Charles Scott Boyer II (October 17, 1947 – February 13, 2018) was an American singer-songwriter and guitarist. Boyer was best known for co-founding the band Cowboy. Boyer was born in

Chenango, New York Chenango is a town in Broome County, New York, United States. The population was 10,983 at the 2020 census. The town is in the eastern part of the county, northeast of Binghamton. History The area was first settled ''circa'' 1787, and ...

, and moved to

Jacksonville, Florida Jacksonville is a city located on the Atlantic coast of northeast Florida, the most populous city proper in the state and is the List of United States cities by area, largest city by area in the contiguous United States as of 2020. It is the co ...

in his youth. After high school, he played in the band

the 31st of February The 31st of February was a rock and roll band formed by Jacksonville, Florida natives Scott Boyer, David Brown, and Butch Trucks. All three were alumni of Englewood High School in Jacksonville, though they did not come together musically until Br ...

. He co-founded Cowboy with songwriter

Tommy Talton Tommy Talton (born January 9, 1949) is an American guitarist who is most noted for having played with Cowboy, Gregg Allman, and numerous recording sessions with Paul Butterfield, Allman Brothers Band, Bonnie Bramlett, Clarence Carter, Corky Lai ...

in 1969, which released four albums and supported

the Allman Brothers Band The Allman Brothers Band was an American rock band formed in Jacksonville, Florida in 1969 by brothers Duane Allman (founder, slide guitar and lead guitar) and Gregg Allman (vocals, keyboards, songwriting), as well as Dickey Betts (lead guita ...

on tour. Boyer's song "Please Be with Me" was later covered by Eric Clapton. After Cowboy's breakup, Boyer continued playing music. He moved to Muscle Shoals, Alabama in 1988 and continued playing in a band called the Decoys until his death in 2018.

Life and career

Boyer was born in

. He first began receiving music lessons at age four, and he became interested in folk music through groups like

Peter, Paul and Mary Peter, Paul and Mary was an American folk group formed in New York City in 1961 during the American folk music revival phenomenon. The trio consisted of tenor Peter Yarrow, baritone Paul Stookey, and contralto Mary Travers. The group's reper ...

. He and his family later relocated to

Louisville, Kentucky Louisville ( , , ) is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky and the 28th most-populous city in the United States. Louisville is the historical seat and, since 2003, the nominal seat of Jefferson County, on the Indiana border ...

, and then

. He graduated from Englewood High School, where he was a part of the school's orchestra. He then attended Florida State University studying viola, but dropped out. He later became a part of the group The Bitter Ind., which later changed their name to

. In 1969, he and songwriter

formed the southern rock/country rock outfit Cowboy, which signed to Macon, Georgia-based

Capricorn Records Capricorn Records was an independent record label founded by Phil Walden and Frank Fenter in 1969 in Macon, Georgia. Capricorn Records is often credited by music historians as creating the southern rock genre. History Label and studio foun ...

at guitarist

Duane Allman Howard Duane Allman (November 20, 1946 – October 29, 1971) was an American rock guitarist, session musician, and the founder and original leader of the Allman Brothers Band, for which he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame i ...

's suggestion. The band relocated to Macon and subsequently released four albums—''Reach for the Sky'' (1970), '' 5'll Getcha Ten'' (1971), ''Boyer & Talton'' (1974), and ''Cowboy'' (1977). Though they remained largely obscure, Cowboy supported

on its tours and later served as the backing band for

Gregg Allman Gregory LeNoir Allman (December 8, 1947 – May 27, 2017) was an American musician, singer and songwriter. He was known for performing in the Allman Brothers Band. Allman grew up with an interest in rhythm and blues music, and the Allman Br ...

's 1974 solo tour. "Please Be with Me", written by Boyer, later went on to be covered by Eric Clapton for his 1974 album ''

461 Ocean Boulevard ''461 Ocean Boulevard'' is the second studio album by English musician Eric Clapton. The album was released in late July 1974 for RSO Records, shortly after the record company released the hit single "I Shot the Sheriff" in early July the same y ...

''. After Cowboy's dissolution in the late 1970s, Boyer continued to play music. He briefly moved to

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...

, where he wrote songs with Ricky Hirsch from

Wet Willie Wet Willie is an American band from Mobile, Alabama. Their best-known song, " Keep On Smilin'", reached No. 10 on the U.S. ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart in August 1974. Several other of the group's songs also appeared on the singles charts in the ...

