People are always looking for categories to fit singers into, and very often these categories have more to do with the choice of material and arrangements than with the singer herself. A girl who sings with a jazz group is likely to be tagged a jazz singer, and anyone who sings "My Funny Valentine" or "Poor Pierot" - in other words, a borrower of the Mabel Mercer repertoire - will be tagged a supper club singer.
Patricia Scot, I think, will resist all attempts at categorizing. The Creed Taylor Orchestra consists of several excellent jazzmen. Among them are Milt Hinton and Al hall, basses; Don Lamond, drums; Phil Woods and Jerome Richardson, saxes; Jimmy Cleveland, Jim Dahl and Frank Rehak, trombone; Dick Hixson, bass trombones; Joe Venuto, vibes and bongos. Bob Kenyon's arrangements, as Patricia Scot says, read the lyrics. This is not a lush big band pop set. There are songs as good and rare as "Just once Around the Clock" and "Mad About the Boy", but this is, quite simply, Patricia Scot singing.That happens to mean something pretty special. Don't be surprised if, the first time, you only think about how wonderful the songs are - that's how good Pat is, and she's why they're wonderful. And another thing - don't try to hear, as it's so easy to do these days, an imitator of Billie Holiday, or Sarah Vaughan, or Ella Fitzgerald, or Anita O'Day, or anyone else. The nearest thing you'll get to any other singer is not stylistic at all, but the same feeling of a warm, self-assured woman singing that Lena Horne gives.
And now, who is Patricia Scot? She is, first of all, the lovely young lady on the cover of this album. She was born twenty-seven years ago in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and she's been around a lot for a girl her age. She's traveled with bands working out of Milwaukee, and then worked in clubs around Chicago as a single. One of these engagements led to a contract with CBS radio in Chicago, and that in turn led to the Chicago TV show, "In Town Tonight" - where I became a staunch fan, producing the show for her five nights a week for over two years as she worked with such guest stars as Nat Cole, Johnny Desmond and Eddie Fisher, building a repertoire that could be the envy of anyone. (Incidentally, the Chicago period led to her friendship with bassist John Frigo, whose exquisite song "Nothing At All" is recorded here for the first time.
Two years ago, Pat married Mike Nichols, who is one half (Elaine May is the rest) of the most successful young comedy team in the United States. Pat left both Chicago and television to come to New York with her husband. For a while, it looked as though singing was a thing of the past. But this spring, she accepted an engagement at The Den, a smart New York supper club. That was followed quickly by a stay at The Blue Angel, where she was heard by Creed Taylor of ABC-Paramount. At this point, the rules of show business asserted themselves, and with the release of this album Patricia Scot is not only out of her brief retirement, but facing a larger audience than ever.
Joe Goldberg
Just Once Around the Clock
S Romberg - Oscar Hammerstein
Mad About the Boy
Noel Coward
You Leave Me Breathless
Ralph Freed - F. Hollander
Let's Sit Down and Talk it Over
Patricia Scot
Do it Again
B. G. DeSylva - George Gershwin
Get on Board (little children)
Don Raye - Gene DePaul
Nothing At All
John Frigo
You're Clear Out of This World
Harold Arlen - Johnny Mercer
Speed of Light
Mitzie & Ken Welch
Wandering Swallow
Harold Stevens - Irving Taylor
Where Are You?
Frank Loesser
Why Baby Why
Luther Dixon - Larry Harrison