E.C. Scott (born September 14, 1951 or late 1950s) is an American

electric blues Electric blues is blues music distinguished by the use of electric amplification for musical instruments. The guitar was the first instrument to be popularly amplified and used by early pioneers T-Bone Walker in the late 1930s and John Lee Ho ...

soul blues Soul blues is a style of blues music developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s that combines elements of soul music and urban contemporary music. Origin American singers and musicians who grew up listening to the electric blues by artists s ...

gospel Gospel originally meant the Christianity, Christian message ("the gospel"), but in the second century Anno domino, AD the term (, from which the English word originated as a calque) came to be used also for the books in which the message w ...

and

soul The soul is the purported Mind–body dualism, immaterial aspect or essence of a Outline of life forms, living being. It is typically believed to be Immortality, immortal and to exist apart from the material world. The three main theories that ...

singer, songwriter, record producer and television host.

Jerry Wexler Gerald Wexler (January 10, 1917 – August 15, 2008) was a music journalist turned music producer, and was a major influence on American popular music from the 1950s through the 1980s. He coined the term "rhythm and blues", and was integra ...

, called Scott "one honest-to-God soul singer." She has been nominated for nine

Blues Music Award The Blues Music Awards, formerly known as the W. C. Handy Awards (or "The Handys"), are awards presented by the Blues Foundation, a non-profit organization set up to foster blues heritage. The awards were originally named in honor of W. C. Handy, " ...

s, and has shared the stage with

Ray Charles Ray Charles Robinson (September 23, 1930 – June 10, 2004) was an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. He is regarded as one of the most iconic and influential musicians in history, and was often referred to by contemporaries as "The Gen ...

Patti LaBelle Patricia Louise Holte (born May 24, 1944), known professionally as Patti LaBelle, is an American Rhythm and blues, R&B singer and actress. She has been referred to as the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Godmother of Soul". LaBelle began ...

Lou Rawls Louis Allen Rawls (December 1, 1933 – January 6, 2006) was an American baritone singer. He released 61 albums, sold more than 40 million records, and had numerous charting singles, most notably the song " You'll Never Find Another Love like Min ...

John Lee Hooker John Lee Hooker (August 22, 1912 or 1917 – June 21, 2001) was an American blues singer, songwriter, and guitarist. The son of a sharecropper, he rose to prominence performing an electric guitar-style adaptation of Delta blues that he develo ...

, and the

Ohio Players Ohio Players are an American funk band, most popular in the 1970s. They are best known for their songs "Fire" and " Love Rollercoaster", and for their erotic album covers that featured nude or nearly nude women. Many of the women were models f ...

Life and career

Most sources give her birth name as Ecrettia Jacobs, born in

Oakland, California Oakland is a city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area in the U.S. state of California. It is the county seat and most populous city in Alameda County, California, Alameda County, with a population of 440,646 in 2020. A major We ...

, in the late 1950s, but researchers Bob Eagle and Eric LeBlanc suggest that she was born Ecrettia Peevy in 1951. She attended the Skyline High School in Oakland and is listed in the 'Class of 1970'. In her childhood she saw gospel singers such as

Shirley Caesar Shirley Ann Caesar-Williams (Birth name, née Caesar; born October 13, 1938), known professionally as Shirley Caesar, is an American Gospel music, gospel singer. Her career began in 1951, when she signed to Federal Records at the age of 12. Thro ...

and

Inez Andrews Sister Inez Andrews, born Inez McConico (April 14, 1929 – December 19, 2012) and better known as Inez Andrews, was an American gospel singer, who was noted for her powerful, wide-ranging voice. The ''Chicago Tribune'' stated that "Andrews' thr ...

