Liner notes by Rob Finnis from
THE COMPLETE HITS
OF LINDA SCOTT
produced for compact disc by Eric Records

Scott was what show folk once used to describe as a 'natural' and listening to her earliest hits on this long-awaited Eric CD confirms that she was more than just another amateur who happened to get lucky with the right song. There was a brazen swagger about her brightly intoned yet innocent sounding vocals that held promise for a great future.

She was born Linda Joy Sampson in Queens, New York on June 1st, 1945 and moved to Teaneck, New Jersey with her parents in 1956. "I had a truly perfect childhood," she recalled in an early interview. "I never wanted for anything. I was never seriously ill, and my mother, Lois, and father, Raymond, were the sweetest, most loving parents a girl could want. When my brother, Billy, was born (I was seven), our happiness became complete."

"I guess I always wanted to be in show-business. One of my primary teachers taught acting and glee club, and we all adored him. Naturally, I knocked my brains out trying to out-do the other kids, and before you could say, "The show must go on," I had visions of becoming a star. I loved to perform. I was, and still am, a complete extrovert.

"Just like any other kid, I loved to listen to the radio and to records. I would try to sing along, secretly dreaming of making a record of my own one day. Mom would play the piano for me as I tore away at songs. We were quite a duo. She entered me in a local talent show and after I did my bit, the man announced me as the winner and gave me a big gold cup. That clinched it! I started studying the piano seriously and after a year I could play anything on my own without sheet music.

"When I was 11 and we were already settled in New Jersey, I began to realize how important it was to live near New York City - that is, if you were just dying to get into show business as I was. I used to ride my bike up to Palisades and look over at the beautiful New York skyline. I would keep saying to myself, "one day ... one day..."

In the fall of 1960, while still a sophomore, she signed with Canadian-American, a New York indie with an unusual background. Launched in 1959 by a wealthy Canadian businessman named Neil Galligan, the new label had offices in both Winnipeg, Canada (Galligan's center of operations) and New York City - hence its name.

The company immediately lucked into a million-seller with its third release,'Sleep Walk' by Santo & Johnny, two instrumentalists who went on to notch up steady album sales over the next few years helping Canadian-American to consolidate its market position. Though Galligan had only limited experience in records, he was nobody's fool. The two key figures in his organization were Hutch Davie, an eccentric but capable orchestrator and Gerry Granahan, a former pop vocalist turned A&R man.

Davie had been a staff songwriter for Trinity Music, the New York publishing house which had produced 'Sleepwalk'. Back in 1956, he had co-written and played the piano on Jim Lowe's million-selling novelty hit, 'Green Door' and had also tried and failed to make it as a honky-tonk pianist in the style of Johnny Maddox before turning to writing and arranging for Canadian-American, Congress and Gerry Granahan's Caprice label. Davie's simple but effective scores were to play a vital role in their success.

It was Granahan who signed Linda Sampson to Canadian-American, changed her name to Scott and produced her million-selling hit 'I've Told Every Little Star', an old show tune re-worked as 1961 teen pop. It had first been performed as a duet back in 1932 by Walter Slezak and Katherine Carrington in Jerome Kern and Oscar Hammerstein's 'Music In The Air', a stage musical later turned into a film of the same title. Scott herself wrote the B-side, 'Three Guesses' and, unusual for the time, penned the A-sides of two of her next three singles including the immediate follow-up, 'Don't Bet Money Honey'. This featured a fuller production than its predecessor and reached #9 while the flip, a revival of 'Starlight Starbright', also charted (at #44) despite having to compete with a rival version by Sammy Turner on the Bigtop label. Scott ended a great year with a third Top 20 hit, 'I Don't Know Why', yet another old standard dressed up for the teen market.

At this point, with two hot artists on his books, Galligan became over confident and made the mistake of launching a second label, Congress, with Scott as its principal artist.

This needless diversification served only to confuse the trade and February 1962 found Scott back on the charts with both 'Bermuda' on Canadian-American and 'Yessiree' on Congress, followed two months later by 'Count Every Little Star' on Canadian-American. Around this time, Scott was also seen lip-syncing to 'Yessiree' in Columbia's exploitation movie, 'Don't Knock The Twist' starring Chubby Checker.

Though all these records were hits, there seemed to be an element of overkill, not to mention over-exposure, in the way Scott was being commercially exploited.

In June 1963, Galligan sold Congress and its contracted artists to the larger Kapp label. Galligan stayed on in an executive role and this meant that effectively only the ownership had changed. Scott continued to make splendid records but these were less successful than her earlier releases and her last chart entry - # 100 for one week - came with 'Who's Been Sleeping In My Bed' in January 1964, the very month The Beatles broke into Billboard's Hot 100 for the first time.

In 1965, Scott joined the cast of TV's 'Where The Action Is', a fast-moving rock show which she co-hosted lovey-dovey fashion with fellow vocalist Steve Alaimo. Strangely, however, this TV exposure was not reflected in her record sales which were steady rather than sensational, the only act to truly benefit being Paul Revere & The Raiders who shot to fame on the strength of their appearances on the show.

By this time, Congress had been wound down and Scott was recording for the parent label, Kapp. Scott's last known recording, 'They Don't Know You', came out on RCA in 1968. A year later, she and songwriter Ellie Greenwich were the back-up vocalists on Lou Christie's Top 10 hit 'I'm Gonna' Make You Mine' but disillusionment had set in and by the end of the decade, Scott had quit the business.

"I did a two-year stint in the Army from 1970 to 1972, as a medical laboratory technician stationed in Fort Sam Houston, Texas," she revealed in a brief interview she gave to the collector's journal 'Goldmine' in 1987. "This brought about the meeting and marrying of a fellow serviceman. The marriage produced one child and ended in divorce. My son was born in 1973. Since then, I've kept a low profile, being a full-time mother and living for a time in Minneapolis."

She continued: "I decided to further my education and switch careers. I needed a change. I was very tired. Especially after all the club dates, tours and a movie. I received a four-year degree in Theology from Kingsway Christian College and Theological Seminary in Des Moines, Iowa."

These qualifications together with her past experience enabled Scott to take on the role of music tutor and musical director at the Christian Academy in New York in the mid-80s. Asked whether she ever intended to record again, she replied: "Who knows - if the right deal comes along. Going on the road would be a little more difficult at this point as my teaching and local obligations here at home base take top priority and a lot of time."

She said she missed the "family atmosphere" on'Where The Action Is' and the close camaraderie of the cast and crew of the Arthur Godfrey radio show. Asked what the future held for her, Scott replied, "I will be rooted in music, probably teaching the 'up and comers' in the music business. Those who have true talent will prevail and go on. For myself, well, I like to think that I have the option of actively being the entertainer or training the new stars of tomorrow, or both. What ever will be, will be.

"I am grateful to the Lord for affording me the opportunity to have experienced the fame and fortune of show business. I have all these memories for which to be thankful and I hope to make many more memories as the years go by."