Freddie Scott (April 24, 1933 – June 4, 2007) was an American

soul In many religious and philosophical traditions, there is a belief that a soul is "the immaterial aspect or essence of a human being". Etymology The Modern English noun '' soul'' is derived from Old English ''sāwol, sāwel''. The earliest att ...

singer and songwriter. His biggest hits were " Hey, Girl", a top ten US pop hit in 1963, and " Are You Lonely for Me", a no. 1 hit on the

R&B chart The Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart ranks the most popular R&B and hip hop songs in the United States and is published weekly by ''Billboard''. Rankings are based on a measure of radio airplay, sales data, and streaming activity. The chart had 100 p ...

in early 1967.

Life and career

He was born in

Providence, Rhode Island Providence is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Rhode Island. One of the oldest cities in New England, it was founded in 1636 by Roger Williams, a Reformed Baptist theologian and religious exile from the Massachusetts ...

, United States, and sang in his grandmother's

gospel Gospel originally meant the Christian message (" the gospel"), but in the 2nd century it came to be used also for the books in which the message was set out. In this sense a gospel can be defined as a loose-knit, episodic narrative of the words a ...

group, Sally Jones & the Gospel Keyes, touring England with at the age of 12. He studied medicine at the

University of Rhode Island The University of Rhode Island (URI) is a public land-grant research university with its main campus in Kingston, Rhode Island, United States. It is the flagship public research as well as the land-grant university of the state of Rhode Isla ...

and then at Paine College in

Augusta, Georgia Augusta ( ), officially Augusta–Richmond County, is a consolidated city-county on the central eastern border of the U.S. state of Georgia. The city lies across the Savannah River from South Carolina at the head of its navigable portion. Geor ...

, but began singing again with the Swanee Quintet Juniors and gave up his medical career. In 1956, he recorded as a secular singer with the J&S label in New York City, releasing his first solo single "Running Home". He also wrote the top 10 R&B hit "I'll Be Spinning" for the label's duo

Johnnie & Joe Johnnie & Joe were an American R&B vocal duo from The Bronx, New York, United States, who were best known for their 1957 hit "Over the Mountain; Across the Sea." Johnnie Louise Richardson (June 29, 1935, Montgomery, Alabama - October 25, 1988, N ...

, and his song "Baby I'm Sorry" was recorded by

Ricky Nelson Eric Hilliard Nelson (May 8, 1940 – December 31, 1985) was an American musician, songwriter and actor. From age eight he starred alongside his family in the radio and television series ''The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet''. In 1957, he bega ...

for his 1957 debut album '' Ricky''. He was conscripted for the U.S Military, but continued to record for small labels with little success. After leaving the military, he turned to songwriting, joining the

Aldon Music Aldon Music was a New York-based music publishing company, founded by Don Kirshner and Al Nevins in 1958. Aldon is regarded as having played a significant role in shaping the Brill Building Sound in the late 1950s and 1960s. History Nevins was ...

publishing company set up by

Al Nevins Albert "Al" Nevins (born Albert Tepper; May 3, 1915 – January 25, 1965) was an American musician, producer, arranger, guitarist and violinist. He was also a member of pop trio The Three Suns, and is considered one of the major forces behind the ...

and

Don Kirshner Donald Kirshner (April 17, 1934 – January 17, 2011) was an American music publisher, music consultant, rock music producer, talent manager, and songwriter. Dubbed "the Man with the Golden Ear" by ''Time'' magazine, he was best known ...

in the Brill Building, where he recorded many of his own demos and worked as a record producer with Erma Franklin. He also continued to release his own records, including "Baby, You're a Long Time Dead" for

Joy Records (New York) File:Alvinoreyguitarboogie.jpg File:AmMusicBunk78.jpg File:Bingola1011b.jpg Lists of record labels cover record labels, brands or trademarks associated with marketing of music recordings and music videos. The lists are organized alphabetically, ...

in 1961. In 1962, he worked with fellow songwriters

Gerry Goffin Gerald Goffin (February 11, 1939 – June 19, 2014) was an American lyricist. Collaborating initially with his first wife, Carole King, he co-wrote many international pop hits of the early and mid-1960s, including the US No.1 hits " Will You Lo ...

and

Carole King Carole King Klein (born Carol Joan Klein; February 9, 1942) is an American singer, songwriter, and musician who has been active since 1958, initially as one of the staff songwriters at 1650 Broadway and later as a solo artist. Regarded as one ...

on their song "Hey, Girl", recording a demo for singer Chuck Jackson. When Jackson failed to come to a recording session, Scott recorded the song, and, when eventually released by the Colpix label some months later, it rose to no. 10 on both the pop and R&B charts. He followed it with a slow version of

Ray Charles Ray Charles Robinson Sr. (September 23, 1930 – June 10, 2004) was an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. He is regarded as one of the most iconic and influential singers in history, and was often referred to by contemporaries as "The Ge ...

