Greg Scott: "Bring Me Back"
Paul Liberatore
The Marin Independent Journal
On his first full-length album, Greg Scott stakes his place among the finest R&B singers to ever call Marin County home.
The 26-year-old Scott is a Marin rarity, a white soul singer in the mold of Bill Champlin, who founded the Sons of Champlin in Marin in the '60s and went on to a successful career with Chicago.
The comparison is especially resonant since Scott has vowed to bring back the glory days of Marin County pop and rock in the '60s and '70s.
He's on his way to doing that with "Bring Me Back," lending his extraordinary tenor voice - reminiscent of Stevie Wonder and Donny Hathaway - to a dozen funk and soul songs he co-wrote and recorded at the Place, his home studio in San Rafael.
The CD opens with a computerized voice reporting that "Earth has lost its funk." Then Scott sets out to remedy that situation with funky synthesizer-driven tunes like "Funkanauts," the hand-clapping "Mother's Day," which recalls "a summer day in 1975"; the percolating "Last Chance Lover," the thumping "Bring Me Back" and the street sounds of "Market St. Lady." He sets out to melt feminine hearts with the smooth pop of "Damn U Look Good Ta Nite" and the sensual sounds of "Like a Song."
Scott's vocal gifts are best displayed on the CD's two ballads, "Simple Things," with its acoustic piano accompaniment, and "Hello," another soft rock gem.
Scott has the looks and the voice to go a long way on "American Idol." But for now, he's one of the brightest stars on the Marin musical firmament, and "Bring Me Back" proves it.
Hear him: Greg Scott's CD release concert for "Bring Me Back" is at 8:30 p.m. June 12 at Mill Valley Masonic Hall at 96 Throckmorton Ave. in Mill Valley. Tickets are $20 to $25 at www.murphyproductions.com or at 415-389-5072.
