Scott Dreier

Singer Scott Dreier (scottdreier.com) is just finishing up his latest album, a labor of love affectionately called "The Doris Day Project." An appropriate title since the album is clearly Dreier's totally upfront and sincere musical love letter to his all-time fave singer, iconic film and recording legend Doris Day. He's waited his whole life to record these songs. Well, at least since he was a teen and discovered the magic of (and fell in love with) Day during a Saturday afternoon watching one of her movies on television. As the star of his own award-winning one-man show "Doris and Me," which he performs all over the country, Dreier's had a ton of prep to get the songs on the album pitch perfect AND make them his own.

“I created my one-man show, Doris and Me out of my love for and quirky obsession with the incredible Doris Day. I wrote the show because I wanted to celebrate Doris. Pure and simple. Because she deserves to be celebrated! Never in my wildest dreams did I think I would be performing the show all over the U.S. I am humbled to my very core that it has been so embraced. Just proving that Doris is still so beloved today. And I am truly over the moon to get the opportunity to record this album of the music of Doris Day. It is a dream come true for me. One of the greatest things about Doris Day's music is that the material is so timeless, and it completely holds up today," Dreier enthusiastically says in praise of the tunes that have all become standards in the American Songbook. "The songs are as wonderful now as when she first recorded them because the lyrics are so well written. They tell stories, and the melodies are so beautiful. They linger in your brain well after the song is over."

So how the heck did Dreier cull through a superabundance of career-making and show-stopping hit songs for an album that could only include 16 selections? Anyone who knows the Doris Day catalogue will agree that there's absolutely no chaff, only wheat, and Dreier admits to being paralyzed at times by the awesome responsibility of picking the right songs.

"Obviously Doris’s biggest hits were musts to include on the album like 'Sentimental Journey,' 'Que Sera Sera,' 'Secret Love' and 'It's Magic,'" he says. "Those were givens. And I love getting to sing each of those beautiful songs. I was also really interested in finding new ways to visit the material while always paying homage to the incredible versions that Doris recorded. Other than “Sentimental Journey” (we got permission to use the original Les Brown arrangement), I wanted to find my own way with these iconic songs today. I got hung up on the idea of also including one of her hit novelty numbers, 'Everybody Loves a Lover.' I knew from the start that I wanted it to become a duet and to release it as a download single to raise money for animals and benefit The Doris Day Animal Foundation. My dream partner and the only person I ever imagined recording the song with was the sensational, Grammy Award nominee, Jane Monheit.”

"I think Jane is one of the greatest artists recording today. Her song interpretations are truly masterpieces of art—so current and today, but also iconic and timeless. It was my dream to record 'Everybody Loves a Lover' with her."

He says he also was interested in arranging the song making sure to keep the essence and spirit of how Doris’s original makes him feel—happy, sexy, easy, playful. "I kept hearing it in my head with a New Orleans feel to it. I could hear a harmonica and also sneaking in horns near the end of the song. My arranger, the wonderful Jonny May— came up with exactly what I had in my head and then co-arranger Duane Benjamin came up with these fantastic horns towards the end that pull it all together. I thought the song would be a perfect duet because of the wonderful counter melody that already exists in Doris' version of the song. I just knew it would also be really fun for Jane and me to sing it together."

The two finally met at the famed East West recording studio in Hollywood to lay down their vocal tracks. Over the years, many of the industry's most enduring superstars such as Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, the Mamas and the Papas, the Beach Boys, the Rolling Stones, and Donna Summer recorded there. Dreier says he was totally aware and in awe of his surroundings.

"It's an amazing studio," he beams. "Jane and I were both very excited that Dolly Parton recorded 'Nine to Five' there! And, we discovered that Terry Melcher, Doris' son, had used the room to record with the Beach Boys. So it was especially meaningful to be recording in that space. I can't fully explain it, but I felt, from my head to my toes, it was a place where so much art had been created. And there I was, having this dream come true getting to record Doris’s iconic hit song with Jane."

“We only had an hour to get the job done.” Dreier remembers asking Monheit, “Do you prefer to sing your vocal and then I can come back later and lay down my vocal, or do you want to sing together? She immediately said, 'Oh, I think it will be more fun to sing it together, don't you?' And, of course, my immediate response was, 'Yes—I agree! Together!'"

He says that when he listened to the final mix he was thrilled with the result. "Jane has such a sexiness and ease as a vocalist. She gives the song a wonderful new flirtation and freshness."

For Dreier, a graduate of American Academy of Dramatic Arts, making his living in TV, theatre, voiceover and as a recording artist for many years, having the opportunity to record some of Doris Day's signature songs and duet with Jane Monheit was truly a long-time dream coming true.

He says, "This has been my personal mission statement: to celebrate and honor Doris Day, and to raise as much money for the sweet four-leggers as I can."

In fact, he and Jane are donating all the proceeds received from the download sales of "Everybody Loves a Lover" to the Foundation. "We are all here for the animals. One of the greatest gifts in my life has been getting to be of service to our beloved animals and their welfare. It doesn’t get any better than that, and to top it off, getting to celebrate the iconic Doris Day – it's more than any guy could hope for", Dreier says.

– Written by Richard Tyler Jordan, Creative Center of America Show less