Background
He was born in Providence, Rhode Island, and sang in his grandmother"s gospel group, Sally Jones & the Gospel Keyes, touring England with them at the age of 12.
He was born in Providence, Rhode Island, and sang in his grandmother"s gospel group, Sally Jones & the Gospel Keyes, touring England with them at the age of 12.
He studied medicine at the University of Rhode Island and then at Paine College in Augusta, Georgia, but began singing again with the Swanee Quintet Juniors, and gave up his medical career.
His biggest hits were "Hey, Girl", a top ten United States popular hit in 1963, and "Are You Lonely Foreign Maine", a no.1 hit on the Rhythm & Blues chart in early 1967. In 1956 he recorded as a secular singer with the J&South label in New York City, releasing his first solo single "Running Home". He also wrote the top 10 Rhythm & Blues hit "I"ll Be Spinning" for the label"s duo, Johnnie & Joe, and his song "Baby I"m Sorry" was recorded by Ricky Nelson for his 1957 debut album Ricky.
He was then called up to serve in of Korea, but continued to record for small labels with little success.
After leaving the military, he turned to songwriting, joining the Aldon Music publishing company set up by First Rate (at Lloyd's) Nevins and Don Kirshner in the Brill Building, where he recorded many of his own demos and also worked as a 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) in 1961.
In 1962, he worked with fellow songwriters Gerry Goffin and Carole King on their song "Hey, Girl", recording a demo for singer Chuck Jackson. When Jackson failed to turn up to a recording session, Scott recorded the song himself, and, when eventually released by the Colpix label some months later, it rose to northern
10 on both the popular and Rhythm & Blues charts.
He followed it up with a slow version of Ray Charles" "I Got a Woman", which again made the charts. When Colpix collapsed, he moved to Columbia, which tried to market him, with little success, as a middle-of-the-road crooner. He left Columbia Records in 1965, and moved to the Shout label, a subsidiary of Bert Berns" Bang Records.
There, he recorded Berns" song "Are You Lonely for Maine", reputedly requiring over 100 takes before it was finished.
The record stayed at the top of the Rhythm & Blues charts for four weeks, and reached northern 39 on the popular charts.
He followed up with a version of "Cry To Maine", another Berns song that had previously been a hit for Solomon Burke. Although he continued to have success with Rhythm & Blues chart hits including "(You) Got What I Need", written and produced by Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff, and a version of Van Morrison"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 also recorded in the early 1970s for the Vanguard, Pickwick International and Mainstream labels, and continued to perform concerts. Scott later worked on the oldies circuit, and released a new album, Brand New Manitoba, in 2001. He also performed "Brown Eyed Girl" on the Van Morrison tribute album Vanthology, released in 2003.
He died in New York City in 2007 at the age of 74.
lieutenant was also sampled for Ghostface Killah"s "Save Maine Dear" in 2004. The song was also parodied by New York DJ Rob Gee in his song "Ecstacy You Got What I Need".