Hi everyone.  Hope you are all well and continue to stay that way during this global health crisis we are facing.  But in addition to protecting your physical wellness, what are you doing to stay mentally healthy today?

(Image found online.  Original source unknown.)

I know we are still facing a serious situation but a new year gives us hope for the new days, seasons, opportunities & moments ahead. Still, music is something that will never change for me. It is my refuge, the most comforting part of my life & the one thing I consistently count on. So until a more normal semblance of life returns, I am going to share a song I listen to that helps me escape the current state of things, if only for a few minutes each day. And if this helps anyone else, even better.

I really enjoy finding out about childhood friends who both loved music and turned those passions into successful careers. One of my favorites involves Boz Scaggs and Steve Miller. The two young guitarists & singers met as students attending the same prep school in Texas. In 1959 a 15 year old Scaggs became the lead singer of Miller’s band, The Marksmen.

The two men attended the same college together in Wisconsin before Scaggs left to go to London to explore the music culture there. When he returned to the States in 1967 he joined The Steve Miller Band and played on the group’s first two albums before he signed with Atlantic Records as a solo artist a year later. By 1971 He moved to the Columbia label.

Miller’s band first achieved commercial success in 1973 with the album The Joker while Scaggs’ broke through in 1976 with the album, Silk Degrees. It has always been one of my favorites.

“Lido be runnin’ havin’ great big fun
Until he got the note
Saying ‘Tow the line or blow it’
And that was all she wrote“.

Top: Steve Miller (L) and Boz Scaggs (R) circa 1967. Bottom: Scaggs’ 1976 album, Silk Degrees. (Image found online.  Original source unknown.)

Boz Scaggs: “Lido Shuffle” (1976, written by David Patch & Boz Scaggs).

I do not own the rights to anything.  I am just sharing what I love and how I am coping with you.

Stay well.