Sometimes it’s hard to believe that the blue-eyed soul singer responsible for such sophisticated classics like “Lido Shuffle” and “Jojo” during the age of disco came from some pretty organic beginnings.
Boz Scaggs left the Steve Miller Blues Band in 1968 and set out to become a star in his own right. His self-titled debut album, released in August 1969, may not have set the charts on fire, but it wasn’t because he didn’t have star power behind it. The sessions were produced by Rolling Stone Magazine founder Jann Wenner and backed by Muscle Shoals’ finest. It was a fine mix of natural soul, rock and blues.
But the standout track is the long one: a 12-minute blues lament called “Loan Me a Dime.” Forget that Scaggs delivers only an uncharacteristic so-so vocal performance on it. Forget that he covered this Fenton Robinson song and tried unsuccessfully to pass it off as his own.
None of that matters. Not when this track is essentially a showcase for the electric guitar skills of one Duane Allman. There’s only one word to describe Duane’s contribution to this track: dayum.
[SOMETHING ELSE! INTERVIEW: Boz Scaggs joined us for a Something Else! Sitdown to talk about singing versus guitar playing, his layered and bluesy 2013 release ‘Memphis,’ and the Dukes of September.]
Wenner must have been similarly blown away, too. Rolling Stone’s rankings of all-time greatest guitarists placed only Jimi Hendrix ahead of Duane Allman. Quibble with this list as you may (and oh, do we ever) but the 22-year-old then-unknown Southern boy made quite an impression to some important people.
Then, over the following two remaining years of his life, Duane Allman went on to make quite an impression on everyone else. His meteoric rise begins here.
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