Dig (Boz Scaggs album)

Last updated

Dig
Dig (Boz Scaggs album).jpg
Studio album by
Released2001
StudioATS Studio (Molin, Austria)
  • Acme Recording Studio (Mamaroneck, New York)
  • Meac Studio (San Francisco, California)
Length51:00
Label Virgin
Producer
Boz Scaggs chronology
My Time: A Boz Scaggs Anthology
(1997)
Dig
(2001)
But Beautiful
(2003)

Dig is an album by the American musician Boz Scaggs, released in 2001. [1] It peaked at No. 146 on the Billboard 200. [2] Scaggs promoted the album with a North American tour and an appearance on the television show Ally McBeal . [3] [4] A limited edition of the album included a disc containing a 5.1 channel DVD-Audio and Dolby Digital surround sound mix. [5]

Contents

Production

Scaggs began working on the album in early 2000 by recording and mailing music to David Paich. [6] Dig was produced by Scaggs, Paich, and Danny Kortchmar. [7] Scaggs employed sound effects and samples on some of its songs. [8] Scaggs was backed by several members of the band Toto. [9] Roy Hargrove played trumpet on some of the tracks. [10] "Vanishing Point" is about two vagrants making their way to Las Vegas. [11] Scaggs raps on "Get on the Natch". [12]

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svg [13]
Orlando Sentinel Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [14]
(The New) Rolling Stone Album Guide Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar half.svgStar empty.svg [15]

The Guardian wrote that "Dig sounds convincingly 21st century, but at heart it's the latest chapter in Scaggs's long-standing enthusiasm for rhythm and blues." [6] The Independent determined that "Scaggs is the American equivalent of Robert Palmer, an elegant R&B stylist with consummate blues and soul chops, whose career has been occasionally wrong-footed by the vagaries of musical fashion, despite the abiding excellence of his recordings." [7] The Mail on Sunday deemed the album "slow, understated and soulful; a record for Sunday nights and long, solitary drives." [16]

The Observer concluded that "Scaggs is still the blue-eyed soul voice against which others should be measured." [17] The Morning Call opined that "Scaggs's lame, late-'60s urban hipster attitude is the final shovel on Dig's grave, but it provides unintended laughs on tracks such as the lifestyle lesson 'Get on the Natch'." [18] The Orlando Sentinel noted that, "although his voice remains as warm and intoxicating as a shot of whiskey, Scaggs rarely lifts these songs above the level of pleasant, generic diversions." [14]

Track listing

All lyrics composed by Boz Scaggs; except where indicated

  1. "Payday" (music: David Paich, Boz Scaggs) – 4:43
  2. "Sarah" (music: Danny Kortchmar, Alan Jay Lerner, Frederick Loewe) – 4:45
  3. "Miss Riddle" (music: Paich, Michael Rodriguez, Scaggs) – 6:27
  4. "I Just Go" (Scaggs) – 4:50
  5. "Get on the Natch" (music: Angelo Bond, General Johnson, Kortchmar, Greg Perry) – 4:50
  6. "Desire" (music: Paich, Greg Phillinganes, Scaggs) – 5:32
  7. "Call That Love" (music: Steve Jordan, Kortchmar, Paich, Scaggs; lyrics: Scaggs, Jack "Applejack" Walroth) – 4:18
  8. "King of El Paso" (Scaggs, Walroth) – 5:16
  9. "You're Not" (music: Kortchmar) – 4:19
  10. "Vanishing Point" (lyrics: Scaggs, Dominique Gioia; music: Paich, Scaggs) – 4:48
  11. "Thanks to You" (music: Paich, Scaggs) – 6:00

Personnel

Production

References

  1. Flick, Larry (August 11, 2001). "Boz Scaggs Returns". Billboard. Vol. 113, no. 32. pp. 1, 83.
  2. "Boz Scaggs". Billboard. Retrieved November 29, 2023.
  3. Catlin, Roger (September 20, 2001). "What's New". Calendar. Hartford Courant. p. 5.
  4. Goldenberg, Lindsay (August 30, 2001). "In Brief". Rolling Stone. No. 876. p. 36.
  5. Takiff, Jonathan (September 11, 2001). "Boz Scaggs, that most elegant of blue-eyed blues and soul singers...". Features. Philadelphia Daily News. p. 45.
  6. 1 2 Sweeting, Adam (August 27, 2001). "The Boz is Back". The Guardian. p. 2.12.
  7. 1 2 Gill, Andy (September 7, 2001). "Pop: This Week's Album Releases". Features. The Independent. p. 13.
  8. Morse, Steve (September 9, 2001). "Scaggs Digs His New Sonic Twists". The Boston Globe. p. L17.
  9. Cohen, Howard (September 28, 2001). "Quick Spins". Go!. The Record. Bergen County. p. 16.
  10. Himes, Geoffrey (October 26, 2001). "Boz Scaggs 'Dig". The Washington Post. p. WW8.
  11. Hunter, James (October 11, 2001). "Dig". Rolling Stone. No. 879. p. 92.
  12. Masley, Ed (October 24, 2001). "Boz Scaggs Rejuvenated by Thinking Differently". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. p. D1.
  13. AllMusic review
  14. 1 2 Abbott, Jim (September 28, 2001). "Scaggs Snagged by Trendy Put-Ons". Calendar. Orlando Sentinel. p. 11.
  15. (The New) Rolling Stone Album Guide. Simon & Schuster. 2004. p. 719.
  16. "Music Reviews". The Mail on Sunday. September 9, 2001. p. 61.
  17. Spencer, Neil (September 9, 2001). "Music: Pop". Review Pages. The Observer. p. 14.
  18. Righi, Len (September 15, 2001). "Boz Scaggs: Dig". The Morning Call. p. A42.