Jack’s Obituary
Jack Dominico Scafone, Jr., age 83 of Sterling Heights, died Thursday, December 12, 2019 at the Warren Campus of Ascension Macomb-Oakland Hospital. He was born January 24, 1936 in Windsor, Ontario, Canada, son of the late Jack Sr. and the late Laura (nee: Franks) Scafone.
Jack Scafone, (under his stage name, Jack Scott), was a Canadian-American singer and songwriter. He was inducted into the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2011 and was called “undeniably the greatest Canadian rock and roll singer of all time.”
Scott spent his early childhood in Windsor, Ontario, across the river from Detroit, Michigan. When he was 10, Jack’s family moved to Hazel Park, a suburb of Detroit. He grew up listening to hillbilly music and was taught to play the guitar by his mother Laura. As a teenager, he pursued a singing career and recorded as “Jack Scott.” At the age of 18, he formed the band, Southern Drifters. After leading the band for three years, he signed to ABC-Paramount Records as a solo artist in 1957. After recording two gold-selling local hits for ABC-Paramount in 1957, he switched to the Carlton record label and had a double-sided national hit in 1958 with “Leroy” / “My True Love.” The record sold over one million copies, earning Scott his first gold disc. Later in 1958, “With Your Love” reached the Top 40. In all, six of 12 songs on his first album became hit singles. On most of these tracks, he was backed up by the vocal group, the Chantones.
Jack served in the United States Army during most of 1959, just after “Goodbye Baby” made the Top 10. The year 1959 also saw him chart with “The Way I Walk.” Most of his Carlton master tapes were believed lost or destroyed until Rollercoaster Records in England released a vinyl EP, “Jack Scott Rocks”, and the CD, “The Way I Walk”, which were, for the most part, mastered from original tapes rather than the disc dubs used for previous reissues.
At the beginning of 1960, Scott again changed record labels, this time to Top Rank Records. He then recorded four Billboard Hot 100 Hits; “What in the World’s Come Over You”, “Burning Bridges”, “Oh Little One”, and “It Only Happened Yesterday”. “What in the World’s Come Over You” was Scott’s second gold disc winner. Scott continued to record and perform during the 60’s and 70’s. His song “You’re Just Getting’ Better reached the country charts in 1974. In May 1977, Scott recorded a Peel session for BBC radio 1 disc jockey, John Peel.
Scott had more US singles, in a shorter period of time (41 months), than any other recording artist, with the exception of The Beatles, Elvis Presley, Fats Domino, and Connie Francis. Scott wrote all of his own hits, except one; “Burning Bridges.” It has been said that “with the exception of Roy Orbison and Elvis Presley, no white rock and roller of the time ever developed a finer voice with a better range than Jack Scott, or cut a more convincing body of work in rockabilly, rock and roll, country-soul, gospel or blues.”
In 2007, Jack Scott was voted into the Michigan Rock and Roll Legends Hall of Fame. In 2011, he was honored to have been inducted into the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame. Later Scott was nominated for the Hit Parade Hall of Fame. In 2015, Jack’s latest (and final) album, “Way to Survive” was released. Along with filling countless hearts and homes with his music over the years, many of Jack’s songs were also featured in numerous movies, as well as being covered by many artists in their shows and events. He continued singing and touring, and lived in a suburb of Detroit.
Jack was the beloved husband of Barbara Ann. Dearest father to his daughters and their husbands, and his stepsons. Jack also leaves his grandchildren, and his loving siblings, to treasure his memory.
Memorial donations are welcomed to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, 501 St. Jude Place, Memphis, TN 38105 . . . or to www.stjude.org.
Arrangements have been entrusted to the D.S. Temrowski & Sons Funeral Home in Warren, Michigan.
D. S. Temrowski & Sons Funeral Home
30009 Hoover Road
Warren, Michigan 48093
P: 586-751-0444
Public visitation hours: 3 p.m.-9 p.m. (Today) Monday, December 16
