1963 Freddie Scott – Hey Girl
Freddie Scott was born in Rhode Island and began singing with his mother’s gospel group. When he was only 12 years old, he toured England with the group. He studied medicine in colleges in Rhode Island and Georgia. Singing with the Swanee Quintet Juniors not only distracted his studies, but it also convinced him to pursue a career in music.
In 1956, Freddie began recording singles for a small label in New York City. He also began writing songs, and he wrote one of the songs on Ricky Nelson’s first album. He recorded many of his own demos and started recording his own records again in the early sixties.
Gerry Goffin and Carole King wrote the song Hey Girl and worked with Freddie to record a demo of the song to pitch to Chuck Jackson. When Chuck missed a recording session for the song, Gerry produced the song with Freddie filling in for Chuck. The resulting recording was released as a single by Colpix Records. The single peaked at #10 on the Hot 100 in 1962, although it was not one of the top 100 records of the year. The record also reached #10 on the R&B chart.
The song was also a top ten hit for Donnie Osmond in 1971.
It also became Billy Joel’s last charting single in the US when his cover reached #15 on the Adult Contemporary Chart in 1997.
Freddie released a non-stop series of singles through 1973, but only one more song reached the top forty on the Hot 100. His recording of Are You Lonely For Me peaked at only #39 on the Hot 100 in February 1967. The single was still a success, since it also topped the R&B chart.
Freddie had four more singles reach the top forty on the R&B chart. The most notable of those records was (You) Got What I Need – a quick listen will reveal that they sampled the single for the Biz Markie rap song Just A Friend in 1989.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freddie_Scott
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