. She also sang at the local St. John Missionary Baptist Church. She later turned her attention to soul music after listening to her sisters' radio. Scott began singing in nightclubs at the age of 16, and she was performing professionally two years later. Marriage and raising three children led Scott to put her music career to one side, before resurrecting it when her children grew older. Initially performing jazz, she reverted to blues and R&B once her backing band, named Smoke, were in place. She performed around San Francisco, including a spell as the

house band A house band is a group of musicians, often centrally organized by a band leader, who regularly play at an establishment. It is widely used to refer both to the bands who work on entertainment programs on television or radio, and to bands which ...

at a nightclub called Slim's. Scott released her debut single in 1988 and built up a local fan base. She appeared at a number of blues festivals, and performed at Grand Openings for the

San Francisco Symphony The San Francisco Symphony, founded in 1911, is an American orchestra based in San Francisco, California. Since 1980 the orchestra has been resident at the Louise M. Davies Symphony Hall in the city's Hayes Valley, San Francisco, Hayes Valley ne ...

, the

San Francisco Ballet San Francisco Ballet is the oldest ballet company in the United States, founded in 1933 as the San Francisco Opera Ballet under the leadership of ballet master Adolph Bolm. The company is currently based in the War Memorial Opera House, San Fra ...

, and the

San Francisco Opera The San Francisco Opera (SFO) is an American opera company founded in 1923 by Gaetano Merola (1881–1953) based in San Francisco, California. History Gaetano Merola (1923–1953) Merola's road to prominence in the Bay Area began in 1906 wh ...

, before signing a recording contract with

Blind Pig Records Blind Pig Records is an American blues independent record label. Blind Pig was formed in 1977 in Ann Arbor, Michigan, by Jerry Del Giudice, owner of the Blind Pig Cafe, and his friend Edward Chmelewski. The label is now based in San Francisco. I ...

in 1994. Her first album, ''Come Get Your Love'' was released in 1995. ''

Living Blues ''Living Blues: The Magazine of the African American Blues Tradition'' is a bi-monthly magazine focused on blues music, and America's oldest blues periodical. The magazine was founded as a quarterly in Chicago in 1970 by Jim O'Neal and Amy van ...

'' noted that "E.C. Scott must be ranked among the best of the promising female blues singers in recent years." ''Hard Act to Follow'' duly followed in 1998. Scott received a nomination for a

in 1999 for 'Soul Blues Female Artist of the Year'. Scott performed at both the

San Francisco Blues Festival The San Francisco Blues Festival was active from 1973 until 2008, and was located in San Francisco, California. It was one of the longest running blues festival in the United States. History Tom Mazzolini, the event's producer, founded the bl ...

, and Briggs Farm Blues Festival in 1999, and the Sarasota Blues Fest in 2000. ''Masterpiece'', her final recording with Blind Pig, was issued in 2000. Her self-released album, ''The Other Side of Me'' (2003), included more of her self-penned numbers, and had a guest vocal appearance by

Little Milton James Milton Campbell Jr. (September 7, 1934 – August 4, 2005), better known as Little Milton, was an American blues singer and guitarist, best known for his List of number-one R&B singles of 1965 (U.S.), number-one R&B single "We're Gonna Ma ...

on two of the tracks, "Just One of Those Days" and "If I Can Borrow Some of Your Love". In

Lincoln, Nebraska Lincoln is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Nebraska. The city covers and had a population of 291,082 as of the 2020 census. It is the state's List of cities in Nebraska, second-most populous city a ...

, she had filmed a video for "These Ain't Yo Daddy's Kind of Blues," another track from ''The Other Side of Me''. However, Scott discovered that, without a single blues video television program in the United States, she was left with only her own website and YouTube to air the promotional tool. In November 2006, performing as a television host, she presented the first show of the American

public access television Public-access television (sometimes called community-access television) is traditionally a form of non-commercial mass media where the general public can create content television programming which is narrowcast through cable television specia ...

program, ''EC's Jook Joint'', which reaches eight million households through around 350 broadcast stations nationwide. The program features videos of blues performances, with introductions and editing work by Scott. Through her own company, ECS Productions, Scott also began working as an artist manager for a number of acts typically performing blues, pop or gospel material. In addition, she has operated as a

video Video is an Electronics, electronic medium for the recording, copying, playback, broadcasting, and display of moving picture, moving image, visual Media (communication), media. Video was first developed for mechanical television systems, whi ...

producer for acts including

Ronnie Baker Brooks Ronnie Baker Brooks (born January 23, 1967) is an American Chicago blues and soul blues guitarist, singer and songwriter. He was a respected club performer in Chicago, even before recording three solo albums for Watchdog Records. The son of fell ...

