Erik Scott

Erik Scott
Background information
Born	1948 Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Occupation(s)	Bass player, music producer
Instruments	Bass guitar, keyboard, vocals
Years active	1969-present
Associated acts	Alice Cooper, Sonia Dada, Flo & Eddie
Website	Official website

Erik Scott is an American bass guitar player, producer, and songwriter. Scott played bass for the band Flo & Eddie in the 1970s as well as Alice Cooper in the early 1980s, for whom he also produced. In the 1990s he was one of the founding members of Sonia Dada, which reached the number one position on the Australian music charts with their debut album. Scott was also the co-writer of the song Father, Father, which was the title track for the Pops Staples' album of the same name, winner of the 1994 Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Blues Album. In 2008 he became a solo artist as well, with his debut album Other Planets. His second solo album And The Earth Bleeds was released in 2014.

Early career

Erik Scott played his first instrument in the fourth grade.^[1] As a professional he was first recorded as a bass player on the albums of bands as far back as 1969^[2] with the bands Food and Jambalaya. Then in 1974 he was the bass player on Flo & Eddie's comedy rock album Illegal, Immoral and Fattening as well as their 1976 follow-up album Moving Targets.^[3] Scott also toured with the band from 1974 onwards.^[2] According to Scott, it was Flo & Eddie that gave him his enduring industry nickname "Eski".^[4] In 1978 Scott became the bass player for Tonio K on his solo album Life in the Foodchain, and in 1980 on Franne Golde's final solo album, Restless.^[3] In 1980, Scott was co-producer on Peter McIan's album Playing Near the Edge, which was voted one of Cashbox's top ten albums of the year,^[5] and teamed up with Carl Palmer and John Nitzinger in the group PM as bass player for their sole album.^[6] They appeared on the German TV show Rockpop performing the single "Dynamite".^[7] Scott was a producer on Sharon O'Neill's 1981 album Maybe, which reached number 38 on the Australian music charts.^[8] During this period Scott also wrote and recorded music for the television shows Starsky & Hutch, Charlie’s Angels, Vega$, and The The Love Boat.^[2]

Alice Cooper

Erik Scott on the Alice Cooper Special Forces tour in 1981

Erik Scott's work with Alice Cooper began in 1980, when he was hired as the bass player for the band's Flush the Fashion world tour.^[1] By 1981 Scott had become the band leader for Alice Cooper, as well as a writer^[9] on songs for Cooper's new album Special Forces. Scott would continue writing and playing bass for Cooper through 1982, including on the album Zipper Catches Skin, which Scott co-produced,^[10] and performing in the TV special Alice Cooper a Paris. Scott would later be a producer on Alice Cooper's 1989 compilation album Prince of Darkness. Scott would work further with Alice Cooper on three compilation albums in the late 1990s and early 2000s, including The Life & Crimes of Alice Cooper in 1999 as a composer, and as producer on The Definitive Alice Cooper and Mascara & Monsters: The Best of Alice Cooper in 2001.^[3]

Sonia Dada

During this time he became an original member of the second band he is most well known for playing in: Sonia Dada. Scott was a composer for and played bass on their debut album Sonia Dada, which reached the number one position on the ARIA charts, becoming the 13th highest selling album of 1993 in Australia.^[11] The single You Don't Treat Me No Good from the album lasted four weeks in the number one position on the Australian charts in 1992—replacing Whitney Houston's I Will Always Love You.^[12] At the same time, Sonia Dada's single You Aint Thinking (About Me) was also at number three on the Australian charts.^[1]

Scott was also bass player and composer on their 1995 album A Day at the Beach. Scott was quoted as saying at the time that, "It's a very natural connection between eight guys and that's unnatural."^[13] In 1998 Scott composed, produced, and played bass on their third album, My Secret Life, and their 1999 live album Lay Down and Love It Live. That year Scott was interviewed about the sound of the group and said, "The best description I've heard that really makes sense to me is that it's a collision of rock 'n' roll and R&B with a gospel seasoning."^[14] In 2002 Scott once again served as producer and played bass for their fourth album Barefootsoul, as well as for their 2004 album Test Pattern.^[3]

