before opting for a return to low-profile life.

* He took the name "Boz" because while he was attending school, someone who mistakenly thought his first name was Bosley kept calling him "Boz," and it stuck.

* Following in the footsteps of other celebs whose names have graced vino labels, Boz's fans can look for his new wine very soon. However, unlike some celebs who simply lend their name to the marketing of wines produced by vineyards owned by others, wine with the "Scaggs" label is produced with grapes grown in Boz's California vineyard. Boz & wife Dominique have been experimenting with batches in the past few years, but he said the previous results haven't been up to his standards, thus being "poured down the sink." He is currently working on the paperwork & red tape involved with becoming a vintner. Fans can look for the "Scaggs" label in the next year or so...

www.bozscaggs.com