Silk Degrees : Boz Scaggs : Review : Rolling Stone

Last year's Slow Dancer, like his classic first album, suggested that Boz Scaggs might break out of his San Francisco Bay Area cult to a larger national following. Dancer wasn't a radical departure from his earlier recordings, but for the first time Scaggs played no instrument, concentrating instead on singing.

Joe Wissert has replaced Johnny Bristol as producer, but Silk Degrees, although blander, is similar in style to its predecessor. "Georgia," a smoky ballad, lets Boz soar into the Fifties harmony he's recently discovered; his beautiful voice could easily hold its own on any street corner in New York. But "Jump Street" points up the dilemma in the decision not to play guitar on record. While similar in form to "Dime a Dance Romance," from his Steve Miller days, it lacks drive and focus: where "Romance" was propelled by Scaggs's singing and playing, "Jump Street" just meanders without an instrumental counterpoint to Boz's singing. It probably isn't the session players' fault; Scaggs simply doesn't feel comfortable when singing rock & roll without his guitar.

Without solid rock as a base, Scaggs's more diverse approach falters. He sings well in the disco fashion, but the tunes don't have the meat to complement the first-rate ballads. "We're All Alone" expresses the right mood at the album's close, but it would have shone brighter had "Lido Shuffle," which preceded it, been more distinguished. To become as big a force as he is a talent, Boz Scaggs needs to reintroduce his own rock & roll.