Boz Scaggs: A Fool To Care

Sketches by Boz, with soul/blues remakes, a new gem and customary coolness.

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If Boz Scaggs’ distinguished career as a frontman ever hits the sidings, which it won’t, he would walk into any A&R executive role. On second thought, his limitless good taste in song selection may preclude a gig in the modern mainstream, so we’re all better off this way.

A Fool To Care is more evidence of the soulful blues of this 70-years-young hepcat, this time recording in Nashville, again with producer-confidant Steve Jordan.

Largely, Scaggs now delights in interpretation, of the deep soul variety (Curtis Mayfield’s I’m So Proud, the Detroit Spinners’ Love Don’t Love Nobody), the barrelling rhythm and blues of Huey ‘Piano’ Smith (High Blood Pressure) and much more besides.

Excitingly, the best moment may be the newest, as he and Bonnie Raitt tear it up with real blues raunchiness on Scaggs’ Hell To Pay. They don’t come any cooler./o:p

Paul Sexton
Paul Sexton

Prog Magazine contributor Paul Sexton is a London-based journalist, broadcaster and author who started writing for the national UK music press while still at school in 1977. He has written for all of the British quality press, most regularly for The Times and Sunday Times, as well as for Radio Times, Billboard, Music Week and many others. Sexton has made countless documentaries and shows for BBC Radio 2 and inflight programming for such airlines as Virgin Atlantic and Cathay Pacific. He contributes to Universal's uDiscoverMusic site and has compiled numerous sleeve notes for the Rolling Stones, Eric Clapton and other major artists. He is the author of Prince: A Portrait of the Artist in Memories & Memorabilia and, in rare moments away from music, supports his local Sutton United FC and, inexplicably, Crewe Alexandra FC.