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"Bill"
Peggy Scott-Adams
Composed by Jimmy Lewis
July 24, 2010 Update:
Peggy Scott-Adams is headlining a star-studded Southern Soul concert (Jeff Floyd, David Brinston, etc.) at The Vicksburg City Auditorium in Vicksburg, Mississippi over the upcoming Labor Day weekend. (See Daddy B. Nice's Concert Calendar.) Along with some other recent Scott-Adams tour dates, this performance marks a comeback for the onetime reigning diva of Southern Soul.
At a time (the nineties) when the careers of contemporary soul queens Denise LaSalle and Shirley Brown were relatively quiet and today's Southern Soul scene was just a distant glimmer of promise in a dispirited and fragmented R&B scene, Scott-Adams and her writer/producer Jimmy Lewis stunned the Delta with a series of unforgettable songs and albums.
In this age of You-Tube and FaceBook and I-Tunes, it's almost impossible to describe how Peggy's take-no-prisoners performances on those records filled the depleted vacuum in soul music and set down the roots of the full-blown Southern Soul scene of today.
You can hear Scott-Adams' legacy in the current work of Ms. Jody, Nellie "Tiger" Travis, Karen Wolfe, Pat Cooley, Lacee' Reed and countless other new Southern Soul artists in their artistic primes.
And yet, preferring to ply the more mellow and peaceful sounds of Gospel, Scott-Adams has recorded really only one new single of note in the 21st century--"I Intend To Take Your Place"--a typically scathing and powerful outing reminiscent of her best hits from the 90's and turn-of-the-century CD's.
Consequently, these concert dates take on a special significance in that they mark Peggy Scott-Adams' renewed interest in the secular music at which she so thoroughly excelled. No one did it better, or rawer. No one shocked as much; no one displayed more iron-clad character. And yet, of all the artists who trail-blazed the art of contemporary Southern Soul, none may be more surprised by what has been wrought during her prolonged absence.
The blues had a baby, and that first one was called "rock and roll." Forty years later, the blues had another baby. That second baby is called "Southern Soul," and Peggy Scott-Adams was its undisputed mid-wife.
--Daddy B. Nice
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Scroll down to "Tidbits" section for most recent Peggy Scott-Adams updates.
Author's Forward: When I first published the "Top 100 Southern Soul Chart," I nominated "I'm Willing To Be A Friend," Peggy Scott-Adams' stripped-down, rhythm-section-dominated rant on cultural mores, as the artist's top song. And while it's still the song that captivates me most, I'm willing to admit that the archetypal "Bill," which I also have always cherished, should occupy the position of honor.
The first in a long series of hits written by her longtime musical parter, Jimmy Lewis, "Bill" tapped into a theme in vogue at the time (women thwarted by gay men) that went back to Barbara Mason's 80's hit, "Another Man," and would continue with Keisa Brown's "Fly On The Wall." (The theme has gone strangely quiescent since.)
I was one of those isolated souls who was in on it from the get-go. (And, it turns out there were quite a few of us.) The song was a rare soul-music "bone" thrown to the masses at a time when soul music was on a starvation diet, and Bill's" chorus, if not its singer, entered the nation's musical consciousness.
"I was ready for Mary,
Susan, Helen and Jane,
When all the time it was Bill
That was sleeping with my man."
And "Bill" has only taken on a greater significance as the Southern Soul movement has begun to come into its own. You could very well say that the song ushered in the contemporary Southern Soul scene. A few male artists (no other female performers that I can think of) landed some musical "shots across the bow" in the early to mid-nineties, but few, if any, had the impact of Peggy Scott-Adams' "Bill." DBN.
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Daddy B. Nice's Original Critique:
You can practically hear the guitars clucking like barnyard hens on "I'm Willing To Be A Friend." . Listening to this backyard reverie of a record, you're not that far away from the primal banjo in the movie "Deliverance." Peggy Scott-Adams' vocal approach is pure gospel--oozing strength, energy and fortitude. Longtime collaborator and legendary composer Jimmy Lewis sings modest back up in almost a whisper.
In fact, "I'm Willing To Be A Friend" is a secular sermonette, a wake-up call to the black audience to face up to its responsibilities. At the same time, it's a raucous, mid-tempo rocker, a juke-joint anthem made for dancing.
"Let me tell you now.
I'm willing to be a friend.
I'm willing to try.
And if I can't make you smile,
I won't make you cry."
