Windsor-born hall-of-fame musician dies at 83
Singer-songwriter Jack Scott, an internationally recognized but often forgotten local legend of rockabilly, died Thursday in Warren, Mich. He was 83 years old.
The Windsor-born musician knocked out one hit after another in the late 1950s and early 1960s, eventually charting 19 Billboard songs in 41 months. According to the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame — Scott was inducted in 2011 — the only other recording artists to achieve such a feat was the Beatles.
“I found him to be a very gracious, soft-spoken, humble sort of guy,” said former Star entertainment reporter Owen Jones, who interviewed Scott a few times during his career.
“He always acknowledged Windsor,”
Jones said. “He came back here and talked to us in the media numerous times.”
Scott, whose real name was Giovanni Scafone Jr., grew up on Aylmer Road until age 10, when his family moved to Hazel Park, Mich. The child of Italian-american parents got his first moments in the spotlight when he was signed to Abc-paramount at age 21. He recorded a few meagre tunes before switching labels to Carlton and getting a true taste of success.
He became famous with his tracks What in the World’s Come Over You, My True Love, Goodbye Baby, The Way I Walk, Burning Bridges, and more.
Throughout his career, most of which was spent more quietly than it began, Scott glided between genres, hitting notes of country, rockabilly and pop, among others. He continued to perform occasionally into his 70s.
A recording of his performance on Dick Clark’s American Bandstand is available on Youtube. Though he lived in Michigan, he retained roots in Canada by using Windsor-based group The Chantones as a backing band on several recordings including The Way I Walk.
“There are a lot of people who’ve never heard of Jack Scott,” Jones said. “The type of music that he did was not popular with everyone. It wasn’t across the board pop No. 1 hits,” he said. “He became a cult figure for many years as a rockabilly godfather.”
In 2004, Scott was inducted into the Michigan Country Hall of Fame, and the Rockabilly Hall of Fame in Jackson, Tenn., in 2006. In 2007, he was voted into the Michigan Rock and Roll Legends Hall of Fame.
“He was a real low-key guy,” Jones said. “I think he probably did have a pretty good life.”
Scott reportedly died of congestive heart failure.