Jack Scott (born Giovanni Domenico Scafone Jr.; January 24, 1936 – December 12, 2019) was a

Canadian-American Canadian Americans is a term that can be applied to American citizens whose ancestry is wholly or partly Canadian, or citizens of either country that hold dual citizenship. The term ''Canadian'' can mean a nationality or an ethnicity. Canadia ...

singer and songwriter. He was inducted into the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2011 and was called "undeniably the greatest Canadian rock and roll singer of all time."

Career

Scott spent his early childhood in

Windsor, Ontario Windsor is a city in southwestern Ontario, Canada, on the south bank of the Detroit River directly across from Detroit, Michigan, United States. Geographically located within but administratively independent of Essex County, it is the southe ...

, across the river from

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at t ...

, Michigan. When he was 10, his family moved to

Hazel Park Hazel Park is a city in Oakland County in the U.S. state of Michigan. As a part of Metro Detroit, the city shares its southern border with the city of Detroit. As of the 2010 census, the population was 16,422. Hazel Park was incorporated as a c ...

, a Detroit suburb. He grew up listening to

hillbilly music Hillbilly is a term (often derogatory) for people who dwell in rural, mountainous areas in the United States, primarily in southern Appalachia and the Ozarks. The term was later used to refer to people from other rural and mountainous areas we ...

and was taught to play the guitar by his mother, Laura. As a teenager, he pursued a singing career and recorded as "Jack Scott". At the age of 18, he formed the Southern Drifters. After leading the band for three years, he signed to

ABC-Paramount Records ABC Records was an American record label founded in New York City in 1955. It originated as the main popular music label operated by the Am-Par Record Corporation. Am-Par also created the Impulse! jazz label in 1960. It acquired many labels befo ...

as a solo artist in 1957. After recording two good-selling local hits for ABC-Paramount in 1957, he switched to the

Carlton Carlton may refer to: People * Carlton (name), a list of those with the given name or surname * Carlton (singer), English soul singer Carlton McCarthy * Carlton, a pen name used by Joseph Caldwell (1773–1835), American educator, Presbyterian ...

record label and had a double-sided national hit in 1958 with "Leroy" (#11) / "

My True Love "My True Love" is a popular song written and recorded by Jack Scott in 1958. The single was released on the Carlton label and reached number three on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 on August 18, 1958. It became Scott's first gold record Gold ...

" (#3). The record sold over one million copies, earning Scott his first

gold disc Music recording certification is a system of certifying that a music recording has shipped, sold, or streamed a certain number of units. The threshold quantity varies by type (such as album, single, music video) and by nation or territory (see ...

. Later in 1958, "With Your Love" (#28) reached the

Top 40 In the music industry, the Top 40 is the current, 40 most-popular songs in a particular genre. It is the best-selling or most frequently broadcast popular music. Record charts have traditionally consisted of a total of 40 songs. "Top 40" or "cont ...

. In all, six of 12 songs on his first album became hit singles. On most of these tracks, he was backed up by the vocal group the Chantones. He served in the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land warfare, land military branch, service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight Uniformed services of the United States, U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army o ...

during most of 1959, just after " Goodbye Baby" (#8) made the Top Ten. 1959 also saw him chart with "The Way I Walk" (#35). Most of his Carlton master tapes were believed lost or destroyed until Rollercoaster Records in England released a vinyl EP, "Jack Scott Rocks", and CD, ''The Way I Walk'', which were for the most part mastered from original tapes rather than the disc dubs used for previous reissues. At the beginning of 1960, Scott again changed record labels, this time to

Top Rank Records The Rank Organisation was a British entertainment conglomerate founded by industrialist J. Arthur Rank in April 1937. It quickly became the largest and most vertically integrated film company in the United Kingdom, owning production, distribut ...

. He then recorded four ''Billboard'' Hot 100 hits – "

What in the World's Come Over You "What in the World's Come Over You" is a song written and performed by Jack Scott. It was featured on his 1960 album ''What in the World's Come Over You''. The song was produced by Sonny Lester Chart performance It reached #2 in Australia, #5 on ...

" (#5), " Burning Bridges" (#3) b/w "Oh Little One" (#34), and "It Only Happened Yesterday" (#38). "What in the World's Come Over You" was Scott's second gold disc winner. Scott continued to record and perform during the 1960s and 1970s. His song "You're Just Gettin' Better" reached the country charts in 1974. In May 1977, he recorded a Peel session for BBC Radio 1 disc jockey John Peel. Scott had more US singles (19), in a shorter period of time (41 months), than any other recording artist except for

The Beatles The Beatles were an English rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the most influential band of all time and were integral to the developmen ...

Elvis Presley Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977), or simply Elvis, was an American singer and actor. Dubbed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, King of Rock and Roll", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Elvis Presley, one ...

Fats Domino Antoine Dominique Domino Jr. (February 26, 1928 – October 24, 2017), known as Fats Domino, was an American pianist, singer and songwriter. One of the pioneers of rock and roll music, Domino sold more than 65 million records. Born in New O ...

and

Connie Francis Concetta Rosa Maria Franconero (born December 12, 1937), known professionally as Connie Francis, is an American pop singer, actress, and top-charting female vocalist of the late 1950s and early 1960s. Called the “First Lady of Rock & Roll” ...

. He wrote all of his own hits, except one: "Burning Bridges". It has been said that "with the exception of Roy Orbison and

, no white rock and roller of the time ever developed a finer voice with a better range than Jack Scott, or cut a more convincing body of work in rockabilly, rock and roll, country-soul, gospel or blues". Scott recorded his penultimate album, a live album with

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

band The Class of '58 whilst headlining at the Rockhouse Festival in

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in 1994; a recording which had to be postponed from its originally scheduled 1993 date due to the pregnancy of

Double Bass The double bass (), also known simply as the bass () (or by other names), is the largest and lowest-pitched bowed (or plucked) string instrument in the modern symphony orchestra (excluding unorthodox additions such as the octobass). Similar i ...

player, Chris Coleman. The album was released in 1995 on the Rockhouse label. In 2007, Jack Scott was voted into the Michigan Rock and Roll Legends Hall of Fame. In 2011, he was inducted into the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame. Later Scott was nominated for the Hit Parade Hall of Fame. He continued singing and touring and lived in a suburb of Detroit. Scott's final album, the studio album "Way to Survive" was released in 2015, with Scott returning to his Rock & Roll roots whilst taking influences from two of his favorite music genres, country and blues. Scott died of congestive heart failure on December 12, 2019, at the age of 83. His niece, singer and actress Rio Scafone, announced his death on her Facebook page, stating that he had suffered a massive heart attack on December 8 and there was nothing they could do for him. Scott died four days later, in the afternoon.

Discography

Albums

Singles

References

External links