Ther are plenty of examples of the links between rock, old-style R&B (the sixties version, not the disco-tainted variant that came later) and country music but Look What I’ve Got underlines those links while that dobro slides away under Scaggs easy relaxed vocal. While he might be pointing out a few home truths to the ex- he’s still the same dude from I’m Easy. Hughesy’s been known to run a mile from a hint of countryfied yodelling but the cover of Jimmie Rodgers’ Waiting for a Train works in a way that most of the other examples of the genre don’t. Maybe it’s the continuation of the same country-fired groove that runs through the album.
A swirl of organ, a touch of piano and the unmistakeable tones of Duane Allman and we’re into the album’s highlight, thirteen-odd minutes of Fenton Robinson’s Loan Me a Dime, one of the ultimate three-o’clock in the morning blues. Turn down the lights and grab something slightly stronger than a beer and sit back and let the music flow over you. Allman’s solo is masterfully underplayed, and the horns swell in just the right places. Love it. Under normal circumstances you’d think Loan Me A Dime couldn’t be followed, but Sweet Release manages to do just that, and if you look at the album as, more or less, a song cycle, it’s the perfect closer.
You’ve got the introduction on I’m Easy, followed by the breakup of the old, the start of something new that doesn’t last either, so it’s out onto the highway and the hard times, but Sweet Release, low-keyed at the start as Scaggs enumerates his woes. The music gradually rises behind him as he finds the hope of something better around the corner in the future. Uplifting....
The album as a whole’s a seamless interweaving of down home elements, a splash of country here, a tad gospel over there, bit of blues running through. Scaggs’ vocals are relaxed, the players slide in behind him and the result is an album that deserves to a place in any discerning record collection.
And if you want a perfect summary of the whole, go no further than the cover....