Silk Degrees

Silk Degrees is the seventh solo album by Boz Scaggs, released on Columbia Records in February 1976. The album peaked at No. 2 and spent 115 weeks on the Billboard 200. It has been certified five times platinum by the RIAA and remains Scaggs's best selling album.

Silk Degrees
Studio album by Boz Scaggs
Released	February 18, 1976
Recorded	September–October 1975
Studio	Davlen Sound Studios, North Hollywood, CA Hollywood Sound Recorders, Los Angeles, CA
Genre	Blue-eyed soul R&B[1] disco[1]
Length	41:32
Label	Columbia 33920
Producer	Joe Wissert
Boz Scaggs chronology
Slow Dancer (1974) Silk Degrees (1976) Down Two Then Left (1977)

Silk Degrees spawned four singles. "It's Over" (No. 38), "Lowdown" (No. 3) and "Lido Shuffle" (No. 11) made the Top 40, while "What Can I Say" peaked at No. 42.

Production

The album was recorded at Davlen Sound Studios and Hollywood Sound Recorders in Los Angeles. Among the accompanying musicians, David Paich, Jeff Porcaro, and David Hungate became members of Toto, while Fred Tackett became a member of Little Feat. The album marked Scaggs's commercial zenith, a mix of pop rock ("Jump Street" and "Lido Shuffle"), soul ("What Can I Say" and "Lowdown"), and ballads ("Harbor Lights" and "We're All Alone", which became a hit for Rita Coolidge). Scaggs wrote "Jump Street" 10 minutes before recording it, only having a rough idea of the lyrics. He stated he'd scream out words that "worked phonetically".

Title and cover art

Scaggs recalled that the album's title "was just something I had scribbled on the side of a page. The last thing I do after I record an album is name it. Silk Degrees doesn't mean anything specifically. It's just an image I couldn't get out of my head."^[2]

The front cover photograph was by Moshe Brakha of Scaggs at Casino Point, Avalon, California.^[3]

Release and reception

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[4]
Christgau's Record Guide	A−[5]
Pitchfork	8.8/10[6]
Rolling Stone	[7]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide	[1]
The Village Voice	B+[8]

"Lowdown" reached the top 5 on the club play, black, disco, and pop charts and also did respectably on the AC chart, with its peak at number 3 on the pop chart. The song is an airplay staple to this day, particularly on AC, oldies, and smooth jazz radio stations. "It's Over", "What Can I Say", and "Lido Shuffle" reached numbers 38, 42 and 11, respectively, on the pop chart. At the Grammy Awards of 1977, "Lowdown" won the Grammy for Best R&B Song. Scaggs also received nominations for Album of the Year, Best LP Package, Best Pop Vocal by a Male, and Best R&B Vocal Performance by a Male for "Lowdown" and Joe Wissert received a nomination for Producer of the Year.^[9]

Reviewing for The Village Voice in 1976, Robert Christgau praised the album as "white soul with a sense of humor that isn't consumed in self-parody."^[8] The Leader-Post determined that, "occasionally, the melodies and arrangements ... are rather too perfected, and fall into soulful anonymity."^[10] Alex Henderson of music database website AllMusic wrote that Scaggs "hit the R&B charts in a big way with the addictive, sly 'Lowdown' [...] and expressed his love of smooth soul music almost as well on the appealing 'What Can I Say'", nonetheless noting that "Scaggs was essentially a pop/rocker, and in that area he has a considerable amount of fun". Henderson found that while the more adult contemporary-leaning ballads are less remarkable, they "have more heart than most of the bland material dominating that format."^[4]

On February 27, 2007, Silk Degrees was reissued by Legacy Records with three bonus tracks recorded live at the Greek Theatre on August 15, 1976.

Track listing

Side one

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"What Can I Say"	Boz Scaggs, David Paich	3:01
2.	"Georgia"	Scaggs	3:57
3.	"Jump Street"	Scaggs, Paich	5:14
4.	"What Do You Want the Girl to Do"	Allen Toussaint	3:53
5.	"Harbor Lights"	Scaggs	5:58

Side two

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
6.	"Lowdown"	Scaggs, Paich	5:18
7.	"It's Over"	Scaggs, Paich	2:52
8.	"Love Me Tomorrow"	Paich	3:17
9.	"Lido Shuffle"	Scaggs, Paich	3:44
10.	"We're All Alone"	Scaggs	4:14

2007 bonus tracks

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
11.	"What Can I Say" (live)	Scaggs, Paich	3:24
12.	"Jump Street" (live)	Scaggs, Paich	5:06
13.	"It's Over" (live)	Scaggs, Paich	3:37

Personnel

Boz Scaggs – lead vocals, guitars, backing vocals (4, 7, 8)[11] David Paich – arrangements, acoustic piano (1-4, 7-10), Hohner clavinet (2), Fender Rhodes (5-8), Moog synthesizer (5, 6, 9), ARP synthesizer (6), Minimoog (6, 8, 9), Hammond organ (6, 9), Wurlitzer electric piano (7, 8), harpsichord (7) Fred Tackett – guitars Les Dudek – slide guitar (3) Louis Shelton – guitars, slide guitar (8), acoustic guitar (10) David Hungate – bass Jeff Porcaro – drums, percussion (4), timbales (8) Joe Porcaro – percussion (1, 3) Plas Johnson – tenor saxophone solo (1), saxophone (8) Jim Horn – tenor saxophone (4) Bud Shank – saxophone (8) Chuck Findley – flugelhorn solo (5) Sid Sharp – string conductor and concertmaster Vincent DeRosa, Jim Horn, Paul Hubinon, Dick Hyde, Plas Johnson, Tom Scott and Bud Shank – horns Jim Gilstrap – backing vocals (1, 6), Augie Johnson – backing vocals (1, 6) Marty McCall – backing vocals (1, 6) Carolyn Willis – backing vocals (1, 6) Maxine Green – backing vocals (4, 7, 8) Pepper Swenson – backing vocals (4)

