Customer Reviews

Down Two Then Left

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

"Silk Degrees" is the one remembered, and for good reason, but this is a fantastic album! The first "side" especially is pure masterpiece -- I literally dare anyone to listen to those first four cuts, capped off by the infectious "Whatcha' Gonna' Tell Your Man?", and not get sucked into the groove -- but the WHOLE THING has such a hot/cool mood to it, it's almost hypnotic. Scaggs has NEVER been given the respect he deserves, and I have no "clue" why. I put his stuff right up there with Stevie Wonder's as the best of the 70's -- the kind of slick, stylish, funky music that will never be done in quite the same way again. Oh well...if the rest a' the world don't get it, their loss. Forget Barry White, this is my pick as the best make-out album of all time. Thanks, Boz.

Boz Scaggs followed up his commercial blockbuster "Silk Degrees" with 1977's "Down Two Then Left". This album probably hasn't sold a fourth of what "Silk Degrees" has, but don't let that fool you. It's not hard at all to see why many of the listeners familiar with "Down Two Then Left" would claim it to be even better than "Silk Degrees". As the saying goes, variety is the spice of life, and as great of a song as "Lowdown" is, it's not hard to see why people would simply be sick of it since, even after 29+ years, it's such a hard song to escape just by going out to certain public places, as are many of the other songs from "Silk Degrees". I'm not aware of any of the songs from "Down Two Then Left" having 'suffered this fate', so if you're looking for something a bit fresher, so to speak, I think this should hit the spot. All that aside, "Down Two Then Left" is simply a superb album that puts Boz's super cool suaveness on full display, not to mention his highly unique and arrestingly passionate vocals. A big change with this album is that Boz's key songwriting collaborator on "Silk Degrees", keyboardist David Paich, is gone. However, "filling in" for Paich is Michael Omartian, a talented dude in his own right and he himself co-wrote 5 of the 10 tracks on here with Scaggs. However, as with "Silk Degrees", "Down Two Then Left" was produced by Joe Wissert, plus the late great Jeff Porcaro is still on drums, and in the end, if you love "Silk Degrees", you can't go wrong here. "Still Falling For You" and "Whatcha Gonna Tell Your Man" are splendidly catchy tunes with that good ol' irresistibly lush soft rock sound. The funky, infectious "Hollywood" is an absolute hook-fest with great female background vocals & cool orchestration, not to mention the vibraphone played by the late Victor Feldman. The stomping, tormented "Hard Times"; the rousing, very Steely Dan-ish "Gimme The Goods"; the breezy, splendidly tuneful "A Clue" with its great guitar solo from Steve Lukather that sounds uncannily like a Larry Carlton solo from Steely Dan's "The Royal Scam" (which is no coincidence--Lukather was and is a huge SD & Carlton fan); & the soulful ballad "Then She Walked Away"--these are all great songs. "1993", with its "Lido Shuffle" style rhythm, is a very strong track as well. There are some minor gripes such as the fairly dull, extended coda on "We're Waiting" with its annoying, excessive use of those syndrums that were state-of-the-art at the time. Overall though, "Down Two Then Left" is tasteful, excellently performed and produced, and has catchy hooks galore--it's definitely a must-have.

When it was released, this album didn't have nearly the impact of its predecesser, Silk Degrees. However, I think it's even better. Boz's melodies were never better. "Then She Walked Away" and "Tomorrow never came" are the best in that department. "Gimme the Goods" is the best R&B song he ever did. The horns are absolutely blistering.

This album had a hard battle when it came to pleasing anyone after the brilliance - and success - of "Silk Degrees". But aside from the fact that Michael Omartian isn't quite the composer that David Paich (who was responsible for the music to all of the best known SD songs)is this set is just as good.

The late Jeff Porcaro returned to play drums on the entire album, and it's some of his best work ever, the quality of the musicanship throughout (including a couple of superb guitar solos from Scaggs himself)is of the highest standard possible.

It yielded two minor chart entries with "Hard Times" and "Hollywood" - a tune that should never have been left off the "My Time" anthology, but was, and while they are great songs so are the rest..."A Clue" is my personal favourite, but it's just so hard to find fault with any of Scaggs's best releases...and this is one of them.

As for why Paich wasn't involved with this project, presumably it had much to do with the success of "Silk Degrees" establishing him within the industry as a songwriter...it allowed him to shop his demo tapes around and be noticed, the result being that by years end he was reunited with Porcaro and hard at work on their band's debut album, another superb release, simply entitled "TOTO".

This is defintiely a good easy-listening album to help deepen your soul into. I luv this album since the day I purchased Silk Degrees on CD and then the greatest hits compilation Hits. If those that were into "Silk Degrees" which is a classic, you highly recommend getting into Steely Dan's album entitled "Aja" which I have on LP but not on CD yet.

Yeah, this is 'mos definitely a must-have classic since the beginning of his recent album which he put out a year before this one.

Go Boz, you're the "Lowdown" man. Check out DIG too. It's good though.

Although the earlier work was, by far, the more popular and critically acclaimed, this follow-up is a winner itself. The cuts "Still Falling for You," "Hard Times," "Whatcha Gonna Tell Your Man, and "Hollywood" are as soulful as anything the artist did before or after. The final one "Tomorrow Never Came" is just drop-dead magnificent. Twenty-three years old and still "fresh."

After the commercial success of "Silk Degrees", setting about to record again must have been a daunting task for Mr. Scaggs. Nonetheless, he and the assembled musicians found the answer to the question. The result was at times astounding in its clarity. With this collection, Boz zeroed in on the state of the culture in the late seventies. Songs like "Hollywood" and "Hard Times" spoke of the decadence and the sense of disappoinment that pervaded the American landscape. "We're Waiting" weaves a sonic tapestry with texture enough to still sound fresh almost 30 years hence. "Gimme The Goods" sounds like it was ripped from the night like a film noir.
This is one of the best "next" records ever produced, and never received its due.

This is truly a good album. If you don't compare it to the mega-hit "Silk Degrees" what you end up with is a decent excursion into some funky rock and laid-back R & B. It's hard to find an artist who's true to this sound (among the good "blue-eyed soul" performers are Bobby Caldwell, Rick Astley and Joe Cocker) but Boz comes through with a brilliant set of soulful tunes. "A clue" and "Whatcha Gonna Tell Your man" are jazzy love balads that are highly reminiscent of the "seventies" sound similiar to Earth Wind and Fire and the Ohio Players. "We're waiting" with it's complex jazz-blues structure has a Steely-Dan-esque sound that, sadly, so few artists are good at.

In context this is a very good album and we all owe Boz Skaggs a warm thank you for bringing such good music to the world.

Once again Boz delivers! This album brings back so many fond memories!
Every track is smooth and soulful! A "must" for any Boz Scaggs fan!

A friend found this in an obscure record store and bought it as a gift. Had never heard of this CD, but has to be some of the best music you've never heard of. "We're waiting," "Hollywood," and "Whatcha gonna tell your man" are very good, as are "1993" and "Tomrrow Never Came." But everyone remembers "Slow Dancer," "Harbor Lights," and "Miss Sun." You will not be disappointed if you like Boz Scaggs.