On his first studio album in seven years, Plano-raised singer Boz Scaggs dips into the Great American Songbook and also revisits a tune he wrote before 鈥淟ido Shuffle鈥� and 鈥淟owdown鈥� made him a star in the 鈥�70s.
Detour features the 81-year-old singer wrapping his earthy tenor around hits by Frank Sinatra (鈥淎ngel Eyes鈥�), Bing Crosby (鈥淭he Very Thought of You鈥�) and New Orleans R&B queen Irma Thomas (the Allen Toussaint-penned 鈥淚t鈥檚 Raining鈥�). But eagle-eyed observers will also notice 鈥淚鈥檒l Be Long Gone,鈥� a ballad Scaggs wrote early in his career.
After graduating St. Mark鈥檚 School of Texas in 鈥�62, he moved to San Francisco during the 鈥淪ummer of Love鈥� in 1967 to rejoin his former Dallas bandmate Steve Miller. The reunion went kaput a year later as the two butted heads over musical direction.
But Scaggs stayed in the Bay Area, where his neighbor, Jann Wenner of Rolling Stone, helped him get a contract with Atlantic Records and co-produced 1969鈥檚 Boz Scaggs at Alabama鈥檚 Muscle Shoals Sound Studio. While that album鈥檚 鈥淚鈥檒l Be Long Gone鈥� is a highly produced orchestral soul tune, Scaggs鈥� new version is bare-bones piano jazz.
Detour comes out Oct. 17 on Concord Records.
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