Bobby Scott: Back to Joe's

You probably know Bobby Scott best as the songwriter of two huge pop hits in the 1960s—A Taste of Honey and He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother. He co-wrote the former with Ric Marlow and the latter with Bob Russell. Born in 1937, Scott began working professionally at age 11 and could play virtually every instrument he set his hands on. In the 1950s, he straddled jazz and pop, touring with Louis Prima and performing with Gene Krupa, Lester Young and Tony Scott.

On the jazz side, Scott was a splendid pianist and was in steady demand at New York's recording studios. See my post on this phase here.

In April 1989, a year before he died of lung cancer at age 53, Scott recorded For Sentimental Reasons for the Musicmasters label. It featured vocals and piano by Scott backed by trio: Bucky Pizzarelli (g), Steve LaSpina (b), and Ronnie Zito and Jimmy Young (d), depending on the session. On this album, you get to hear Scott at his whiskey-voiced finest, accompanying himself with exceptional piano. 

The beauty of Scott was his tenderness and taste, which was extraordinary. His songs and interpretations always struck the right tone, equal parts command and understanding. There was a special sensitivity to Scott's music, a natural sense of drama and earthiness. For me, his recording of I Keep Going Back to Joe's Jack Segal and Marvin Fisher) remains the definitive version of the saloon song and is perhaps second only to Frank Sinatra's One for My Baby (and One More for the Road).

Scott is certainly worthy of a biography or documentary.

JazzWax clips: Here's Bobby Scott singing and playing piano on I Keep Going Back to Joe's. See how many times you replay it; I stopped at 13...