That Dirty Lowdown

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Song: Lowdown (1976)

Artist: Boz Scaggs

Album: Silk Degrees (CBS)

Lowdown was the biggest hit off of Boz Scaggs’ Silk Degrees Album, in 1976.

Boz Scaggs, whose real name is William Royce Scaggs, began working on Silk Degrees, he had just come off his first album without his road band, Silk Dancer.

There were a number of great studio musicians from the Detroit/Motown scene on the album, including drummer James Peterson. But artistically, it wasn’t as successful as Silk Degrees, which featured three artists which would later become the core of Toto, including drummer Jeff Porcaro, bassist David Hungate, and keyboardist David Paich, together with guitarist Fred Tackett and Louie Shelton.

Several songs from the album enjoyed heavy radio play, and both Lowdown and Lido Shuffle are still radio classics. Co-written with Scaggs by David Paich, Lowdown hit number 3 on the Billboard charts in October 1976, spending 22 weeks on the hit list after being released in September of 1976.

Lido Shuffle was the next biggest hit, at number 11. Other notables are We’re All Alone and What Can I Say.

Lowdown won a grammy in 1976 for Best R&B song, boosting album sales, which went to four million.

Listen to Lowdown by Boz Scaggs

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