It’s been more than seven years since Boz Scaggs put out a new studio album, but the soulful singer/songwriter is set to return with a new collection of songs titled Detour. The 11-track album, which will be released on October 17, finds the 81-year-old Scaggs exploring the Great American Songbook.
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According to a press statement, Detour features Boz “interpreting timeless standards with tender insight and profound emotional sophistication.”
[RELATED: 5 Classic Tunes by Boz Scaggs in Honor of the Soulful Singer/Songwriter’s 80th Birthday]
The album offers a mix of familiar and more-obscure songs that previously were recorded by such artists as Frank Sinatra, Ella Fitzgerald, Irma Thomas, and Lonnie Johnson.
Detour also features a new version of Scaggs’ original tune “I’ll Be Long Gone,” which first appeared on his self-titled 1969 solo album. The jazzy, melancholy updated rendition has been released as the first advance track from Detour.
Detour came together after Boz began recording personal demos of various standards with his friend, pianist Seth Asarnow, during a series of impromptu sessions. Scaggs’ initial goal was just to expand his vocal stylings.
“I had no intention of making a record when I started singing these songs,” Boz admitted. “It was all very casual at first, just an opportunity to explore a style of music I’ve always liked, to get together with a friend and play for the sheer joy of it.”
As the sessions proceeded, Scaggs realized he was amassing some magical material for a full-fledged album.
In addition to Asarnow, Detour features the musical talents of keyboardist Jim Cox and drummer Jason Lewis.
More About Detour
Scaggs noted that it was Asarnow who suggested that he revisit “I’ll Be Long Gone” for Detour.
“I get a lot of requests for it,” he explained. “[Seth] put together this beautiful arrangement. … [I]t ended up falling in perfectly with everything else we did for this album.”
Detour begins with a rendition of Allen Toussaint’s “It’s Raining,” which originally was recorded by Irma Thomas in 1961. The album also includes a version of the 1934 standard “The Very Thought of You.” Interestingly, Bob Dylan recently recorded the same song with Barbra Streisand for Streisand’s recently released duets album, The Secret of Life: Partners, Volume Two.
You can pre-order Detour now.
Scaggs’ 2025 Tour Plans
Coinciding with Detour’s release, Scaggs will kick off a fall U.S. tour on October 17 in Indio, California. The 25-date cross-country trek, dubbed the Rhythm Review tour, is mapped out through a November 26 performance in Red Bank, New Jersey. You can check out his full itinerary at BozScaggs.com.
More About Boz
Early in his career, Scaggs was a member of the Steve Miller Band during the late 1960s.
After launching a solo career, he enjoyed a run of successful hits from the mid-1970s to the early ’80s. Boz reached the peak of his popularity with his 1976 breakthrough album Silk Degrees. The album peaked at No. 2 on the Billboard 200, and featured several hit singles, including “Lowdown” and “Lido Shuffle.”
In the next few years, Scaggs released a series of additional charting singles, among them “Breakdown Dead Ahead,” “Jojo.” “Look What You’ve Done to Me.”
While his chart success waned after the 1980s, Scaggs has continued to release new albums. His most recent studio effort, Out of the Blues, came out in 2018.
Detour Track List:
- “It’s Raining”
- “Angel Eyes”
- “Once I Loved”
- “The Very Thought of You”
- “I’ll Be Long Gone”
- “Detour Ahead”
- “I Could Have Told You”
- “The Meaning of the Blues”
- “Tomorrow Night”
- “Too Late Now”
- “We’ll Be Together Again”
(Photo by Douglas Mason/Getty Images)
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