Everybody’s doing it. But there are a wide variety of reasons for making an album of standards from desperation (Rod Stewart) to hubris (Robbie Williams). And Boz Scaggs? Listening to the unassuming But Beautiful, you have to conclude that he did it because he loves the songs and enjoys the challenge of getting his sinewy voice around some top tunes. You wouldn’t want him to make a habit of it (the “Volume One” part of the title is a bit alarming). But he does bring a soulful warmth to songs such as “Bewitched Bothered And Bewildered” that you wouldn’t have thought possible.
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