Lowdown: The Music of Boz Scaggs

by Jude Warne, David Paich (Foreword by)

Overview

Boz Scaggs has always been a musical artist of complexity.

Scaggs founded his connection to music through the blues, but his lasting legacy is one of glamorous and romantic pop songwriting. He possessed a somewhat shy and sensitive demeanor never totally at home in the public eye, yet his claim to several chart-topping singles and albums, particularly the millions-selling and critically acclaimed Silk Degrees (1976), demanded constant exposure. The persona he expressed through his music was laid back, effortlessly cool, sophisticated, stylish, romantically charming, and suave. But the immense success he achieved in his career pointed in part to the driven and determined artist within.

Lowdown: The Music of Boz Scaggs examines the uniqueness of these contradictions throughout Boz Scaggs’s sixty-plus-year career and his rich and diverse musical catalog. Over the decades, Scaggs collaborated with an array of talented heavies, from the Steve Miller Band to the Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section (which included a young Duane Allman) on Boz Scaggs (1969), from the session players on Silk Degrees (1976) who would form the hit band Toto to Donald Fagen and Michael McDonald on the Dukes of September's 2010 Rhythm Revue tour.

This first-ever book on Boz is constructed around intensely thorough analysis of his complete discography, and new and exclusive in-depth interviews with a selection of Scaggs’s music colleagues from his vast career.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780915864768
Publisher:	Chicago Review Press, Incorporated
Publication date:	04/08/2025
Pages:	272
Product dimensions:	6.30(w) x 8.90(h) x 0.80(d)

About the Author

Jude Warne is the author of America, the Band: An Authorized Biography and a contributor to the anthology Rag and Bones: An Exploration of the Band. She has written long and short-form pieces on Bruce Springsteen, Steely Dan, the Steve Miller Band, Procol Harum, and the Yardbirds, among others, for various publications including the Vinyl District, the Observer, and No Depression. She has also published a six-volume YA fiction series. She lives in New York City. David Paich is the cofounder, keyboardist, and primary songwriter of multi-Grammy-winning pop-rock group Toto. Throughout his decades-long career, Paich has worked with fellow music legends Paul McCartney, Michael Jackson, Steely Dan, Barbra Streisand, Miles Davis, and countless others, and he cowrote Boz Scagg's five-time platinum 1976 album Silk Degrees. 

Table of Contents

Introduction
 
Part I: The Bluesman
1    When It All Went Right
2    When It All Started
3    When He Grew Up and Made a Record
 
Part II: The Hippie
4    When He Joined
5    When He Left for Good
6    When He Did His Own Thing
7    When He Brought It All Back Home
8    When He Amplified the Poetry
9    When He Invited the Band In
10  When He Made the Album for Himself
11  When He Went All Soulman
 
Part III: The Hitmaker
12  When He Was on Top of the World
13  When He Tried to Do It Again
14  When the Backing Band Made a Record
15  When Boz Split
 
Part IV: The Rebounder
16  When He Came Back
17  When He Grew Up Again
18  When He Did It Again, but Differently
19  When He Brought the Blues Back In
20  When He Entered the Future
21  When He Got Classic
22  When He Got Classic, Again
23  When He Joined the Supergroup
 
Part V: The Artist
24  When He Took It Back to the Very Beginning
25  When He Kept It Going
26  When He Perfected It
27  When He Became Immortal
 
Acknowledgments
Notes
Bibliography
Author Interviews
Index

Editorial Reviews

"In the world of popular music the hardest thing to be is a true original. Boz is that and much more. He is a national treasure.” —Gerry Beckley, America the band

"“Warne focuses not on Scaggs’ personal life but instead on his work and career, carefully and thoughtfully examining his musical output with great sensitivity.” — Booklist

“... A thorough study of [Scaggs's] journey from Blues-loving teen to European busker to ‘Lido Shuffle’ hitmaker.” — Dallas Morning News

“In the 1970s, at the height of Silk Degrees–mania, the world discovered that ‘Boz was the buzz.’ Jude Warne’s insightful study of the man and his music reminds us why.” —Jeff Apter, author of Carl Perkins: The King of Rockabilly

“Jude Warne pays unique attention to detail and in depth research when it comes to her music writings. Our band America was impressed with her approach to our story, and amazed by the detail she put into the book. I can recommend reading any book Jude writes if you are interested in truly learning about the artist’s life and history.” —Dewey Bunnell, America the band

“On some level, there’s a mystery to the incredible genre-spanning career of Boz Scaggs. Jude Warne’s book is a deeply researched and compelling testament to the true artistry of the man and all of his co-conspirators. After finishing the book, you understand that Boz is a giant.” —Fred Mollin, producer and songwriter

“With Lowdown, Jude Warne shares the historical context and colorful details that help make Boz Scaggs and his music extraordinary. It’s a charming read, just like the man himself.” —Erin Osmon, author of Jason Molina

“What a great read. I love the way Jude writes about music. It was such a joy to learn the details about Boz’s amazing body of work so far. Truly a singular artist that has had such a profound effect on my family, musical and otherwise, and has brought so much joy to us all.” —Steve Porcaro, Toto

 “An insightful exploration of Boz Scaggs’s musical journey, from his early blues roots alongside Steve Miller to sophisticated pop stardom. Jude Warne skillfully chronicles Scaggs’s evolution through his groundbreaking collaborations, particularly with future Toto members Jeff Porcaro, David Paich, David Hungate, and Steve Lukather on the landmark Silk Degrees project, and later with hitmaker David Foster on Middle Man, before his masterful return to his blues foundations.” —A. J. Eaton, director of David Crosby: Remember My Name
 

From the Publisher