Production personnel Joe Wissert – production Tom Perry – engineering Doug Sax – mastering at The Mastering Lab (Los Angeles, CA). Ron Caro – design Nancy Donald – design Moshe Brakha – photography

Charts

Weekly charts Chart (1976–1978) Peak position Australian Albums (Kent Music Report)[12] 1 Canadian Albums (RPM)[13] 2 Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[14] 15 New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)[15] 3 UK Albums (OCC)[16] 20 US Billboard 200[17] 2 US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums (Billboard)[18] 6

Year-end charts Chart (1976) Rank Canadian Albums (RPM)[19] 17 US Billboard Albums[20] 17 Chart (1977) Rank Australian Albums (Kent Music Report)[21] 1 Canadian Albums (RPM)[22] 70 New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)[23] 28 US Billboard Albums[24] 8 Chart (1978) Rank Australian Albums (Kent Music Report)[25] 20 New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)[26] 17

Certifications

Region	Certification	Certified units/sales
Australia (ARIA)[27]	7× Platinum	350,000^
Canada (Music Canada)[28]	3× Platinum	300,000^
United Kingdom (BPI)[29]	Silver	60,000^
United States (RIAA)[30]	5× Platinum	5,000,000^
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

References

1. Puterbaugh, Parke (2004). "Boz Scaggs". In Brackett, Nathan; Hoard, Christian (eds.). The New Rolling Stone Album Guide (4th ed.). Simon & Schuster. pp. 719–20. ISBN 0-7432-0169-8.
2. "Boz Scaggs talks about his lost album".
3. "Musical Maps".
4. Henderson, Alex. "Silk Degrees – Boz Scaggs". AllMusic. Retrieved August 31, 2013.
5. Christgau, Robert (1981). "Boz Scaggs: Silk Degrees". Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies. Ticknor and Fields. p. 345. ISBN 0-89919-026-X. Retrieved November 14, 2021.
6. Sodomsky, Sam (November 14, 2021). "Boz Scaggs: Silk Degrees". Pitchfork. Retrieved November 14, 2021.
7. Leishman, David (January 21, 1997) [April 22, 1976]. "Boz Scaggs: Silk Degrees". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on November 6, 2007. Retrieved November 14, 2021.
8. Christgau, Robert (July 12, 1976). "Christgau's Consumer Guide". The Village Voice. New York. Retrieved August 6, 2013.
9. "19th Annual GRAMMY Awards | GRAMMY.com". grammy.com. Retrieved 2024-10-26.
10. Deane, Gary (2 Jul 1976). "Deane's discs". The Leader-Post. p. 14.
11. Cashmere, Paul (April 14, 2014). "Boz Scaggs Explains How He Became The Father Of Toto". Noise11 Music Newsletter.
12. Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992. St Ives, New South Wales, Australia: Australian Chart Book. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
13. "RPM Top Albums". RPM. Vol. 26, no. 2. October 9, 1976. p. 29. Retrieved January 31, 2019.
14. "Dutchcharts.nl – Boz Scaggs – Silk Degrees" (in Dutch). Hung Medien.
15. "Charts.nz – Boz Scaggs – Silk Degrees". Hung Medien.
16. "Boz Scaggs | Artist | Official Charts". UK Albums Chart.
17. "Boz Scaggs Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard.
18. "Boz Scaggs Chart History (Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums)". Billboard.
19. Lyttle, Brendan (January 8, 1977). "Top 100 Albums of '76". RPM. Vol. 26, no. 14 & 15. p. 11. Retrieved January 31, 2019.
20. "Top Pop Albums". Billboard. December 25, 1976. p. TA-12. ("Talent in Action" supplement)
21. Kent (1993). p. 429.
22. "Top 100 Albums of '77". RPM. Vol. 28, no. 14. December 31, 1977. p. 15. Retrieved January 31, 2019.
23. "Top Selling Albums of 1977". Recorded Music NZ. Retrieved January 31, 2019.
24. "Top Pop Albums". Billboard. December 24, 1977. p. 66.
25. Kent (1993). p. 430.
26. "Top Selling Albums of 1978". Recorded Music NZ. Retrieved January 31, 2019.
27. Baker, Glen A. (28 May 1983). "Australia - Explosive Talent Gains Temper Year of playing Dangerously" (PDF). Billboard. p. 12. Retrieved 31 October 2020 – via World Radio History.
28. "Canadian album certifications – Boz Scaggs – Silk Degrees". Music Canada.
29. "British album certifications – Boz Scaggs – Silk Degrees". British Phonographic Industry.
30. "American album certifications – Boz Scaggs – Silk Degrees". Recording Industry Association of America.

External links

• "Silk Degrees" at discogs