Freddie Scott; Singer of 'Hey Girl'
Hyfler/Rosner
Singer of 'Hey Girl'
The Independent
06 June 2007
Spencer Leigh
Freddie Scott, singer: born Providence, Rhode Island 24 April 1933;
married; died 4 June 2007.
In 1963, Freddie Scott cut a demonstration record of "Hey Girl", a new
song by Gerry Goffin and Carole King. The intended recipient was the
hit-making Chuck Jackson, but he turned the song down. Instead, Goffin
and King liked Scott's voice so much that they recorded their own
version with him. Phil Spector heard the results and said, "You've got
to put that out. It's a smash." "Hey Girl" was a Top Ten US hit and
became a club favourite in the UK, being covered by several beat
groups of the time.
Scott was born in Providence, Rhode Island in 1933. In his early
teens, he sang with his grandmother's gospel group the Gospel Keys,
who performed in the UK in 1946. Freddie Scott studied medicine at the
University of Rhode Island but gave it up for singing. He recorded his
first solo single, "Running Home", for the small J&S label in 1956 and
a succession of singles for independent labels, including "Baby,
You're a Long Time Dead" for Joy.
Scott followed his success with the mesmerising, melancholic "Hey
Girl" by having R&B hits with a revival of Ray Charles's "I Got a
Woman" and the plaintive "Where Does Love Go?" He made the album
Freddie Scott Sings and Sings and Sings (1963), which contained a fine
ballad which deserved to be a single, "What Do I See In the Girl",
written by Goffin with Jack Keller.
Scott moved to Columbia where the producer Clyde Otis dubbed him "the
million-dollar baby" and had him crooning on "One Heartache Too
Many" (1964). He did show tunes on the LP Everything I Have Is Yours
(1964) and was more soulful on Lonely Man (1965). His final singles
for the label were prophetically titled "Don't Let It End This
Way" (1965) and "Forget Me If You Can" (1966).
In 1966, he was signed by Bert Berns, the producer, songwriter and
owner of Shout Records. Berns, an intensely soulful individual,
recorded over 100 takes of "Are You Lonely for Me?" with Scott. It was
worth it, as the song topped the R&B charts for four weeks. Then Scott
slowed down Solomon Burke's "Cry to Me" for a chart single and had
further success with "Am I Grooving You?" He did well with the album
Are You Lonely For Me?, but Berns's death at the end of 1967 meant
that he was again on the move. His only further success was with a
soul version of Bob Dylan's "I Shall Be Released" in 1970. Mostly, he
wrote advertising jingles and took minor acting roles, appearing in
the film of the Harold Robbins book Stiletto in 1969.
Scott's key tracks have frequently been reissued and in 1989 the rap
singer Biz Markie used Scott's 1968 single, "(You) Got What I Need"
for his own "Just a Friend". In 2001, Scott released his first album
of new songs in 30 years, Brand New Man. On the Van Morrison tribute
album Vanthology (2003), he performed "Brown-Eyed Man".