Bobby Scott – Moanin’
Mercury USA 7″, Cat# 72077, 1962
Hip cat Bobby Scott (born Robert William Scott, in 1937, Mt. Pleasant, New York) is one of those mysterious lost and shadowed artists that really deserves to be pushed into the brightest spotlight, and for those of you out there that love your RnB snappy and snazzy and don’t know this one…well, you should!
Scott was a gifted music prodigy, one who could play piano, double bass, cello, vibraphone, accordion, clarinet, and of course knew how to use his voice box just fine! He studied under Edvard Moritz at the La Follette School of Music at the age of eight, and then in 1949 studied composition with Edvard Moritz, a former pupil of Claude Debussyand, and was working professionally at 11.
It was the early 50’s and despite his early classical training, Scott followed his teen callings towards jazz and played with small bands led by the great Louis Prima and Gene Krupa and cut some tracks for Verve Records with a few of these great small groups.
At 16, he started recording for several other record labels including Bethlehem, Savoy, and ABC, who in 1956, released the hit “Chain Gang” written by Sol Quasha and Hank Yakus, which peaked at #13 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100!
In 1960, Scott began teaching music theory and harmony and returned to his studies under Moritz. He also signed with Atlantic, releasing a trio of albums under his own name, and started working with other artists, notably Bobby Darin, who he would become a very dear friend to.
That same year, Bobby Scott wrote the title theme for the Broadway version of Shelagh Delaney’s 1958 British play “A Taste Of Honey”, which was exotically made famous by pianist Martin Denny. The instrumental tune was soon given lyrics and was stylishly recorded by the beautiful Julie London, and also Sarah Vaughan, Bobby Darin and by some band called The Beatles. All these versions are quite unique to each other, and I’m sure Mr.Scott must have been pretty chuffed with every interpretation.
Bobby’s big hit won him a Grammy in 1962, but thanks to Herb Alpert’s US Top 10 take, 3 more were added to the list 3 years later. It has been covered so many times by so many great artists but it’s Martin Denny’s 69′ Exotic Moog version I find the most intriguing.
Around 1962, Scott entered one of the few stable periods of his career, taking on as staff producer at Mercury records and working extensively with Quincy Jones. There he would output four albums including the vocal release When the Feeling Hits You, which also happens to be the flip of this killer 45!
Moanin’ first appeared on the self titled Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers album, recorded in 1958, and was written by pianist Bobby Timmons. Soon after, the composition was given lyrics by Jon Hendricks, who is considered one of the originators of “Vocalese”, and was taken up by Lambert, Hendricks & Ross who released a really super smooth vocal version on Columbia, which even sounds better with a Martini or two!
But it’s Scott’s version that blows the stripey socks off! His mod take is tempting from the first few seconds the open piano chords call. It’s jazz, but it cops a big whack with a broken bottle of rock ‘n’roll, and that mix is deliriously delightful! And again, here we get some extra topping, quite a lot actually, with some killing twang! One of my favourite guitar jigs to dance to, it’s relentless, stabbing and stabbing, but the blade is blunt and dirty. You step to the left, then side step to the right, but it just keeps on gettin’! On his return, Bobby is a slight crazed, and disheveled, then we see him fade into a dark lane far too quickly…and we’re left wondering if that all really just happened?!
Bobby Scott continued to compose up until the mid to late 70’s, but recorded a final farewell album For Sentimental Reasons in 89′. He died only 18 months after, succumbing to lung cancer on November 5, 1990 at the age of 53 in New York City. He was as a top-flight pianist, composer and arranger who was so important to the jazz world, but with a release like this one, for a brief moment, he was the king of snap jazz n’ pop!
Referencing and recommended reading…..
Cult 45 