''Dig'' is an album by the American musician
Boz Scaggs, released in 2001. It peaked at No. 146 on the
''Billboard'' 200. Scaggs promoted the album with a North American tour and an appearance on the television show ''
Ally McBeal''. A limited edition of the album included a disc containing a 5.1 channel DVD-Audio and Dolby Digital surround sound mix.
Production
Scaggs began working on the album in early 2000 by recording and mailing music to
David Paich
David Frank Paich (born June 25, 1954) is an American musician, best known as the co-founder, principal songwriter, keyboardist and singer of the rock band Toto since 1977. He wrote or co-wrote much of Toto's original material, including the ban ...
.
[ ''Dig'' was produced by Scaggs, Paich, and ]Danny Kortchmar
Daniel "Danny Kootch" Kortchmar (born April 6, 1946) is an American guitarist, session musician, producer and songwriter. Kortchmar's work with singer-songwriters such as Linda Ronstadt, James Taylor, David Crosby, Carole King, David Cassidy ...
.[ Scaggs employed sound effects and samples on some of its songs. Scaggs was backed by several members of the band ]Toto
Toto may refer to:
Arts and entertainment Fictional characters Pets
* Toto (Oz), Toto (''Oz''), a dog in the novel and film ''The Wonderful Wizard of Oz''
* Toto, in Japanese ''The Cat Returns#Plot, The Cat Returns''
Characters of agency
* a ...
. Roy Hargrove
Roy Anthony Hargrove (October 16, 1969 – November 2, 2018) was an American jazz musician and composer whose principal instruments were the trumpet and flugelhorn. He achieved worldwide acclaim after winning two Grammy Awards for differing styles ...
played trumpet on some of the tracks. "Vanishing Point" is about two vagrants making their way to Las Vegas. Scaggs raps on "Get on the Natch".
Critical reception
''The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper
A newspaper is a periodical publication containing written information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background.
Newspapers can cover a wide ...
'' wrote that "''Dig'' sounds convincingly 21st century, but at heart it's the latest chapter in Scaggs's long-standing enthusiasm for rhythm and blues." ''The Independent
''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publishe ...
'' determined that "Scaggs is the American equivalent of Robert Palmer, an elegant R&B stylist with consummate blues and soul chops, whose career has been occasionally wrong-footed by the vagaries of musical fashion, despite the abiding excellence of his recordings." ''The Mail on Sunday
''The Mail on Sunday'' is a British conservative newspaper, published in a tabloid format. It is the biggest-selling Sunday newspaper in the UK and was launched in 1982 by Lord Rothermere. Its sister paper, the ''Daily Mail'', was first publ ...
'' deemed the album "slow, understated and soulful; a record for Sunday nights and long, solitary drives."
''The Observer
''The Observer'' is a British newspaper Sunday editions, published on Sundays. It is a sister paper to ''The Guardian'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', whose parent company Guardian Media Group, Guardian Media Group Limited acquired it in 1993. ...
'' concluded that "Scaggs is still the blue-eyed soul voice against which others should be measured." ''The Morning Call
''The Morning Call'' is a daily newspaper in Allentown, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1883, it is the second longest continuously published newspaper in the Lehigh Valley, after '' The Express-Times''. In 2020, the newspaper permanently closed its ...
'' opined that "Scaggs's lame, late-'60s urban hipster attitude is the final shovel on ''Digs grave, but it provides unintended laughs on tracks such as the lifestyle lesson 'Get on the Natch'." The ''Orlando Sentinel
The ''Orlando Sentinel'' is the primary newspaper of Orlando, Florida, and the Central Florida region. It was founded in 1876 and is currently owned by Tribune Publishing Company.
The ''Orlando Sentinel'' is owned by parent company, '' Tribune P ...
'' noted that, "although his voice remains as warm and intoxicating as a shot of whiskey, Scaggs rarely lifts these songs above the level of pleasant, generic diversions."[
]
Track listing
All lyrics composed by Boz Scaggs; except where indicated
#"Payday" (music: David Paich
David Frank Paich (born June 25, 1954) is an American musician, best known as the co-founder, principal songwriter, keyboardist and singer of the rock band Toto since 1977. He wrote or co-wrote much of Toto's original material, including the ban ...
, Boz Scaggs) – 4:43
#"Sarah" (music: Danny Kortchmar
Daniel "Danny Kootch" Kortchmar (born April 6, 1946) is an American guitarist, session musician, producer and songwriter. Kortchmar's work with singer-songwriters such as Linda Ronstadt, James Taylor, David Crosby, Carole King, David Cassidy ...
, Alan Jay Lerner
Alan Jay Lerner (August 31, 1918 – June 14, 1986) was an American lyricist and librettist. In collaboration with Frederick Loewe, and later Burton Lane, he created some of the world's most popular and enduring works of musical theatr ...
