To casual leaders, Boz Scaggs is generally known as the voice behind such memorable hits as "Lido Shuffle," "Lowdown," and "Look What You've Done To Me." His cover of Steely Dan's "Pearl Of The Quarter," which I heard on WSIE recently, impresses me, as well. Scaggs has the right combination of sincerity and earthiness in his voice to pull off lyrics some listeners might find tawdry. While hearing Scaggs sing "Pearl...," I was struck by how much the song's rhythm reminds me of "The Tracks Of My Tears." Whether you're partial to the version by The Miracles, Johnny Rivers, or Linda Ronstadt, you could start singing, "People say I'm the life of the party...," over the rhythm of "Pearl..."
Sometimes, you think you have an artist's sound pegged. Then, you learn that the artist has more than one sound--and more range than you thought originally. Such is the case with Scaggs.