Peggy Scott-Adams' voice is deep, husky and clear. No diva vibratos or note-bending affectations here. This gospel rant on the state of the world is delivered with a blistering toughness. It's like John Brown's jackhammer in the mine of Southern Soul, chipping away at the rock, breaking new territory, blazing the way for the followers to come.
"Our children know every song
That's played on the radio.
So why can't they learn in school?
I want to know, somebody tell me.
They do it so easy, they do it so quick.
Why can't they learn algebra and arithmetic?"
What aspiring R&B diva, hearing this track from the CD Undisputed Queen (Miss Butch), could ever again content herself with mere histrionics and technical fluff?
Titling a CD Undisputed Queen was a clever marketing idea, and one that Etta James, Shirley Brown, Denise LaSalle (who titled a CD Still The Queen), Barbara Carr and Irma Thomas (to mention only a few) might have something to say about. But they would be hard-pressed to disprove that Peggy Scott-Adams has earned her right to the title.
Undisputed Queen was in fact a rare occasion of public relations catching up with reality. Peggy Scott-Adams' string of original Southern Soul hits--"(I Don't Like) Sweaty Men," "Burning," "I'm Getting What I Want," "Mr. Right Or Mr. Wrong," "Your Divorce Has Been Denied" and countless others--has surpassed any other single female R&B artist over the late 90's and early 00's.
And Scott-Adams' collaboration with composer/producer Lewis has produced so many moments of musical catharsis that one would be hard-pressed to name any other performer/writer duo their equal. Jimmy Lewis' images are incendiary in their vividness. In "Sweaty Men" Scott-Adams proclaims:
"A working man sweats.
A sweaty man stinks.
You got to shower soon as you get in,
'Cause I don't like sweaty men."
Images like these literally defined the dimensions of Southern Soul subject matter over the last decade. R&B enthusiasts bored with the thin, smooth, never-take-chances formulas of urban contemporary performers fell on the Lewis/Scott-Adams' catalog like desert survivors stumbling upon water.
"Don't care how he looks,
But he gotta be clean.
No dirty bottoms,
Girls, you know what I mean."
In "I'm Getting What I Want," over the sweetest melody and guitar hook imaginable, Scott-Adams levels her typically fearless gaze on the subject of "using Mr. Wrong" while waiting for "Mr. Right."
"I'm in love with a man,
But that man loves somebody else.
But try to understand,
A woman must look out for herself.
My body's here with you,
But my mind is out there somewhere else.
But you know what they say,
In love and war all is fair."
And in an even more explicit examination of the subject, "Mr. Right Or Mr. Wrong," Scott-Adams begs a talk-show deejay (Jimmy Lewis) called "Mr. Jody" (Southern Soul's euphemism for the man-in-the-wings who aims to please) for emotional and physical help.
"What's the matter, baby? You getting insufficient love at home?" Lewis asks.
"Exactly," says Scott-Adams.
"Your old man isn't giving you what you need?"
"Nope," she snips.
"Now there's three other lonely ladies ahead of you, but I'll try and squeeze you in."
If Johnnie Taylor took the Motown route to Southern Soul heaven, Peggy Scott-Adams can be said to have taken the Delta's back roads. In fact, she may be a truer heir to Otis Redding and Wilson Pickett than any male artist on the scene today.
--Daddy B. Nice
About Peggy Scott-Adams
Born in Alabama, according to unconfirmed sources as Peggy Stoutmeyer on June 25, 1948, Peggy Scott gained a foothold in the music business while still a teenager, touring with Ben E. King ("Stand By Me"). In 1968 she had three Top 40 hits --"Lover's Holiday," "Pickin' Wild Mountain Berries," and "Soulshake"--as part of the duo Peggy Scott and Jo Jo Benson.
Then, Scott left the recording industry for the better part of a generation. She moved to California, married a Compton politician named Adams, and managed his mortuary business for years. In 1990 she re-entered the record industry as a studio back-up for Ray Charles, who was so impressed with her talent he subsequently produced two duets with her: "Back To Love" and "If You Give Me Your Heart."
Today's Southern Soul scene was forever changed when Jimmy Lewis, another California-based songwriter, producer and performer who also was working with Ray Charles, persuaded Peggy Scott-Adams to begin recording again. Lewis' let-it-all-hang-out writing style and eye for cultural detail meshed perfectly with Scott-Adams' tough-as-a-leather-strap vocal style, and the first great collaboration in contemporary Southern Soul was born.
