BOZ SCAGGS — Down Two Then Left (review)

BOZ SCAGGS — Down Two Then Left album cover

Album · 1977 · RnB

1.5/5 · 2011-07-22
Chicapah

What the towering, idolized giants of the music biz have in common with folks like Boz Scaggs is that they, too, endured the long struggle required to conquer the odds and achieve success. What separates them from folks like Boz Scaggs is that once they got to the apex of their game they were able to find a way to match their accomplishment repeatedly in order to stay on top of the mountain. That’s just as hard to do as the “paying one’s dues” part is and only a handful of artists or bands are able to maintain the high standards that the populace will now forever expect them to meet going forward on a regular basis. Boz isn’t one of the few belonging to that very exclusive club yet he shouldn’t feel badly about that because not many in the music industry are. It took him 11 years and six albums before he hit pay dirt with “Silk Degrees” in 1976 and it was a certified monster-seller that made him famous and in-demand. That record climbed to #2 on the charts and spawned two hit singles that are still played around the world today. Scaggs had finally made it big and rightly so. He had earned it through dogged determination and hard work.

A year later he faced the daunting task of delivering a follow up LP and “Down Two Then Left” was the result. Many of the same musicians played on the sessions, they recorded in the same studio and the same producer, Joe Wissert, was at the helm so the suits at Columbia were probably looking forward to lightning striking all over again. Everything was in place for a dynasty-building repeat but everyone involved found out in a hurry just how difficult that feat is. Everyone finding themselves in Boz’ situation has two options as to what they will do next. Give the public more of what they were so crazy about on the last project or boldly go in a new direction and hope they’ll follow you there. Scaggs chose the former (the safe and not necessarily the wrong path to take) but, unfortunately, the songwriting just didn’t measure up and the album failed to crack the top ten. I’m sure there are a dozen reasons to cite; fatigue from constantly being on tour, pressure to keep the money machine fed, lack of uninterrupted serious contemplation time to compose new tunes, etc., but the bottom line is that the magic that made “Silk Degrees” special was missing from “Down Two Then Left” and Boz’ time in the spotlight was up. The struggle back up the steep hill had started all over again.

The disc opens with “Still Falling For You,” a track with a funky, danceable vibe on the verses akin to the one that made “Lowdown” a smash in ‘76 and a chorus firmly ensconced in the trendy disco arena but the song is entirely too weak to grab your attention and hold it. “Hard Times” owns an Al Green-ish groove that is inviting but Scaggs sounds like he’s straining the very top of his vocal range throughout the tune and it’s unnerving, to say the least. “A Clue” is better. It has a comfy R&B feel that sits right in the pocket and it’s a bit reminiscent of Earth, Wind & Fire at times. Steve Lukather’s guitar ride is classy and tasteful. “Whatcha Gonna Tell Your Man” leans a tad too far into disco territory for comfort but the number’s arrangement is well-designed and the overall energy of the track is commendable. “We’re Waiting” is the jazziest entry on the album and it sports decent dynamics that keep things interesting during its 6:21 running time. Chuck Findley’s flugelhorn solo is crisp and bright and I like how Boz allows the musicians to break out of the formula mold in the second half to stretch out somewhat. Especially Jeff Porcaro on his drum kit.

“Hollywood” is a disco-drenched pop ditty that doesn’t work on any level. Scaggs sounds like he’s trying to compete with either Barry Gibb or the chipmunks (or both) and the whole shebang has a brittle edge that makes listening to it a chore. “Then She Walked Away” is next. A pleasant, easy-going Caucasian R&B rhythm flows underneath the chord progression yet the song is terribly anemic in the imagination department and it passes by without making an impression of any kind. Scaggs takes a much more aggressive approach on “Gimme The Goods” as the combination of a hard-hitting horn section and heavy rock guitar licks from Lukather invigorate the nerve endings but, in a classic case of poor engineering, Boz’ voice is extremely tinny and thin, gutting all the momentum the session musicians mustered up for the song. On “1993” Michael Omartian’s piano intro is excellent prior to a “Lido”-like shuffle taking over. Once again the tune is deficient of anything resembling originality and it never goes anywhere exciting. The closer, “Tomorrow Never Came,” is an airy ballad with flanged guitars and lush synthesizer strings presented sans drums. While it’s a nice change of pace there’s no soul inside the heart of the tune. The song is one that begs for some honest emotion to shine through but it never comes, leaving the listener with unmet expectations.

I don’t know whether to blame the studio engineers or the mastering technicians but this record is so mid-rangey that it defies any reasonable excuse. Someone should have noticed that the high end is consistently shrill and the low frequencies are more often than not unaccounted for. Simply put, the record sounds awful. Perhaps those flaws were limited to the vinyl copies but I’m not about to invest in a CD to find out. With “Down Two Then Left” Boz joined thousands of others who got to taste the sweet nectar of success once upon a time, only to discover that duplicating that stroke of fortune was next to impossible. The album reached #11 on the charts but it didn’t stay there for long. It was obvious to all that what had made “Silk Degrees” so popular and infectious was now gone and it was time for us (and Scaggs) to move on.