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ScottyText by Harry Hawks

Derrick/David 'Scotty' Scott was not only one of the music's most expressive and soulful singers but also one of the first artists to popularise the art of the deejay when he broke big in 1970... and by breaking big we mean massive.

Scotty

Real Name	Derrick Scott
Born	1951
Died	Feb 27, 2003
Place of Birth	Westmoreland Jamaica
Related Artist(s)	Derrick Harriott Keith & Tex

While the majority of Jamaica's foundation deejays are now rightly revered, their reputations growing with each successive year, there are still a number of early mic. masters who appear to have been omitted from the roll call of artists who made Jamaican deejay music a force to be reckoned with. The late great Scotty is one of these originators...

Born Derrick Scott in the parish of Westmoreland in 1951 Scotty moved to Kingston as a young man and, in 1967 while studying at Kingston Technical High School, he formed The Federals with fellow students Valman Smykle and Franklin Spence also known as AJ Franklin. Their first recording, the wistful 'Penny For Your Song', a self production with a measure of assistance from the redoubtable Lloyd Charmers and the ubiquitous Bunny Striker Lee, was originally released on Scotty's own label in Jamaica and on Island in the UK.

"You remember the original 'Penny For Your Song'? It was a calypso band playing it... (George Tucker & His Orchestra) a band from Victoria Market down at the bottom of King Street. Charmers and me were down West Indies Records and see these guys trying to make the tune and he stopped them and said 'You need a keyboard man!' and so they asked Charmers and Charmers a play it. The next thing I know it's a very big hit! That time Scotty was in the group and another guy... three of them... The Federals. They did it over several times but they never get the vibe like we did get with the calypso band... " Bunny Striker Lee

Later that year The Federals followed up their dynamic debut release with another rock steady heartbreaker, 'Shocking Love' aka 'You Better Call On Me' and in the following year 'In This World' in the faster reggae style, both of which were released on Scotty in Jamaica and the Palmer Brothers Camel label in London. They then recorded 'Wailing Festival' for Mrs Pottinger's Gay Feet label which made the final eight in the 1969 Independence Festival Song Competition.

Valman Smykle emigrated to New York in 1969 and The Federals broke up but Scotty began singing with Noel 'Bunny' Brown(Noel Brown) for The Vikings band where he came to the attention of singer and producer Derrick Harriott who suggested that Scotty and Bunny team up with former Federal Franklin Spence to form The Chosen Few. However, Derrick rapidly realised Scotty's potential as a solo artist and so replaced him with Busty Brown, who had formerly sung with The Messengers, and The Chosen Few went on to become "one of Jamaica's top singing and dance acts".

According to King Jammy(Lloyd James) Scotty deejayed live and direct on King Tubby's Home Town Hi Fi before Tubby recruited Ewart 'U Roy' Beckford, "Tubby had a lot of people before U Roy like Skeewee and Scotty...", but in July 1970 Derrick Harriott noticed Scotty "clowning around and imitating different people in the show business world at Derrick's One Stop Record Shop" and took him to the studio where they recorded 'Musical Chariot' in the nascent talkover style which Derrick played exclusively on his Musical Chariot discotheque.

Scotty returned to the studio in September and recorded a deejayed tribute to then brand new American educational series 'Sesame Street' which, two months later, hit the Number Three spot in the Jamaican Hit Parade on Derrick's Crystal label. Towards the close of the year Scotty supported the legendary Stevie Wonder on his Jamaican tour and "was acclaimed by all the show critics as Jamaica's New Star". Scotty's next seven inch release 'Riddle I This', a spoken version to Derrick's classic 'Solomon', was coupled with 'Musical Chariot' and, when the record made the coveted Christmas Number One spot on the Jamaican charts, Scotty was declared "the top man for the season".

Hit after hit followed for Scotty during 1971 and 1972 as Derrick Harriott exploited his back catalogue of foundation rhythms on releases including 'Draw Your Brakes' over Keith & Tex's 'Stop That Train' and 'Children Children' over Keith & Tex's (again!) 'Tonight'. Their 'School Days... presenting Scotty' album, released in 1971 on Crystal in Jamaica and Trojan in London, was one of the first ever long players to be dedicated wholly and solely to a deejay... although it did feature Scotty singing a new version to 'Penny For Your Song'. The album's liner notes claimed that:

"P.S. Scotty's success on stage is mainly credited to what he wears: cap, shirt, braces, short pants, tall socks and rubber shoes, including also a school slate and lunch pan... can you dig it?"

Record buyers did dig it but Scotty's sensational success on stage and record was due to far more than his schoolboy outfit. However, this totally original toaster was soon superseded, along with King Stitt, by a brand new breed of deejays that he had helped pave the way for including U Roy, Dennis AlCapone and Winston Scotland and later I Roy, Big Youth and Prince Jazzbo. However it was Scotty's 'Draw Your Brakes' that played over the opening sequence of Perry Henzell's 'The Harder They Come' film which introduced a whole new international audience to the sound of reggae in 1972 and 1973.

Scotty also worked for other producers on records including 'Salvation Train', a one off for Lloyd 'Charmers' Tyrell, and the highly humorous 'Skank In Bed', a version to Lorna Bennett's 'Breakfast In Bed', produced by Chung & Harvey for Harry 'Harry J' Johnson. 'Skank In Bed' was a very big hit in Jamaica and in the UK where it was released on Island's Blue Mountain subsidiary in 1972 and again on Island a few years later when it looked like a crossover hit was in the offing. With Sonia Pottinger he made the aptly titled 'Unbelievable Sounds' and again produced himself for his Scotty label on a wonderful version to The Drifters 'I Count The Tears'. He sang 'I Count The Tears' beautifully on the a-side and then deejayed the song just as beautifully on the b-side as 'Count The Skank' before stopping the session half way through to go on strike before realising it was actually his own production and "normalcy" was resumed.

In 1974 Scotty moved to America where he settled in Florida but he returned to Jamaica and began to record again in the early eighties. Records including 'Pussy Kat' on the Roots Radics Gang label, a version to Bacharach & David's 'What's New Pussy Cat' in a dance hall style, and appearances on oldies shows including Heineken Startime not only delighted older aficionados but also introduced his unique style to a new generation of music fans. After complaining of ill health in November 2002 Scotty was admitted to the Lord's Place Nursing Home where he died of prostate cancer on 27th February 2003. He is survived by his wife, Daphne Scott and eight children.

Date Added: Jul 30, 2013 / Date Updated: Jul 30, 2013