Review | Silken and Gutsy Serenader Boz Scaggs Rules the Arlington

There was a time, during the suave and slick ’70s pop music bubble, when it wasn’t necessarily hip to like Boz Scaggs. The glossy-surfaced production textures and understated soul stylings were soothing the public ear around the same time that the insurgent moves of punk and New Wave were upsetting the old guard and shaking off pop’s polish.

By some misguided stereotyping measure, the sounds of such hits as “Lowdown,” “Lido Shuffle,” and “What Can I Say,” could trigger an image of leisure suited bankers sipping on tumblers of Sex on the Beach on a yacht. No wonder Scaggs has suddenly emerged as a subject of ironic reverence in the current “yacht rock” scene.

All of which is to say: Never mind the fickle taste meter bollocks, here is one of America’s greatest living blue-eyed soul/pop/blues singers alive. That much was handsomely confirmed by Scaggs’s powerfully moving concert at the Arlington Theatre last week, in what was the most pop-leaning show in the current UCSB Arts & Lectures season. In strong and soulful form at age 81, the singer, immersed in the glorious sonic embrace of his band, delivered a varied songbook, validating his musical life still in progress.

One thing Scaggs has going for himself is his instantly identifiable voice; in timbre, a natural but subtle soul-riffing gift and his signature throat-y asides. He also refuses to be tied down to one genre, as he demonstrated in a set spanning his long career — including, thankfully, songs from his underrated 2001 album Dig. He can call on the silken ambience of his R&B-pop tunes, but make a hard right turn into bluesy grit, on covers like the show-opener, Earl King’s “It All Went Down the Drain,” Bobby Bland’s “The Feeling’s Gone,” and Fenton Robinson’s “Somebody Loan Me a Dime.”

One sideline chapter of Scaggs’s musical passion not represented on this night was his distinctive and subtle way with the Great American songbook. For a taste of that Boz persona, proceed to his new album Detour (hear it here). The latest in the subset of standards albums in his discography, it’s a warm and intimate gem, avoiding lavish production in favor of showcasing his tight rapport with pianist Seth Asarnow. Maybe it’s time for a Scaggs tour in Great American Songbook form.

What we did hear at the Arlington was some superlative guitar playing. The secondary spotlight-grabber on this night was the remarkable and versatile guitarist Jon Herington, who should be a household name by now, but who remains in the first-call sideman camp. We’ve heard him in Santa Barbara dishing out sophisticated work with Steely Dan at the Bowl, and also in a mellower vibe with Madeleine Peyroux at the Arlington. With Scaggs, Herington did all the right stuff, suiting each tune according to its nature, with streamlined and tasty blues and rock solos — as on the show-closing “Breakdown Dead Ahead” — and sneaking in his way with jazz colors on tunes with jazz chords attached, e.g. “Lowdown.”

Scaggs’s show, overall, was an inspiration from start to finish, for those of us with a taste for who he was and is evolving into. Along with Sir Paul McCartney’s stellar show at the Santa Barbara Bowl last month, Scaggs’s triumphant concert made a strong showing for octogenarian pop icons in our town. It has been a good year for seasoned pop legends passing through. 

Post concert, I’ve had the tune “Harbor Lights,” swimming around in my brain like an Esther Williams-y earworm. The song might be considered exhibit A in the yacht-worthy category of easy-does-it balladry. But, in fact, once you strip away-imposed prejudices, you can hear the song for what it is: a brilliant, well-crafted and hook-lined pop jewel. With or without a Sex on the Beach.