Boz Scaggs - Come on Home

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Music reviews of Come on Home

Music Review: After 2 decades of slick soul-pop, Boz comes back home
Rating: 5 Stars

While covers albums are often the ones most avoided by an artist's fans, when done right, the result seems worth all the trouble. COME ON HOME not only proves this beyond a doubt, but Boz also created 4 original songs written & recorded in the vintage style. Clearly, Boz loves this music so much, he can tailor his own songs to the old sounds flawlessly, and that is far from an easy thing to do. Of the originals, the Stax horns-driven "Picture Of A Broken Heart" & the closing Blue Note-jazz-styled ballad "Goodnight Louise" are the biggest highlights. You'd swear that these songs were outtakes from the old days, they're that authentic-sounding. "I've Got Your Love" is almost straight from the Hi Records vaults with Boz sounding close to Al Green at times (not to mention showing off his often-overlooked guitar abilities). "After Hours" is exactly as its title claims, a downhearted blues shuffle that is perfect for any smoky club. Best of all, Boz is one White singer that can pull off these kinds of songs without trying too hard to sound Black. Again, this is a gift only a select few White singers possess, with Boz among them.

The covers range from raw Southern-styled blues to the kind of gritty soul music that was put out more by Stax Records rather than Motown. The odd song out from these covers is the jazzy take on the old standard "Love Letters", which predates Boz's standards album BUT BEAUTIFUL by 6 years. The deep Southern blues numbers given a modern makeover include Jimmy Reed's "Found Love", Sonny Boy Williamson I's "Early In The Morning" & T-Bone Walker's "T-Bone Shuffle". The first two songs pretty much retain their country blues pedigrees, while the last one has a more pronounced city blues identity with the addition of piano & horns. I wonder if Boz is a particularly big fan of Bobby "Blue" Bland, for he covers two of his songs with "Ask Me 'Bout Nothin' [But The Blues]" & "Don't Cry No More". He could easily have chosen "I Pity The Fool" or some other better-known Bland classic, but Boz did right in digging deeper into Bland's catalog for songs to recast.

Boz even heads on down to New Orleans with two Crescent City soul classics: the recently-departed Earl King's "It All Went Down The Drain" (again going for a lesser-known gem than the more-famous "Come On [Let The Good Times Roll]") & Fats Domino's "Sick & Tired". The latter tune in particular is a piano-pounding delight, Boz's version sure to have pleased even Fats himself. The gutbucket soul of labels like Stax & Hi Records is given a chance to shine with tunes that make you wonder why those labels never thought about signing up Boz back in their heyday. Syl Johnson's "Come On Home" & a 7-minute epic workout on Mable John's "Your Good Thing [Is About To End]" (later an even bigger hit for Lou Rawls) are songs Boz easily gets comfortable in, and like always, his enthusiasm & genuine love for the material comes through totally.

After 30 years in the music business, 20 of those spent employing a decidely more glossy sound than what he was brought up on, Boz Scaggs took a considerable risk in returning to the stripped-down R&B blues that first inspired him to become a musician in the first place. The old logic of "stick with what works" may have hampered most other artists' wishes to do something like this. However, Boz had reached a point in his career where he could make an album like COME ON HOME with little regard for what sold best. He was a confirmed veteran who could record COME ON HOME for himself & those devoted fans who've stuck with him through thick & thin (perhaps even for newcomers like me). While the album after this would have Boz making a slight return to the polished soul-pop that had made him a name, he still proved that he could COME ON HOME back to this roots & influences without making it just another run-of-the-mill hats-off to who inspired you.

Description of Come on Home

Classic Rock CDs

• Music > Styles
• Pop
• Rock