Thursday, June 14, 2007

“Sierra” / Boz Scaggs

I instinctively disliked Boz Scaggs from the get-go. In 1976 every kid I knew with middlebrow music tastes owned the same three albums: Jackson Browne’s The Pretender, the Eagle’s Hotel California, and Scaggs’s Silk Degrees. Scaggs’s two big hits, “Lowdown” and “Lido Shuffle,” got played ENDLESSLY on AOR radio. To me they both sounded so West Coast, so slick and overproduced, I couldn’t acknowledge the considerable soul groove within them. I hated Scaggs’ voice – it sounded high and forced and half-strangled to me, with extra vibrato laid on for effect. Gack.

So why on earth would I EVER listen to another Boz Scaggs album? Well, thank Alan Price – he covered a Scaggs song named “Some Change” on his 1995 album A Gigster’s Life For Me, and astonished as I was, I had to investigate. (Alan also covered Jackson Browne’s “Say It Isn’t So” on that album, so I had to reconsider my ban against Jackson Browne too -- go figure.) Why did it never occur to me that these artists would be capable of growing and changing the same as me – that they too might have rejected 1970s fashions by now?

Scaggs came out of semi-retirement with his 1994 album Some Change, which I guess is why he'd fallen off my radar. After that long hiatus, Scaggs no longer seemed to be chasing anybody else’s sound; the album is packed solid with mellow R&B, with a tinge of jazz. And guess what – they have a lot more emotional heft than the stuff he did 20 years earlier.

Despite its neatly loping tempo, “Sierra” is a heart-wrenching song. The central metaphor is simple: a spurned lover retreating to the mountains to nurse his broken heart. But he’s not the same guy anymore, and all the imagery of icy air and big sky and watchful hawks sends home a truth: Once scarred by love, we humans tend to shut down our feelings. Scaggs’s tight, wary voice has a melancholy edge that just kills me. The rhythms are fluid as a mountain stream, and the melody circles like a hawk, dipping and swooping within a few notes, while chords morph like wind currents around it.

It begins with a brief impassioned protest – “What about the one who said he loved you / What about the one who said he cared” – but then the lyrics pivot into toughness: “Don't bother trying to find him / Way up in the icy air.” Do we buy this? I don’t; the guy still hurts, but he’s working on it. In the bridge, he loftily declares, “The angels lay their clouds across his sky / They line up for him every night / Some have wings and others sing / The rest do lazy ballets in the air.” That’s a classic I-don’t-need-you-anymore line, isn’t it? Its poetry fools us for a minute – sure, I don’t need you, I’ve got ANGELS to talk to! – but it sounds suspiciously to me like the ravings of a delusional recluse.

“There he's got a bird to give him warning,” Boz declares next, “And he's got a lookout too / The beauty of the High Sierra / And she's looking out for you.” That’s a load of defense – you can’t convince me he no longer cares about this woman. No, this is a deft, dense killer of a post-break-up song, and Scaggs’s light-as-a-feather vocal touch wisely lets the song sell itself.

So I broke down and finally bought a Boz Scaggs album. Like the title song of that album says, "Some change, some don't." Boz changed, and I'm glad he did.

Sierra sample

28 comments:

Anonymous said...

I don't like Scaggs too much, I've heard two compilations, and the songs were light and fluffy.

Maybe I'm wrong, but he's WAY down my list of guys to re-assess.

Holly A Hughes said...

Don't sweat it, G12 -- you have enough other musical passions to pursue. But I wouldn't be surprised if those compilations were largely from that earlier period, when his songs WERE a bit fluffy. They still leave me cold.

Anonymous said...

I had written him off. I liked what I heard of that sample, thought. A completly different style.

George said...

Light and fluffy has a place just like any other music does. remember The Archies? That was light and fluffy in my opinion .. I guess I am saying that because I didn't mind Boz ... certainly not at the top of my list of faves but he was there.

Anonymous said...

I’m a musician with 3 CDs under my belt. I love Sierra and think the whole “But Beautiful” CD is awesome.

Steve R said...

Good on you Holly. Your honesty is refreshing. My wife of 25 years and some years my senior is quick to remind me of my initial dislike for this song, contrary to my enjoyment of Boz's poppy hits. As I've aged, or as my wife would say, matured, I find Sierra to be a thoughtful and appropriate piece and something that deserves considered appreciation. A little like that long term marriage I mentioned.
Here's to us converts and our honesty.
Thank you

Unknown said...