, Frederick Loewe
Frederick Loewe (, originally German Friedrich (Fritz) Löwe ; June 10, 1901 – February 14, 1988) was an Austrian- American composer. He collaborated with lyricist Alan Jay Lerner on a series of Broadway musicals, including '' Brigadoon'', ...
) – 4:45
#"Miss Riddle" (music: Paich, Michael Rodriguez, Scaggs) – 6:27
#"I Just Go" (Scaggs) – 4:50
#"Get on the Natch" (music: Angelo Bond, General Johnson, Kortchmar, Greg Perry) – 4:50
#"Desire" (music: Paich, Greg Phillinganes
Gregory Arthur Phillinganes (born May 12, 1956) is an American keyboardist, singer-songwriter, and musical director based in Los Angeles, California. A prolific session musician, Phillinganes has contributed the role of keyboards to numerous alb ...
, Scaggs) – 5:32
#"Call That Love" (music: Steve Jordan, Kortchmar, Paich, Scaggs; lyrics: Scaggs, Jack "Applejack" Walroth) – 4:18
#"King of El Paso" (Scaggs, Walroth) – 5:16
#"You're Not" (music: Kortchmar) – 4:19
#"Vanishing Point" (lyrics: Scaggs, Dominique Gioia; music: Paich, Scaggs) – 4:48
#"Thanks to You" (music: Paich, Scaggs)– 6:00
Personnel
* Boz Scaggs – vocals, guitar (1, 4, 6, 8, 10, 11)
* Danny Kortchmar
Daniel "Danny Kootch" Kortchmar (born April 6, 1946) is an American guitarist, session musician, producer and songwriter. Kortchmar's work with singer-songwriters such as Linda Ronstadt, James Taylor, David Crosby, Carole King, David Cassidy ...
– guitar (1, 2, 3, 5-11), synthesizer programming (2, 5, 9)
* Ray Parker Jr.
Ray Erskine Parker Jr. (born May 1, 1954) is an American musician, singer, songwriter, and record producer. As a solo performer, he wrote and performed the theme song to the 1984 film ''Ghostbusters''. Previously, Parker achieved a US top-10 hi ...
– guitar (1)
* Steve Lukather
Steven Lee Lukather (born October 21, 1957) is an American guitarist, singer, songwriter, arranger and record producer, best known as the sole continuous founding member of the rock band Toto. His reputation as a skilled guitarist led to a stead ...
– guitar solo (5), pedal steel guitar (11)
* Nathan East
Nathan Harrell East (born December 8, 1955) is an American jazz, R&B, and rock bass player and vocalist. With more than 2,000 recordings, East is one of the most recorded bass players in the history of music. East holds a Bachelor of Arts deg ...
– bass (4)
* Steve Jordan – bass (7), drums (7)
* Robin DiMaggio – drums (1), percussion (4, 11)
* Joe Bonadio – percussion (2, 6)
* David Paich
David Frank Paich (born June 25, 1954) is an American musician, best known as the co-founder, principal songwriter, keyboardist and singer of the rock band Toto since 1977. He wrote or co-wrote much of Toto's original material, including the ban ...
– keyboards (1, 2, 4-11), synthesizer (1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 9, 10, 11), backing vocals (9)
* Michael Rodriguez – synthesizer programming (1, 3, 6), keyboards (3)
* Greg Phillinganes
Gregory Arthur Phillinganes (born May 12, 1956) is an American keyboardist, singer-songwriter, and musical director based in Los Angeles, California. A prolific session musician, Phillinganes has contributed the role of keyboards to numerous alb ...
– acoustic piano (3)
* Roy Hargrove, Jr. – horns (1, 3, 7, 11)
* Martin Tillman
Martin Tillman (born 6 November 1964) is a Swiss Cello, cellist and composer.
Biography
Tillman was born in Zürich, Switzerland, in 1964. He arrived in the United States, US in 1988. He has since performed/composed on numerous films, television s ...
– cello (10)
* Monet – backing vocals (2, 6-9)
Production
* Producers – Danny Kortchmar and David Paich
* Engineers – Peter Dennenberg, Bob Levy, Steve MacMillan and Jess Sutcliffe.
* Assistant Engineer – Joe Peccerillo
* Mixing – Elliot Scheiner
Elliot Ray Scheiner (born 18 March 1947) is a music producer, mixer and engineer. Scheiner has received 27 Grammy Award nominations, eight of which he won, and he has been awarded four Emmy nominations, two Emmy Awards for his work with the Ea ...
* Mastered by Bob Ludwig
Robert C. Ludwig (born c. 1945) is an American mastering engineer. He has mastered recordings on all the major recording formats for all the major record labels, and on projects by more than 1,300 artists including Led Zeppelin, Lou Reed, Quee ...
References
{{authority control
Boz Scaggs albums
2001 albums
Virgin Records albums
albums produced by Danny Kortchmar
albums produced by Boz Scaggs