Little Jimmy Scott's Widow Responds to the Grammys 'In Memoriam' Snub, in an emotional Open Letter

Grammy Awards show's annual "In Memoriam" segment that aired Sunday February 8, 2015 at 57th Grammy Awards...however omitting Jazz Great Jimmy Scott.

Story by Yahoo Music
Photo by Redferns
Written by Lyndsey Parker
Biography: Wikipedia

Little Jimmy Scott's Widow Responds to Grammys 'In Memoriam' Snub in Emotional Open Letter

Little Jimmy Scott, a jazz great popularized by Twin Peaks, The Cosby Show, and Michael Jackson, who performed at two Presidential inaugurations during his six-decade career, was one of many artists shockingly omitted from the In Memoriam segment at Sunday’s 57th Annual Grammy Awards.

Now the legend’s widow, Jeanie Scott, has penned a heartbroken open letter to the Grammy committee about this surprising snub.

Jeanie Scott’s full missive below:

To say I was disappointed in the Grammy board not mentioning Jimmy’s passing onto glory on June 12, 2014 in the memorials is putting it mildly.

I was crushed and heartbroken for Jimmy. Here is a man who was cheated in career omissions in life by industry slicksters omitting his name from his own recordings, from songs he wrote or co-wrote, from Savoy Record label owner blocking his masterpiece album produced on Ray Charles's Tangerine label when Ray asked him to be his first artist to record for it, having two more brilliant albums and his career blocked by the same label owner, not getting his due recognition.

Now, to be cheated in death still by certain record labels and not getting the recognition he earned. Jimmy earned it the hard way, by hard work and paying dues. As Ray Charles said, “Jimmy Scott made his mark and was singing from his soul long before the word was ever used.” Liza Minnelli said, “Every singer should get down and kiss his feet.”

Why? Because Jimmy influenced more artists in more genres and generations probably than any other singer. To name a few, ask Nancy Wilson, Frankie Valli, or Little Anthony. There was Frankie Lymon, Little Willie John, Joe Pesci, Marvin Gaye, numerous others, both men and woman vocalists. Even Michael Jackson recorded Jimmy’s first hit record, “Everybody’s Somebody’s Fool,” on his first solo album. He was Billie Holiday, Dinah Washington, Big Maybelle, and Etta James’s favorite singer.

Known as a “singer’s singer,” Jimmy not only influenced other singers, but also actors with his deep, dramatic deliveries of telling stories attached to real-life experiences.

Jimmy sang the same song, “Why Was I Born,” at two Presidential inaugurations 40 years apart, in 1953 for Eisenhower and in 1993 for Clinton.

He won the highest honors from the National Endowments of the Arts as a “Jazz Master,” a “Lifetime Achievement Award” from the Jazz Foundation of America, the R&B Foundation “Pioneer Award,” the “Living Legend Award” from the Kennedy Center Jazz in our time. That’s just a few of the honors he received. He was Grammy-nominated for Best Male Jazz in 1992.

Jimmy has also acted in movies and has had numerous recordings on a wide variety of motion picture soundtracks. He’s been the subject of many documentaries, two which got acclaimed recognition on television, one winning awards over 300 other films. The Screen Actors Guild put Jimmy in their memorial page. Why couldn’t the Grammy academy do the same?


Jimmy Scott's highly touted song (covered by legendary singers including Nancy Wilson): "When did you leave heaven". Listen and enjoy.

Jimmy Scott recorded and entertained audiences professionally for eight decades. He never complained about the slights. He was kind, humble, and gracious, he made everyone feel important. Jimmy Scott had a hard life, but a huge heart for everyone he ever met. People who encountered the Jimmy Scott experience never forgot his magic. How could the Grammys forget him?

Jimmy’s Wife,
Jeanie Scott

The Recording Academy did post a longer In Memoriam list on its website, which includes Little Jimmy Scott and other music figures not mentioned in the broadcast segment. Yahoo Music has reached out to the Recording Academy, but as of this writing has not received a statement explaining the on-air snub.
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Jimmy Scott's Legacy

Scott's career spanned sixty-five years. He performed with Charlie Parker, Sarah Vaughan, Lester Young, Lionel Hampton, Charles Mingus, Fats Navarro, Quincy Jones, Bud Powell, Ray Charles, Wynton Marsalis, and Peter Cincotti. He also performed with a host of musicians from other genres of music, such as David Byrne, Lou Reed, Flea, Michael Stipe, and Antony & The Johnsons.

Scott performed at the inaugurations of Presidents Dwight Eisenhower (1953) and Clinton (1993), where he sang the same song, "Why Was I Born?". Later, Scott appeared in live performances with the lounge music group Pink Martini, and continued to perform internationally at music festivals and at his own concerts until shortly before his death.

In 2007, Scott received the 2007 NEA Jazz Master Award. He also received the Kennedy Center's "Jazz In Our Time" Living Legend Award, and N.A.B.O.B.'s Pioneer Award in 2007, the "Lifetime Achievement Award from the Jazz Foundation of America" in 2010, the R & B Hall of Fame Induction Award in 2013.

