Boz Scaggs - Silk Degrees CDs • Vinyl Records • LPs • Music Albums

to play guitar on record. While similar in form to "Dime a Dance Romance," from his Steve Miller days, it lacks drive and focus: where "Romance" was propelled by Scaggs's singing and playing, "Jump Street" just meanders without an instrumental counterpoint to Boz's singing. It probably isn't the session players' fault; Scaggs simply doesn't feel comfortable when singing rock & roll without his guitar.

Without solid rock as a base, Scaggs's more diverse approach falters. He sings well in the disco fashion, but the tunes don't have the meat to complement the first-rate ballads. "We're All Alone" expresses the right mood at the album's close, but it would have shone brighter had "Lido Shuffle," which preceded it, been more distinguished. To become as big a force as he is a talent, Boz Scaggs needs to reintroduce his own rock & roll. (RS 211)

DAVID LEISHMAN

Boz Scaggs' augmented his solid blues rock credentials and smoky blue-eyed croon with mellow Philly soul strings on his biggest seller. Silk Degrees contains the brilliant, strutting, hipster taunt "Lowdown," the disco-rocking "It's Over" and the megahit "Lido Shuffle," making it the soundtrack to mid-'70s condo life, pool parties and bay cruises.