Peggy Scott-Adam's first big success as an "adult" artist was "Bill," a husband-turned-gay story told by a long-suffering wife. Initially released in the early 90's to blues stations only, "Bill" crossed over into the mainstream (urban contemporary and even pop markets), where its soulful flavor immediately distinguished it from the "urban-smooth" competition.
"Bill" garnered widespread airplay, reaching #50 on the Billboard R & B singles chart and #87 on the Pop chart. It put Scott-Adams back "on the map," and the album it eventually spawned, Help Yourself, released in 1997, became a Top 10 R&B best-seller.
Contagious was released in 1997, Undisputed Queen came out in 1999, and Hot and Sassy, Busting Loose and Live in Alabama (all on the Miss Butch label) followed. It amounted to a catalog of music unequalled by any other Southern Soul songstress over the period.
Most if not all of the songs during the remarkable five-album stretch (see Recommended Tracks) were collaborations with Jimmy Lewis, Scott-Adam's songwriter and producer, who died on September 10, 2004. Since then, Scott-Adams' recording activity has cooled, but she continues to tour--most recently headlining the 44th Annual Medgar Evers / B.B. King Homecoming concert (2007) in Jackson, Mississippi. In recent years Scott-Adams has recorded gospel music exclusively.
The Peggy Scott-Adams Discography
1997 Help Yourself (Miss Butch)
1997 Contagious (Miss Butch)
1999 The Undisputed Queen (Miss Butch)
2000 Live in Alabama (Miss Butch)
2001 Hot and Sassy (Miss Butch)
2003 Busting Loose (Miss Butch)
2004 God Can...and He Will (Mardi Gras) (Gospel)
2004 16 Hits: The Best Of Peggy Scott-Adams (Miss Butch)
New Gospel album: Back To The Roots (Nora) (Gospel)
Song's Transcendent Moment
"Bill has been to my house a thousand times.
He and my man would go camping and fishing.
I tell you, it never crossed my mind.
Bill was a friend,
And he was god-uncle to my only son.
Now it looks like Uncle Bill
Wants to be his step-mom."
Tidbits
1. Late in 2004, after two relatively mediocre efforts (by Scott-Adams' standards), Peggy Scott-Adams returned to spectacular form with the release of the scathing, bluesy radio single, "I Intend To Take Your Place." The Jimmy Lewis composition was first recorded by Artie "Blues Boy" White in 1991.
2. May 30, 2007. The aforementioned "I Intend To Take Your Place" was included in a Scott-Adams' album for the first time with the release of 16 Hits: The Best Of Peggy Scott-Adams, (Miss Butch, 2004). The CD doesn't contain all of Scott-Adams' hits ("Sweaty Men," "I'm Willing To Be A Friend" and "Burning," for example, are absent), but it's a good approximation (of the best) for the price. DBN.
3. May 31, 2007. Peggy Scott-Adams' last solo project is a full-fledged gospel album: God Can...And He Will (Miss Butch, 2004). DBN.
4. May 31, 2009. Another gospel album, Back To The Roots, is in the works from Peggy Scott-Adams, this disc on a new private label named in honor of Peggy's mother, whose first name was Nora. Peggy also has a new website: Peggy Scott-Adams' Official Website.
If You Liked. . . You'll Love
If you loved Latimore's "Let's Straighten It Out," you'll love Peggy Scott-Adams' "Bill."
Honorary "B" Side
"I'm Willing To Be A Friend"
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Bill
CD: Help Yourself
Label: Miss Butch
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Help Yourself |
I'm Willing To Be A Friend
CD: Undisputed Queen
Label: Miss Butch
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(I Don't Like) Sweaty Men
CD: Live In Alabama
Label: Miss Butch
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I Intend To Take Your Place
CD: 16 Hits
Label: Miss Butch
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I'm Getting What I Want
CD: Help Yourself
Label: Miss Butch
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Help Yourself |
Mr. Right Or Mr. Wrong
CD: Hot & Sassy
Label: Miss Butch
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Hot And Sassy |
Burning
CD: Help Yourself
Label: Miss Butch
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Help Yourself |
I'm Changing
CD: Busting Loose
Label: Miss Butch
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Busting Loose |
Your Divorce Has Been Denied
CD: Hot & Sassy
Label: Miss Butch
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Hot And Sassy |
If I Was Getting It At Home
CD: Hot & Sassy
Label: Miss Butch
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Hot And Sassy |
Mommy's No Dummy
CD: Undisputed Queen
Label: Miss Butch
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Part Time Lover, Full Time Fool
CD: Help Yourself
Label: Miss Butch
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Help Yourself |
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