William Royce "Boz" Scaggs (born June 8, 1944) is an American singer, songwriter, and guitarist.[1] An early bandmate of Steve Miller in The Ardells and the Steve Miller Band, he began his solo career in 1969, though he lacked a major hit until his 1976 album Silk Degrees peaked at number 2 on the Billboard 200, and produced the hit singles "Lido Shuffle" and "Lowdown". Scaggs produced two more platinum-certified albums in Down Two Then Left and Middle Man, the latter of which produced two top-40 singles "Breakdown Dead Ahead" and "Jojo". After a hiatus for most of the 1980s, he returned to recording and touring in 1988, joining The New York Rock and Soul Revue and opening the nightclub Slim's, a popular San Francisco music venue until it closed in 2020. He has continued to record and tour throughout the 1990s, 2000s, and 2010s, with his most recent album being 2018's Out of the Blues.
Scaggs is credited for helping the formation of Toto. For his 1976 album, Silk Degrees, he hand picked musicians after taking suggestions from several people. These musicians were David Paich, David Hungate, and Jeff Porcaro. The three were already friends and had frequently performed together on other albums, such as Steely Dan's Pretzel Logic. By going on tour with Scaggs, it solidified the prospect of starting a band. Columbia picked up on this talent by offering the new group a contract "without audition". Steve Porcaro described this as "a record deal thrown in our laps". Paich stated "I'm not sure if Toto would have happened as soon, or quite the same way, without Silk Degrees". Their friendship has continued throughout the decades shown by the varying collaborations and concerts performed together. Paich teamed up once more for Scaggs' 2001 album, Dig, where he contributed to 6 out of the 11 songs.
Scaggs was born in Canton, Ohio, the eldest child to Royce and Helen Scaggs. His father was a traveling salesman who had flown in the Army Air Corp during World War II. Their family moved to McAlester, Oklahoma, then to Plano, Texas (at that time a farm town), just north of Dallas. He learned his first instrument, the cello, at age 9. He received a scholarship to attend a private school in Dallas, St. Mark's School of Texas.
At St. Mark's he met Steve Miller, who helped him to learn the guitar at age 12. A classmate wanted to give Scaggs a "weird" nickname. This started out as "Bosley", then "Boswell" and "Bosworth". The name was later shortened to Boz. In 1959, he became the vocalist for Miller's band, The Marksmen. After graduation in 1962, the pair later attended the University of Wisconsin–Madison together, playing in blues bands like the Ardells and the Fabulous Knight Trains.
Leaving school due to his love for music in 1963, Scaggs signed up for the army reserves and formed a new band, The Wigs. By 1965, the band joined the burgeoning R&B scene in London. However, success never materialized and the group disbanded within a few months. Scaggs then travelled throughout Europe, earning money from busking.[9] He arrived in Stockholm, Sweden where he recorded his first solo debut album, Boz, in 1965 with the Karusell Grammofon AB label, which failed commercially. He also had a brief stint with the band the Other Side with Mac MacLeod and Jack Downing.
Returning to the U.S., Scaggs promptly headed for the booming psychedelic music center of San Francisco in 1967 after receiving a postcard invitation from Steve Miller to join his band. Scaggs travelled to the U.S. via India & Nepal. Linking up with Steve Miller again, he appeared on the Steve Miller Band's first two albums, Children of the Future and Sailor in 1968. He left the band due to different music tastes and upset between himself and Miller at the time. Scaggs secured a solo contract with Atlantic Records in 1968, releasing his second album, Boz Scaggs, featuring the Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section and session guitarist Duane Allman, in 1969. Despite good reviews, this release achieved only moderate sales. He then briefly hooked up with Bay Area band Mother Earth in a supporting role on their second album Make a Joyful Noise on guitar and backup vocals.
Scaggs next signed with Columbia Records releasing the albums Moments in 1971 and My Time in 1972. His first two Columbia albums were modest sellers and seeking a new more soulful direction his record company brought in former Motown producer Johnny Bristol for 1974's Slow Dancer album. Although the album only made No. 81 on the US Billboard Album Chart, it subsequently attained gold status, no doubt getting a boost from the huge success of Scaggs's next album Silk Degrees.
