Goodbye Baby: RIP Jack Scott
December 14, 2019 9:06 PM Subscribe
Jack Scott, the "quiet elder statesman of Detroit rock ‘n’ roll", died of a heart attack at the age of 83.
Born Giovanni Domenico Scafone Jr. in Windsor, Ontario, his family moved to the suburbs of Detroit after WWII. His mother Laura taught him to play guitar, and he grew up steeped in country, hillbilly, and rockabilly, before taking the name "Jack Scott" when he started his singing career. Despite putting nine songs on the Billboard Top 40 chart between July 1958 and September 1960 (including spending most of 1959 in the Army before a medical discharge), Scott never took to the touring or publicity aspects of music stardom (he was a regular on American Bandstand for several years before leaving a Dick Clark tour due to homesickness). He remained a regional performer in Southeast Michigan, continuing to perform into his 80s. He turned to country, charting "You're Just Getting Better" in 1974 and releasing Way to Survive in 2015 at the age of 79.
Scott's catalog is available on YouTube and most streaming services. He was inducted into the Michigan Rock and Roll Legends Hall of Fame in 2007 and the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2011.
Born Giovanni Domenico Scafone Jr. in Windsor, Ontario, his family moved to the suburbs of Detroit after WWII. His mother Laura taught him to play guitar, and he grew up steeped in country, hillbilly, and rockabilly, before taking the name "Jack Scott" when he started his singing career. Despite putting nine songs on the Billboard Top 40 chart between July 1958 and September 1960 (including spending most of 1959 in the Army before a medical discharge), Scott never took to the touring or publicity aspects of music stardom (he was a regular on American Bandstand for several years before leaving a Dick Clark tour due to homesickness). He remained a regional performer in Southeast Michigan, continuing to perform into his 80s. He turned to country, charting "You're Just Getting Better" in 1974 and releasing Way to Survive in 2015 at the age of 79.
Scott's catalog is available on YouTube and most streaming services. He was inducted into the Michigan Rock and Roll Legends Hall of Fame in 2007 and the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2011.
...his disdain for publicity and his distaste of touring... a teetotaler who disliked the road... preferring raising a young family...The way I walk is just the way I walk.
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posted by CCBC at 3:35 PM on December 15, 2019
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