In September 2008 he did a "two-day video interview" at his Vegas home with the "Smithsonian Institute for the National Archives".

Little Jimmy Scott's recording of "If I Ever Lost You" can be heard in the opening credits of the HBO movie Lackawanna Blues. He was also mentioned on The Cosby Show, when Clair and Cliff Huxtable bet on the year in which "An Evening In Paradise" was recorded. On August 17, 2013, at Cleveland State University in his hometown, Cleveland, Ohio, he was inducted into inaugural class of the R&B Music Hall of Fame.

Early life and career

Scott was born in Cleveland, Ohio, to Authur and Justine Stanard Scott, the third in a family of ten. As a child Jimmy got his first singing experience by his mother's side at the family piano, and later, in church choir. At thirteen, he was orphaned when his mother was killed by a drunk driver.

He first rose to prominence as "Little Jimmy Scott" in the Lionel Hampton Band when he sang lead on the late 1940s hit "Everybody's Somebody's Fool", recorded in December 1949, and which became a top ten R&B hit in 1950. Credit on the label, however, went to "Lionel Hampton and vocalists", so the singer's name did not appear on any of the songs. This omission of credit was not only a slight to Scott's talent but a big blow to his career. A similar professional insult occurred several years later when his vocal on "Embraceable You" with Charlie Parker, on the album One Night in Birdland, was credited to female vocalist Chubby Newsome.

Lionel Hampton gave him the stage name of "Little Jimmy Scott" because he looked so young, and was short and of slight build. However, it was his extraordinary phrasing and romantic feeling that made him a favorite singer of fellow artists such as Billie Holiday, Ray Charles, Frankie Valli, Dinah Washington and Nancy Wilson.

In 1963, it looked as though Scott's luck had changed: he signed to Ray Charles' Tangerine Records label, under the supervision of Charles himself, creating what is considered by many to be one of the great jazz vocal albums of all time, Falling in Love is Wonderful.

Owing to obligations on an earlier contract that Scott had signed with Herman Lubinsky, the record was withdrawn in a matter of days, while Scott was on honeymoon. The album was not re-released for forty years. Scott disputes the "lifetime" contract; Lubinsky loaned Jimmy out to Syd Nathan at King Records for 45 recordings in 1957–58. Another album, The Source (1969), was not released until 2001.

Scott's career faded by the late 1960s and he returned to his native Cleveland to work as a hospital orderly, shipping clerk and as an elevator operator in a hotel.

Comeback and later work

Scott eventually resurfaced in 1991 when he sang at the funeral of songwriter Doc Pomus, his long-time friend, an event that single-handedly sparked his career renaissance. Afterwards Lou Reed recruited him to sing back-up on the track "Power and Glory" from his 1992 album Magic and Loss, which was inspired, to an extent, by Pomus's death. Scott was seen on the series finale of David Lynch's television series Twin Peaks, singing "Sycamore Trees", a song with lyrics by Lynch and music by Angelo Badalamenti. Scott was featured on the soundtrack of the follow-up film, Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me.

Also in attendance at Pomus's funeral was Seymour Stein, founder and operator of Sire Records, who released Scott's 1992 album All The Way, produced by Tommy Lipuma and featuring artists such as Kenny Barron, Ron Carter, and David "Fathead" Newman. Scott was nominated for a Grammy Award for this album.

He followed this up with the album Dream in 1994 and the jazz-gospel album Heaven in 1996. His next work, a critically acclaimed album of pop and rock interpretations entitled Holding Back The Years (1998), was produced by Gerry McCarthy and Dale Ashley. Released in the US on Artists Only Records in October 1998, it peaked at #14 on the Billboard Jazz Albums chart. In Japan, it won the prestigious Swing Journal Award for Best Jazz Album Of The Year (2000). The title track marked the first time in his career that Scott overdubbed his own harmony vocal tracks. Holding Back The Years features cover art by Mark Kostabi, liner notes by Lou Reed, and includes critically acclaimed versions of "Nothing Compares 2 U" (written by Prince), "Jealous Guy" (John Lennon), "Almost Blue" (Elvis Costello), and "Sorry Seems To Be The Hardest Word" (Elton John & Bernie Taupin).

In 1999, Scott's early recordings on the Decca label were re-released on CD, as were all of his recordings with the Savoy Label between 1952 and 1975 in a three-disc box set. In 2000, Scott signed to the Milestone jazz label, and recorded four critically acclaimed albums, each produced by Todd Barkan, and featuring a variety of jazz artists, including Wynton Marsalis, Renee Rosnes, Bob Kindred, Eric Alexander, Lew Soloff, George Mraz, Lewis Nash, as well as Scott's own touring and recording band "The Jazz Expressions". He also released two live albums, both recorded in Japan, featuring the Jazz Expressions.

In 2012, he joined the 11th annual Independent Music Awards judging panel to assist independent musicians' careers.

He died on June 12, 2014, aged 88. He died in his sleep at his home in Las Vegas of cardiac arrest.