Other Planets

Erik Scott's 2008 debut album Other Planets

In 2008 Scott released his solo debut Other Planets. John Diliberto reviewed the album as the Echoes radio program CD of the month for February 2009, stating that, "To say that his solo debut, Other Planets, is a bass guitar album is to miss what a powerful, cinematic release he's created. It's an album that's more Pink Floyd than Jaco Pastorius. Scott isn't a frustrated electric guitarist. He's a composer as much as a bass player who dives into the deep soul and nuances of the bass, extracting sensuous melodies and atmospheric moods."^[15] Bass Musician Magazine called it one of their favorite CDs of 2008.^[16]

Track listing

1. Bartalk
2. Other Planets (Sundogs)
3. Proper Son
4. Peace on Saturn
5. Despues de Guerro
6. Donnie & Sancho
7. Bassque Revolution
8. Foggy Bridges
9. Bathing Maui
10. Aliens Made Me Do This^[17]

And The Earth Bleeds

In April 2014 Scott released his sophomore solo album, And The Earth Bleeds. On the album he both plays the instrumentals and sings vocals on several of the tracks. Lorraine Devon Wilke of The Huffington Post wrote of the album that, "Scott has conjured up a new version of his own artistry in and the EARTH BLEEDS, one that, particularly after repeated plays, becomes mesmerizing and hypnotic... a 'soulful and mystic brew.'"^[18] Bass Musician Magazine said of the album that, "Erik has taken his enchanting and mystical music a step further with the release of ‘And The Earth Bleeds’." Many of the songs on the album were inspired by Scott's travels, especially his time spent in Scotland during 2013.^[19] The album mixes worlds music, jazz, and other influences. Music Street Journal wrote that the album is "progressive music that defies definition".^[20]

Spirits

In 2014 Scott released Spirits, a remix album featuring tracks from his first two solo albums. In December 2014 it ranked Number One on the Zone Music Reporter's Top 100 Radio Airplay chart.^[21] New Age Music Reviews said of the album that, "I think diversity is the key to success in area of employment and never is it more evident than with Scott’s music. His bass is a magnificent tool that prompts all the other sounds to bubble to the surface in the most wonderful way ... Scott’s bass is quite prolific throughout this recording; his prominence and importance to the overall presentation reminded me of the dominance of a Jaco Pastorius or Tony Levin. It is like the purity of a hot springs bubbling essence and the synchronicity of time meeting for a grand explosion of colors and sounds. It’s both beauty and wonder put together in one tightly wrapped package."^[22]

Other work

In 1979/1980 he provided bass guitar and vocals to Carl Palmer-led band PM on their, one and only, 1980 album 1:PM. Scott's other work in the 1980s included recording as the bass player and a producer on the band Idle Tears' self-titled 1986 album Idle Tears.^[23] He was also the co-writer of the Ted Nugent song When your body talks on his 1986 album Little Miss Dangerous.^[24] In 1987 Scott was a songwriter for the Triumph record Surveillance, which reached gold record status in Canada. In 1989 Scott was composer and bass player on the Signal's album Loud & Clear as well. As a bass player he recorded on Kim Carnes' 1993 compilation album Gypsy Honeymoon: The Best of Kim Carnes, and Pops Staples' 1994 album Father, Father, for which he co-wrote the title track. Father, Father won the 1994 Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Blues Album.^[25] In 2004 Scott then played bass on Staples' daughter Mavis Staples' album Have a Little Faith.^[3]

In the film industry, Scott has provided music for the motion pictures Waterproof starring Burt Reynolds, Nothing to Lose, and National Lampoon's Vacation as well as its sequels.^[2]

Discography

References

External links

• Official website