“Boz Scaggs,” Boz Scaggs, Atlantic Records, 1969. Trivia: Jann Wenner was a co-producer. I haven’t listened to this entire album in eight years or so, because it’s been that long since I’ve had a functional turntable. But I found a $2 CD version and oh, what a great collection it is.

Besides Boz’s gravelly voice (oo, baby), we have his Muscle Shoals session players - including Duane Allman. From the opening Hammond organ notes, to the heartbreaking lead guitar, to the soulful sounds of backup singers that include the great Tracy Nelson, “I’ll Be Long Gone” is truly transcendent, a gospel-tinged anthem. (It may be my favorite song ever.)

I’ll be high flyin’
By the time you come round to me
Today’s a new day
Different from tomorrow you’ll see
Good luck with your path
But it wasn’t built to last
Or we might take it differently
I’m gonna get up and make my life shine
I’m gonna get up and make my life shine
I’ve made up my mind
To make my life shine.

But Boz is a master of the cover song, too. Listen to his version of “Look What I Got (To Come Home To)” or even better, Fenton Robinson’s “Loan Me A Dime”. I never hear the latter without feeling completely wrung out to dry by the extended instrumental jam. (Man, no wonder the Muscle Shoals rhythm section were the players of choice for Atlantic artists like Wilson Pickett, Aretha Franklin, and Otis Redding.)

By the way, I’m not an audiophile by any stretch of the imagination. But yes, the mix on the original vinyl is different - and much better.