Joseph Wade Scott (December 2, 1924 – March 6, 1979)
was an American
R&B trumpeter, bandleader, songwriter,
arranger
In music, an arrangement is a musical adaptation of an existing composition. Differences from the original composition may include reharmonization, melodic paraphrasing, orchestration, or formal development. Arranging differs from orches ...
,
record producer
A record producer is a recording project's creative and technical leader, commanding studio time and coaching artists, and in popular genres typically creates the song's very sound and structure.Virgil Moorefield"Introduction" ''The Producer as ...
and
A&R man, best known for his work at
Duke
Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and sovereign princes. As royalty or nobility, they are ran ...
and
Peacock Records
Peacock Records was an American record label, started in 1949 by Don Robey in Houston, Texas, United States.
History
" Hound Dog" by Big Mama Thornton was a hit for Peacock in 1953. Other significant rhythm and blues artists on Peacock were Ma ...
in the 1950s and 1960s, notably with
Bobby "Blue" Bland
Robert Calvin Bland (born Robert Calvin Brooks; January 27, 1930 – June 23, 2013), known professionally as Bobby "Blue" Bland, was an American blues singer.
Bland developed a sound that mixed gospel with the blues and R&B. He was descr ...
.
Biography
Born in
Texarkana, Texas
Texarkana is a city in Bowie County, Texas, United States, in the Ark-La-Tex region. Located approximately from Dallas, Texarkana is a twin city with neighboring Texarkana, Arkansas. The Texas city's population was 36,193 at the 2020 census.
...
, United States, he settled in
Houston, Texas
Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 in ...
, by about 1950, becoming established as the principal bandleader, A&R man and arranger at
Don Robey
Don Deadric Robey (November 1, 1903 – June 16, 1975) was an American record label executive, songwriter, and record producer. As the founder of Peacock Records and the eventual owner of Duke Records, he was responsible for developing the caree ...
's Duke and Peacock Records. He wrote and arranged songs for
Johnny Ace
John Marshall Alexander Jr. (June 9, 1929 – December 25, 1954), known by the stage name Johnny Ace, was an American rhythm-and-blues singer. He had a string of hit singles in the mid 1950s. Alexander died of an accidental self-inflicted gunsh ...
,
Big Mama Thornton
Willie Mae Thornton (December 11, 1926 – July 25, 1984), better known as Big Mama Thornton, was an American singer and songwriter of the blues and R&B genres. She was the first to record Leiber and Stoller's " Hound Dog", in 1952, which becam ...
, Bobby Bland, and
, as well as leading their touring bands. Among the songs that Scott wrote – although in most cases Robey claimed a co-writing credit with him, or in some cases sole credit – were Bobby Bland's "Lead Me On", "
Turn On Your Love Light
"Turn On Your Love Light" is a rhythm and blues song recorded by Bobby Bland in 1961. It was both an important R&B and pop chart hit for Bland and has become one of his most identifiable songs. A variety of artists have recorded it, including th ...
" and "Ain't Nothing You Can Do";
Larry Davis' "
Texas Flood"; Johnny Ace's "Never Let Me Go"; and Junior Parker's "Annie Get Your Yo-Yo".
Scott's arrangements featured extensive use of
brass instruments
A brass instrument is a musical instrument that produces sound by sympathetic vibration of air in a tubular resonator in sympathy with the vibration of the player's lips. Brass instruments are also called labrosones or labrophones, from Latin ...
, and "typified the Duke sound".
According to
Melvin Jackson
Melvin "Lil' Son" Jackson (August 16, 1915, Tyler, TexasMay 30, 1976, Dallas) was an American blues guitarist and singer. He was a contemporary of Lightnin' Hopkins.
Biography
Jackson's mother played gospel guitar, and he played early on in a g ...
, who also played in Bland's band, "Joe Scott was the man who created the big horn sound for blues bands."
He and his wife moved to California in 1970s. Scott died in
Culver City, California
Culver City is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 40,779. Founded in 1917 as a "whites only" sundown town, it is now an ethnically diverse city with what was called the "third-most d ...
, in the 1979, aged 54.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Scott, Joe
1924 births
1979 deaths
People from Texarkana, Arkansas
African-American record producers
Record producers from Arkansas
American music arrangers
20th-century African-American people