Boz Bid some great music long before Silk Degrees. Hes on the great Steve Miller "Sailor" album (long before fluffy Joker, etc), and his solo album "Boz Scaggs" has some great blues with Duane Allman on guitar. That was followed by a few interesting blues/soul albums with some great tracks - check out the Van-ish "Dina Flo". Slow Dancer had some beautiful stuff - but almost over the top. In this overall context "Silk Degrees" is an interesting evolution - quite original for its time, but probably so over-played and imitated that it sounds trite. (My niece once complained about a Shakespeare play - "so full of cliches"). He put out some bad albums after Silk Degrees (IMO) but started getting interesting again with "Some Change".

Holly A Hughes said...

Thanks for the background -- more to investigate!

Rhys McClure said...

A recent interview on NPR with Boz was so interesting I went straight to Amazon Music and after a few sample tracks loaded up my music library with his music. I have not been disappointed. His song writing is so heart felt and clever and that would be enough in most respects. His deft guitar solos have so many subtle layers that you soon realize what a great guitar player he truly is. BTW his club in SF, Slims, has to be heaven for any musician who plays there. I've had friends perform there, and the sound was outstanding anywhere in the house. The staff made running a venue like that seem effortless. Another side note: Boz was there one night and it was fun watching him dance. He's a great dancer, which should not be a surprise at all.

Mariah said...

I had rather liked his radio songs, but I'm recently enjoying digging into the music of some artists that didn't make the radio, and finding they're so much better. Boz's blues background is where it's at. I now officially love him.

Unknown said...

I've always noticed that great talent attracts great talent. I saw Boz live several times in the 70's and his shows were explosive. Everyone on the stage was a star in his own right. The song Sierra was about his wife, who he loved dearly, who left him, taking their sons. I was so glad he came out with a new album after such a long hiatus and the whole album left me as blown away, or more so, than he had in the past.

Unknown said...

Has anyone listened to his first album. "Loan me a dime",

Holly A Hughes said...

I'm digging how many folks have found their own road to appreciating Boz Scaggs.

Unknown said...

I've lived here in Carson City, Nevada for 22 years. Please tell me where that bridge is? I love the video and can recognize pretty much every place else.

Holly A Hughes said...

Sorry, can't help you with that -- I don't know that landscape at all. Anybody else know it?

B Jules said...

Songs like Sierra will only truly connect with those who have experienced the heartbreak the song spells out… the elements of a great song are always measured by how many souls relate to it.
By far my favorite Boz Scaggs song of all time.

Murph said...

I loved his first three albums Boz Scaggs all excellent with classic tracks Loan me a Dime, Flames of Love and You're So Fine...however Silk Degrees saw the Hollywood Musos step in and over produced his sound and homogenised it. My great friend Bill Dayson played me this and it moved me to tears

Bart said...

It's a gorgeous bit of musical whimsy; I love it, I care.

Bart said...

It's a gorgeous bit of musical whimsy; I love it, I care.

Unknown said...

Boz Scaggs is a musical genius. In every musical genre you can think of. I love music and have for all my 73 years. Thank the musical gods for Boz Scaggs.

Anonymous said...

‘Sierra’ is a song about his friend who went missing in the Sierra in one of those National Park Missing 411 and Dave Pulides things. Boz thinks they committed suicide. That’s not true.

Holly A Hughes said...

Very interesting, thanks for sharing that! That certainly changes how I hear the lyrics. Although, like many other songwriters, he leaves it ambiguous enough that it can be read as a love song, I guess since that's the pop default. Either way it works for me.

Anonymous said...

I am pretty sure that the bridge is over Don Pedro Reservoir in Toulomne county.

Anonymous said...

Fade into the light great album

Anonymous said...

I liked Boz from the get go. But I have now discovered a few songs that I love even more than his classics. High Sierra, Fly Like a Bird, and Last Tango on 16th Street. I was fortunate to catch a concert at a small venue outside of Albany NY. Best concert ever! The man has not lost any of his voice or guitar talents.

Anonymous said...

Caught Boz Skaggs at a small older venue in Clearwater FL called the Capital. Great seats and acoustics. Longtime Boz fan so I nearly came undone when he said, "this is a song we don't do very often called, Sierra." It was exceptionally beautiful done live and my night was the best ever as it is my favorite song of his

Anonymous said...

I love how everyone is an authority on someone that has so much talent.
I've always enjoyed Boz Skaggs music and have been to his concerts.
He is a great blues player and loved his Slow Dancer album and somebody loan me a dime.

Anonymous said...

What a great song, Always thought it was least based on the 40s film High Sierra! It somehow reminds me of Drive by the Cars…