, and produced an album for a band called the Sky Boys. He later joined a band called Locust Fork, and then another band called the Convertibles which briefly reunited him with Talton. He moved to Muscle Shoals, Alabama in 1988 and began performing with the Decoys, a band founded by

Johnny Sandlin John Everett Sandlin Jr. (April 16, 1945 – September 19, 2017) was an American recording engineer and record producer. He is best known for producing albums by bands such as the Allman Brothers Band, Widespread Panic, Wet Willie, and Col. Bruce ...

, who produced Cowboy's albums as well as albums by the Allman Brothers and

Widespread Panic Widespread Panic is an American rock band from Athens, Georgia. The current lineup includes guitarist/singer John Bell, bassist Dave Schools, drummer Duane Trucks, percussionist Domingo "Sunny" Ortiz, keyboardist John "JoJo" Hermann, and g ...

. He released a solo album called ''All My Friends'' in 1991, and released a collaboration album with N.C. Thurman in 2012 titled ''Ok, How About This''. He and Talton reformed Cowboy in 2007 and recorded an album's worth of material with Sandlin, but this material has never been released. They staged one more live performance as Cowboy in 2010, which was issued the following year as a live album, titled ''Boyer & Talton: Cowboy Reunion 2010''. In 2007, Boyer was diagnosed with

peripheral artery disease Peripheral artery disease (PAD) is an abnormal narrowing of arteries other than those that supply the heart or brain. When narrowing occurs in the heart, it is called coronary artery disease, and in the brain, it is called cerebrovascular dis ...

. The

Birmingham, Alabama Birmingham ( ) is a city in the north central region of the U.S. state of Alabama. Birmingham is the seat of Jefferson County, Alabama's most populous county. As of the 2021 census estimates, Birmingham had a population of 197,575, down 1% fr ...

-based Garage Café—where the Decoys would often perform—hosted a benefit concert to help with his medical bills in 2013. Boyer died in Muscle Shoals on February 13, 2018. Talton said, "No one could write a more beautiful ballad than Scott Boyer. I love him and I miss him more than anything that can be said." Singer-songwriter and

Drive-By Truckers Drive-By Truckers are an American rock band based in Athens, Georgia. Two of five current members ( Patterson Hood and Mike Cooley) are originally from The Shoals region of northern Alabama and met as roommates at the University of North Alab ...

guitarist

Jason Isbell Michael Jason Isbell (; born February 1, 1979) is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist. He is known for his solo career, his work with the band The 400 Unit, and as a member of Drive-By Truckers for six years, from 2001 to 2007. Isbell h ...

tweeted Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...

that "Scott Boyer was the first real songwriter that ever took me seriously. I was living on his couch when I met rive-By Truckers co-founder

Patterson Hood Patterson David Hood (born March 24, 1964) is an American singer-songwriter and co-founder of the band Drive-By Truckers. Early life Hood was born in Muscle Shoals, Alabama, the son of Jan Patterson Adams and David Hood, the longtime bassist ...

. Scott wrote beautiful songs, and he was a damn good singer. We’ll all miss him a lot."

Discography

;Solo * ''All My Friends'' (1991) * ''Ok, How About This'' (2012) (with N.C. Thurman) ;With Cowboy * ''Reach for the Sky'' (1970) * '' 5'll Getcha Ten'' (1971) * ''Boyer & Talton'' (1974) * ''Cowboy'' (1977) * ''10'll Getcha Twenty'' (2018) ;With Tommy Talton * ''Live At The NuttHouse'' (2016) ;With The Decoys * ''Live At Union Station'' (1992) * ''Shot from the Saddle'' (2001) * ''Live At The NuttHouse'' (2017)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Boyer, Scott 1947 births 2018 deaths People from Broome County, New York American country singer-songwriters American rock singers American rock guitarists American country guitarists Musicians from Jacksonville, Florida Musicians from Louisville, Kentucky American male guitarists Guitarists from Florida American Southern Rock musicians 20th-century American guitarists Country musicians from New York (state) Country musicians from Kentucky Country musicians from Florida 20th-century American male musicians The 31st of February members Cowboy (band) members American male singer-songwriters Singer-songwriters from New York (state) Singer-songwriters from Florida