Silk Degrees

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title: "Silk Degrees" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["1976-albums", "albums-produced-by-joe-wissert", "boz-scaggs-albums", "columbia-records-albums", "rhythm-and-blues-albums-by-american-artists"] topic_path: "arts/music" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silk_Degrees" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::data[format=table title="Infobox album"]

FieldValue
nameSilk Degrees
typestudio
artistBoz Scaggs
coverAlbum Silk Degrees.jpg
releasedFebruary 18, 1976
recordedSeptember–October 1975
studioDavlen Sound Studios, North Hollywood, CA

| | genre | * Blue-eyed soul | | * R&B<ref name | "Guardian 2007" | | * disco<ref name | "RS 2004" | | length | 41:32 | | label | Columbia | | producer | Joe Wissert | | prev_title | Slow Dancer | | prev_year | 1974 | | next_title | Down Two Then Left | | next_year | 1977 | ::

| name = Silk Degrees | type = studio | artist = Boz Scaggs | cover = Album Silk Degrees.jpg | alt = | released = February 18, 1976 | recorded = September–October 1975 | studio = Davlen Sound Studios, North Hollywood, CA

Hollywood Sound Recorders, Los Angeles, CA | genre = * Blue-eyed soul

Silk Degrees is the seventh studio album by American musician Boz Scaggs, released on February 18, 1976, by Columbia Records. The album peaked at No. 2 and spent 115 weeks on the Billboard 200. It has been certified five times platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) and remains Scaggs's best selling album.

Silk Degrees spawned four singles. "It's Over" (No. 38), "Lowdown" (No. 3) and "Lido Shuffle" (No. 11) made the Top 40 of the Billboard Hot 100, while "What Can I Say" peaked at No. 42.

Production

The album was recorded at Davlen Sound Studios and Hollywood Sound Recorders in Los Angeles. Among the accompanying musicians, David Paich, Jeff Porcaro, and David Hungate became members of Toto, while Fred Tackett became a member of Little Feat. The album marked Scaggs's commercial zenith, a mix of pop rock ("Jump Street" and "Lido Shuffle"), soul ("What Can I Say" and "Lowdown"), and ballads ("Harbor Lights" and "We're All Alone", which became a hit for Rita Coolidge). Scaggs wrote "Jump Street" 10 minutes before recording it, only having a rough idea of the lyrics. He stated he'd scream out words that "worked phonetically".

Title and cover art

Scaggs recalled that the album's title "was just something I had scribbled on the side of a page. The last thing I do after I record an album is name it. Silk Degrees doesn't mean anything specifically. It's just an image I couldn't get out of my head."

The front cover photograph was by Moshe Brakha of Scaggs at Casino Point, Avalon, California.

Release and reception

| rev1 = AllMusic | rev1score = | rev2 = Christgau's Record Guide | rev2score = A− | rev3 = Pitchfork | rev3score = 8.8/10 | rev4 = Rolling Stone | rev4score = | rev5 = The Rolling Stone Album Guide | rev5score = | rev6 = The Village Voice | rev6score = B+

"Lowdown" reached the top 5 on the club play, black, disco, and pop charts and also did respectably on the AC chart, with its peak at number 3 on the pop chart. The song is an airplay staple to this day, particularly on AC, oldies, and smooth jazz radio stations. "It's Over", "What Can I Say", and "Lido Shuffle" reached numbers 38, 42 and 11, respectively, on the pop chart. At the Grammy Awards of 1977, "Lowdown" won the Grammy for Best R&B Song. Scaggs also received nominations for Album of the Year, Best LP Package, Best Pop Vocal by a Male, and Best R&B Vocal Performance by a Male for "Lowdown" and Joe Wissert received a nomination for Producer of the Year.

Reviewing for The Village Voice in 1976, Robert Christgau praised the album as "white soul with a sense of humor that isn't consumed in self-parody." The Leader-Post determined that, "occasionally, the melodies and arrangements ... are rather too perfected, and fall into soulful anonymity." Alex Henderson of music database website AllMusic wrote that Scaggs "hit the R&B charts in a big way with the addictive, sly 'Lowdown' [...] and expressed his love of smooth soul music almost as well on the appealing 'What Can I Say'", nonetheless noting that "Scaggs was essentially a pop/rocker, and in that area he has a considerable amount of fun". Henderson found that while the more adult contemporary-leaning ballads are less remarkable, they "have more heart than most of the bland material dominating that format."

