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Down Two Then Left

Boz Scaggs - Down Two Then Left Audio CD

A fair review of the Boz Scaggs "Down Two Then Left" Audio CD. Please note that the below review is the views of the authors, and authors only. You can get a complete list of all Boz Scaggs reviews here, or go back to the Boz Scaggs tabs.

Band: Boz Scaggs
Title: Down Two Then Left
Rating:

Release Date: 1990-10-25
Media: Audio CD

Tracks: 1: Still Falling for You 2: Hard Times 3: Clue 4: Whatcha Gonna Tell Your Man 5: We're Waiting 6: Hollywood 7: Then She Walked Away 8: Gimme the Goods 9: 1993 10: Tomorrow Never Came/Tomorrow Never Came (Reprise)

Super album from the late 70's!
Based on what I've seen in older tv shows like Starsky and Hutch, or photos in an old Sears catalog, you can just get a feel for all that the way the musicians color the songs with the arrangements. The words and music on this seem such a complete snapshot of the 70's. The last song on the first side, "We're Waiting" conjures up for me the decorative Art Deco throwback design from there- you know those hanging Eastern style lamps with the tassle string-pull and the shag carpeting, hanging plants, etc. . Maybe in a hanging gardens backyard with an in-ground pool surrounded by lush vegetation and behind it a tall elegant wrought iron fence, and The singer lounging aimlessly on a chaise lounge looking for some real meaning in their life. I think the type of music being made then by session musicians was made better by the transparent production sound, nothing to distract from the performers, which is great. I mostly grew up in the 80's, so only old photos and of course media gives me a taste of that decade of so much unique experimentation in music and the arts, generally. Albums such as this really add a lot to the imagination, a little like reading a surreal comic book for the first time from the same period (X-Men, Dr. Strange, The Swamp Thing). One can just imagine the streets of San Fran, the hilly streets, the trolleys, Chinatown, and all those old 70's vehicles. Actually, I'm pretty green when it comes to sweet 70's grooves, so excuse me if I'm overdoing it for this one. Let me recommend one other album from the same year to you though if you are also a fan of this one. Tequila Mockingbird from Ramsey Lewis. It's all intrumental, however if you drive around town with this on, I swear you will really start to see your city (or town) like it was in the 70's- noticing the older buildings and streets, maybe driving slower than you usually do, appreciating an occasional glimpse of a big old gas guzzler that appears simply for adding to the realism of it all. There's one more album like this I own on vinyl. Bob James - Touchdown (it has a huge football on the cover). I haven't listened to it yet, but the first song is the theme from tv's TAXI (remember, Tony Danza's first show). It's the original version, and so I bet this also would have some really warm 70's grooves like only the best musicians of jazz and funk could offer. If Boz Scaggs made more albums after 1980 and before 1988, I wonder what they would have been like? .

Great Follow-Up Album!
Scaggs. After the commercial success of "Silk Degrees", setting about to record again must have been a daunting task for Mr. Nonetheless, he and the assembled musicians found the answer to the question. The result was at times astounding in its clarity. With this collection, Boz zeroed in on the state of the culture in the late seventies. Songs like "Hollywood" and "Hard Times" spoke of the decadence and the sense of disappoinment that pervaded the American landscape. "We're Waiting" weaves a sonic tapestry with texture enough to still sound fresh almost 30 years hence. "Gimme The Goods" sounds like it was ripped from the night like a film noir.
This is one of the best "next" records ever produced, and never received its due. .

irresistible--another classy blend of R&B, soul, & pop-rock
This album probably hasn't sold a fourth of what "Silk Degrees" has, but don't let that fool you. Boz Scaggs followed up his commercial blockbuster "Silk Degrees" with 1977's "Down Two Then Left". It's not hard at all to see why many of the listeners familiar with "Down Two Then Left" would claim it to be even better than "Silk Degrees". As the saying goes, variety is the spice of life, and as great of a song as "Lowdown" is, it's not hard to see why people would simply be sick of it since, even after 29+ years, it's such a hard song to escape just by going out to certain public places, as are many of the other songs from "Silk Degrees". I'm not aware of any of the songs from "Down Two Then Left" having 'suffered this fate', so if you're looking for something a bit fresher, so to speak, I think this should hit the spot. All that aside, "Down Two Then Left" is simply a superb album that puts Boz's super cool suaveness on full display, not to mention his highly unique and arrestingly passionate vocals. A big change with this album is that Boz's key songwriting collaborator on "Silk Degrees", keyboardist David Paich, is gone. However, "filling in" for Paich is Michael Omartian, a talented dude in his own right and he himself co-wrote 5 of the 10 tracks on here with Scaggs. However, as with "Silk Degrees", "Down Two Then Left" was produced by Joe Wissert, plus the late great Jeff Porcaro is still on drums, and in the end, if you love "Silk Degrees", you can't go wrong here. "Still Falling For You" and "Whatcha Gonna Tell Your Man" are splendidly catchy tunes with that good ol' irresistibly lush soft rock sound. The funky, infectious "Hollywood" is an absolute hook-fest with great female background vocals & cool orchestration, not to mention the vibraphone played by the late Victor Feldman. The stomping, tormented "Hard Times"; the rousing, very Steely Dan-ish "Gimme The Goods"; the breezy, splendidly tuneful "A Clue" with its great guitar solo from Steve Lukather that sounds uncannily like a Larry Carlton solo from Steely Dan's "The Royal Scam" (which is no coincidence--Lukather was and is a huge SD & Carlton fan); & the soulful ballad "Then She Walked Away"--these are all great songs. "1993", with its "Lido Shuffle" style rhythm, is a very strong track as well. There are some minor gripes such as the fairly dull, extended coda on "We're Waiting" with its annoying, excessive use of those syndrums that were state-of-the-art at the time. Overall though, "Down Two Then Left" is tasteful, excellently performed and produced, and has catchy hooks galore--it's definitely a must-have.

Kind as bigger since Silk Degrees
I luv this album since the day I purchased Silk Degrees on CD and then the greatest hits compilation Hits. This is defintiely a good easy-listening album to help deepen your soul into. If those that were into "Silk Degrees" which is a classic, you highly recommend getting into Steely Dan's album entitled "Aja" which I have on LP but not on CD yet.

Yeah, this is 'mos definitely a must-have classic since the beginning of his recent album which he put out a year before this one.

Go Boz, you're the "Lowdown" man. Check out DIG too. It's good though.

Cool as an ice statue
But aside from the fact that Michael Omartian isn't quite the composer that David Paich (who was responsible for the music to all of the best known SD songs)is this set is just as good. This album had a hard battle when it came to pleasing anyone after the brilliance - and success - of "Silk Degrees".

The late Jeff Porcaro returned to play drums on the entire album, and it's some of his best work ever, the quality of the musicanship throughout (including a couple of superb guitar solos from Scaggs himself)is of the highest standard possible.

It yielded two minor chart entries with "Hard Times" and "Hollywood" - a tune that should never have been left off the "My Time" anthology, but was, and while they are great songs so are the rest. . . "A Clue" is my personal favourite, but it's just so hard to find fault with any of Scaggs's best releases. . . and this is one of them.

As for why Paich wasn't involved with this project, presumably it had much to do with the success of "Silk Degrees" establishing him within the industry as a songwriter. . . it allowed him to shop his demo tapes around and be noticed, the result being that by years end he was reunited with Porcaro and hard at work on their band's debut album, another superb release, simply entitled "TOTO".

You can see a complete list of all Boz Scaggs discography, or go back to the Boz Scaggs tabs. There is also a good guide on how to read guitar tabs here.