. In 2009, she toured Europe and regularly appears at Biscuits & Blues in San Francisco. In 2011, she performed at the Riverfront Blues Festival. She currently lives in

Union City, California Union City is a city in Alameda County, California, United States in the San Francisco Bay Area. The population in the 2020 census was 70,143, up from 69,628 in the 2010 census. It is located approximately south of Oakland, from San Franci ...

, in a house which incorporates her home studio for editing ''EC's Jook Joint''.

Songwriting

Her songs have been recorded by various other artists including

Sonia Dada Sonia Dada was an American rock, soul, and rhythm and blues band, formed in Chicago in 1990. Founding member Daniel Pritzker enlisted Michael Scott, Paris Delane, and Sam Hogan after hearing the latter three sing in a subway station.Biography ...

("Sail Away" on ''

A Day at the Beach ''A Day at the Beach'' is a 1970 British film based on the 1962 book ''Een dagje naar het strand'' by Dutch author Heere Heeresma. The screenplay was written by Roman Polanski, who was originally intended to be the director, although most o ...

''), Worl-A-Girl ("Why You So Cruel", "Party", and "Stylee" on ''Party''),

Stephanie Nakasian Stephanie Nakasian (born August 29, 1954) is an American jazz vocalist and voice teacher. Biography Early life Born in Washington, D.C., Nakasian grew up in Bronxville, New York. She studied classical piano and violin, sang in choirs, and stud ...

Someone's Rocking My Dreamboat "Someone's Rocking My Dreamboat" is a song written by Leon René, Otis René and Emerson Scott in 1941. It was recorded in 1941 by The Ink Spots (Decca 4045), Erskine Hawkins (Bluebird B-11277), "Hutch" Leslie Hutchinson with Orchestra (HMV B.D ...

" on '' Invitation to an Escapade''),

Juelz Santana LaRon Louis James Sr. (born February 18, 1982), better known by his stage name Juelz Santana, is an American rapper and member of now-defunct hip-hop group, the Diplomats (also known as Dipset). He is best known for his appearances on group coho ...

("Gone" on ''

What the Game's Been Missing! ''What the Game's Been Missing!'' is the second studio album by American rapper Juelz Santana, released on November 22, 2005, by Diplomat Records and Def Jam Recordings. The album yielded the singles " Mic Check", "There It Go (The Whistle Song ...

''),

The Diplomats The Diplomats (also known as Dipset) were an American Hip hop music, hip hop collective formed in the summer of 1997 by childhood friends Cam'ron and Jim Jones (rapper), Jimmy Jones in Harlem, New York City. The group was originally composed of ...

("The Pit" on ''More Than Music, Vol. 1''), and

Kenny Vance Kenny Vance (born Kenneth Rosenberg, December 9, 1943) is an American singer, songwriter, and music producer who was a founding member of Jay and the Americans. His career spans from the 1950s to today, with projects ranging from starting doo-wo ...

("Diamonds and Pearls" on ''Lovers Island'').

Discography

Albums

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Scott, E.C. 1950s births Living people 20th-century American singers 21st-century American singers American blues singers American gospel singers American soul singers 20th-century African-American women singers African-American record producers Record producers from California Songwriters from California Musicians from Oakland, California African-American television hosts American music video directors American music managers 20th-century American women singers 21st-century American women singers American women record producers Blind Pig Records artists African-American songwriters 21st-century African-American women singers Year of birth missing (living people)