On February 27, 2007, Silk Degrees was reissued by Legacy Records with three bonus tracks recorded live at the Greek Theatre on August 15, 1976.

Track listing

| headline = Side one | title1 = What Can I Say | writer1 = Boz Scaggs, David Paich | length1 = 3:01 | title2 = Georgia | writer2 = Scaggs | length2 = 3:57 | title3 = Jump Street | writer3 = Scaggs, Paich | length3 = 5:14 | title4 = What Do You Want the Girl to Do | writer4 = Allen Toussaint | length4 = 3:53 | title5 = Harbor Lights | writer5 = Scaggs | length5 = 5:58 | headline = Side two | title6 = Lowdown | writer6 = Scaggs, Paich | length6 = 5:18 | title7 = It's Over | writer7 = Scaggs, Paich | length7 = 2:52 | title8 = Love Me Tomorrow | writer8 = Paich | length8 = 3:17 | title9 = Lido Shuffle | writer9 = Scaggs, Paich | length9 = 3:44 | title10 = We're All Alone | writer10 = Scaggs | length10 = 4:14 | headline = 2007 reissue bonus tracks | title11 = What Can I Say | note11 = live | writer11 = Scaggs, Paich | length11 = 3:24 | title12 = Jump Street | note12 = live | writer12 = Scaggs, Paich | length12 = 5:06 | title13 = It's Over | note13 = live | writer13 = Scaggs, Paich | length13 = 3:37

Personnel

Production personnel

  • Joe Wissert – production
  • Tom Perry – engineering
  • Doug Sax – mastering at The Mastering Lab (Los Angeles, CA).
  • Ron Caro – design
  • Nancy Donald – design
  • Moshe Brakha – photography

Charts

Weekly charts

::data[format=table] | Chart (1976–1978) | Peak position | |---|---| | Australian Albums (Kent Music Report) | 1 | | Canadian Albums (RPM) | 2 | ::

Year-end charts

::data[format=table]

Chart (1976)RankChart (1977)RankChart (1978)Rank
Canadian Albums (RPM)17
US Billboard Albums17
Australian Albums (Kent Music Report)1
Canadian Albums (RPM)70
New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)28
US Billboard Albums8
Australian Albums (Kent Music Report)20
New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)17
::

Certifications

|magazine=Billboard|first=Glen A.|last=Baker|via=World Radio History|page=12|date=28 May 1983|access-date=31 October 2020}}}}

References

References

  1. Guardian Staff. (21 November 2007). "1000 Albums to Hear Before You Die: Artists beginning with S".
  2. Puterbaugh, Parke. (2004). "The New Rolling Stone Album Guide". [[Simon & Schuster]].
  3. "Boz Scaggs talks about his lost album".
  4. "Musical Maps".
  5. Henderson, Alex. "Silk Degrees – Boz Scaggs". [[AllMusic]].
  6. Christgau, Robert. (1981). "Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies". [[Ticknor and Fields]].
  7. Sodomsky, Sam. (November 14, 2021). "Boz Scaggs: Silk Degrees".
  8. Leishman, David. (January 21, 1997). "Boz Scaggs: Silk Degrees".
  9. Christgau, Robert. (July 12, 1976). "Christgau's Consumer Guide". [[The Village Voice]].
  10. "19th Annual GRAMMY Awards {{!}} GRAMMY.com".
  11. (2 Jul 1976). "Deane's discs". The Leader-Post.
  12. link. "Boz Scaggs Explains How He Became The Father Of Toto". Noise11 Music Newsletter. (2014-04-14)
  13. Kent, David. (1993). "Australian Chart Book 1970–1992". Australian Chart Book.
  14. (October 9, 1976). "''RPM'' Top Albums".
  15. Lyttle, Brendan. (January 8, 1977). "Top 100 Albums of '76".
  16. (December 25, 1976). "Top Pop Albums".
  17. Kent (1993). p. 429.
  18. (December 31, 1977). "Top 100 Albums of '77".
  19. "Top Selling Albums of 1977". Recorded Music NZ.
  20. (December 24, 1977). "Top Pop Albums".
  21. Kent (1993). p. 430.
  22. "Top Selling Albums of 1978". Recorded Music NZ.

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