Little Jimmy Scott

Jimmy Scott, also recognized as Little Jimmy Scott, navigated a singular trajectory shaped by his physical constraints and repeated interference from record labels that often kept his performances from reaching audiences, though a substantial resurgence marked his later years. One of ten children born to Arthur and Justine Scott in Cleveland, Ohio, on July 17, 1925, he began singing in church settings before his mother died in a car accident when he was thirteen, after which foster parents raised him. A rare hereditary disorder, Kallmann's Syndrome, halted his growth at under five feet and preserved his voice as an unchanged boy soprano.

Scott launched his professional career in the 1940s by performing in tent shows. Joining Lionel Hampton's band in 1948, he cut his first sides for Decca Records in January 1950, including the track "Everybody's Somebody's Fool," which entered the R&B charts that October and climbed into the Top Ten. Departing Hampton in 1951 to pursue solo work, he performed with Paul Gayten's ensemble at Rip's Playhouse in New Orleans; Regal Records captured the set, though it remained unreleased until Specialty Records issued it four decades later as Regal Records Live in New Orleans. Between 1951 and 1955 he cut singles for Royal Roost, Coral, and Roost Records.

Moving to Savoy Records in 1955, Scott delivered his debut album, Very Truly Yours. He recorded singles for King Records starting in 1957 before returning to Savoy in 1959, where his second LP, The Fabulous Little Jimmy Scott, appeared in 1960. Signing with Ray Charles' Tangerine imprint in 1962 yielded Falling in Love Is Wonderful, yet Savoy's contract claim forced its withdrawal soon after release, prompting Scott to exit the industry and take a shipping clerk position at Cleveland's Sheraton Hotel. Atlantic Records released his fourth album, The Source, in 1969, and he revisited Savoy for Can't We Begin Again in 1975, though neither achieved notable sales and he remained outside music for some time.

Club appearances resumed in 1985. Backed by the Jazz Expressions, he returned to the studio in 1990 for J's Way Records. Longtime advocate Doc Pomus passed away on March 14, 1991, and the sixty-five-year-old Scott performed at the funeral, an event that caught the ear of Sire Records head Seymour Stein and secured him a contract. This arrangement ignited his major comeback. Credited as James V. Scott, he featured in a June 1991 episode of David Lynch's Twin Peaks and later appeared in the films Scotch and Milk (1998) and Chelsea Walls (2001). He contributed vocals to Lou Reed's Sire release Magic and Loss, which arrived in January 1992.

His own Sire/Blue Horizon/Warner Bros. album All the Way, the first issued under the simple billing Jimmy Scott, followed later that year, peaking at number four on Billboard's jazz album chart and earning a Grammy nomination for Best Jazz Vocal Performance. Scott also sang on the 1992 soundtracks for Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me and Glengarry Glen Ross. Rhino Records assembled Lost and Found in 1993 from unreleased 1972 Atlantic material, which reached number fourteen on the jazz charts. Dream, issued by Sire/Blue Horizon/Warner Bros. in 1994, climbed to number eight in the jazz listings, while Heaven, a collection of gospel and spiritual material, appeared in 1996 and peaked at number nineteen.

After fulfilling his Warner Bros. obligations, Scott recorded Holding Back the Years for Artists Only! in 1998, hitting number fourteen on the jazz chart. Milestone Records released Mood Indigo in 2000, which reached number seventeen. Well past his seventy-fifth birthday he maintained a steady output, issuing Over the Rainbow in 2001, But Beautiful in 2002, Moon Glow in 2003, and All of Me: Live in Tokyo in 2004. Savoy Jazz followed with All or Nothing at All in 2005. Jimmy Scott died at his Las Vegas, Nevada, home in June 2014 at the age of eighty-eight.