' "I Got a Woman", which again made the charts. When Colpix collapsed, he moved to

Columbia Columbia may refer to: * Columbia (personification), the historical female national personification of the United States, and a poetic name for America Places North America Natural features * Columbia Plateau, a geologic and geographic region i ...

, which tried to market him, with little success. He left Columbia Records in 1965, and moved to the Shout label, a subsidiary of

Bert Berns Bertrand Russell Berns (November 8, 1929 – December 30, 1967), also known as Bert Russell and (occasionally) Russell Byrd, was an American songwriter and record producer of the 1960s. His songwriting credits include " Twist and Shout", " Piec ...

' Bang Records. There, he recorded Berns' song "Are You Lonely for Me", reputedly requiring over 100 takes before it was finished. The record stayed at the top of the R&B charts for four weeks and reached no. 39 on the pop chart. He followed up with a version of "

Cry to Me "Cry to Me" is a song written by Bert Berns (listed as "Bert Russell") and first recorded by American soul singer Solomon Burke in 1961. Released in 1962, it was Burke's second single to appear in both ''Billboard'' magazine's Hot R&B Sides and ...

", another Berns song that had previously been a hit for

Solomon Burke Solomon Vincent McDonald Burke (born James Solomon McDonald, March 21, 1936 or 1940 – October 10, 2010) was an American singer who shaped the sound of rhythm and blues as one of the founding fathers of soul music in the 1960s. He has been ...

and Betty Harris. Although he continued to have success with R&B chart hits, including "(You) Got What I Need", written and produced by Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff, and a version of

Van Morrison Sir George Ivan Morrison (born 31 August 1945), known professionally as Van Morrison, is a Northern Irish singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist whose recording career spans seven decades. He has won two Grammy Awards. As a teenager in t ...

's "He Ain't Give You None", his career was affected by Berns' sudden death at the end of 1967. Scott continued to perform, but spent much of the next two years without a record deal. He eventually signed with the small Elephant V label, before moving on to

Probe Records Probe Records was a sub-label of ABC Records. It was started in 1968 as their label for psychedelic rock and progressive rock, but was deactivated in 1970. Between 1970 and 1974, the label was also used for international distribution of materia ...

, where he had his last R&B hit in 1970 with a version of

Bob Dylan Bob Dylan (legally Robert Dylan, born Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. Often regarded as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture during a career sp ...

's "

I Shall Be Released "I Shall Be Released" is a 1967 song written by Bob Dylan. Dylan recorded two primary versions. The first recording was made in collaboration with the Band during the Basement Tapes sessions in 1967, and released on '' The Bootleg Series Volu ...

." He continued to work with his songwriting partner Helen Miller, wrote advertising jingles, and took minor roles as an actor in films, including '' Stiletto''. He also recorded in the early 1970s for the

Vanguard The vanguard (also called the advance guard) is the leading part of an advancing military formation. It has a number of functions, including seeking out the enemy and securing ground in advance of the main force. History The vanguard derives f ...

Pickwick International Pickwick Records was an American record label and British record distributor known for its budget album releases of sound-alike recordings, bargain bin reissues and repackagings under the brands Design, Bravo (later changing its name to Interna ...

and Mainstream labels, and continued to perform concerts. Scott later worked on the oldies circuit, and released a new album, ''Brand New Man'', in 2001. He also performed "

Brown Eyed Girl "Brown Eyed Girl" is a song by Northern Irish singer and songwriter Van Morrison. Written by Morrison and recorded in March 1967 for Bang Records owner and producer Bert Berns, it was released as a single in June of the same year on the Bang la ...

" on the Van Morrison tribute album ''Vanthology'', released in 2003. He died in New York City in 2007 at the age of 74. His 1968 song "(You) Got What I Need" was sampled for the 1989 Biz Markie hit " Just a Friend". It also was sampled for

Ghostface Killah Dennis Coles (born May 9, 1970), better known by his stage name Ghostface Killah, is an American rapper and a member of the hip hop group Wu-Tang Clan. After the group achieved breakthrough success in the aftermath of '' Enter the Wu-Tang (36 ...

's "Save Me Dear" in 2004.

Discography

Chart singles

Albums

* ''Everything I Have Is Yours '' (1964) * ''Freddie Scott Sings and Sings and Sings'' (1964) * ''Are You Lonely For Me?'' (1967) * ''I Shall Be Released'' (1970) * ''Brand New Man'' (2001)

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Scott, Freddie 1933 births 2007 deaths Musicians from Providence, Rhode Island Songwriters from Rhode Island Colpix Records artists Columbia Records artists Jay Boy artists African-American male songwriters 20th-century African-American male singers