Mathews, Scott (25th July 1955-Present)

He is a multi-musician, singer-songwriter and producer born in Sacramento, California. He started playing the banjo when he was six years old but then he adapted the instrument to make it sound like a drum and by 8 years old he was already playing with this first band. When he was fifteen years old he managed to get a break when he performed with Elvin Bishop.

Still under the driving age, he and his band went in search of a deal at the various record studios on Sunset Boulevard. Barry White listened to their live recording but only seemed to show interest in who was playing the drums, which was Scott.

He met up with Steve Perry when he was still only 15 or 16 and together they started to write songs for the band they put together called Ice. The went to The Record Plant to record and while there Stevie Wonder heard Scott on the drums. This led to him being asked if Stevie could perform on his drums for what would become the hit song “Superstition”. He didn’t see the same success with Ice and when he was seventeen he started concentrating more on the songwriting side of things while at the same time taking on work as a session musician.

When he was 18 he met up with the songwriter Ron Nagle and before long they began working in collaboration. He relocated to Sausalito, California where he continued to write and produce with Nagle. The production side of things led him to start producing jingles for commercials as well as playing all the instruments for them. He went on to produce artists such as Roy Orbison and Johnny Cash when they sang on advertisements.

His work with Ron Nagle was noticed by the producer Jack Nitzche and they were taken on by him to work on recordings and film scores. Scott looked on Jack as his mentor and the first film soundtrack which he performed on and produced for him the Academy Award winning One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest.

In 1977 he and Ron Nagle met up with Barbra Streisand who like their work so much, they began writing as a threesome for the songs that appeared on her successful album Streisand Superman. They went on to write many other songs including “Don’t Touch Me There” which was a popular song by The Tubes. Also in 1977 he took on the acting role of Fluke Starbucker in the Star Ward parody Hardware Wars, which was later a Pioneer Award winner.

In 1979 he performed on Robin Williams’ Grammy Award winning “Reality, What a Concept”.

Because the songwriting duo was achieving hits they came across some artists that wanted them to assign some of their publishing rights, but they were turned down. They were offered a production and songwriting deal with A&M where they worked together using the name Durocs. They then moved on to Capitol Records where they worked as a production company and were asked to record their own album. They released their critically acclaimed self-titled album in 1979 which became a top ten hit in Europe but because they never thought of themselves as a live performers, their two singles releases were promoted by making lavish videos. This saw them leaving Capitol in 1980 to start up their own studio called The Pig Pen where one of their first recordings was the sound design for the film Cat People. The next year they set up a video department in 1981 which made videos for musical acts on the new television channel MTV.

Scott’s work with Durocs came to the attention of Brian Wilson after his brother Carl Wilson had given him their album. This led to him singing and playing for The Beach Boys but declined an invitation to become a full-time member of them even though he was dubbed “the fifth Beach Boy”. Even after turning down the offer he still carried on writing songs for them and was the music director, musician and singer for their “Pet Sounds Live” tour project in 1983. The project didn’t take off due to internal problems and later in 1991 he turned down a further offer to work on it as he wanted to maintain his close friendship with Carl Wilson. After The Beach Boys had settled a lawsuit with Capitol Records that had lasted more than a decade they sent Scott gold and platinum records to show their appreciation for his support.

In the 1990 he wrote and worked on the hit single “Closer to the Flame” by Dave Edmunds and produced Chuck Prophet’s debut album. He also embarked on a world tour with Todd Rundgren which was followed by a guest spot on tour with Huey Lewis and the News. 1991 saw him founding Hit or Myth Productions at TikiTown Studios where Van Morrison was one of first to work.

In 1992 he worked on John Lee Hooker’s Boom Boom where the title track became a hit for the second time after thirty years. The remainder of the ‘90s saw him working on many other recordings by various artists.

In the new millennium he was a guest artist on The Beach Boys’ Keepin’ the Summer Alive/Beach Boys and Greatest Hits, Vol. 3. The rest of the 2000s to date have seen him producing many emerging artists alongside working on box sets of legendary ones as well several soundtracks. He also became the founder of a music-tech company which has its HQ at TikiTown and works with the management teams of several major artists but closed it down after two years.

In 2010 he began serving on the President’s Council Committee of the Gladstone Institute. The following year he became executive producer of Far West Entertainment based in Hong Kong and produced the hit “Dance On “ by Blush within a couple of months and Quincy Jones became their manager. He also acted as a consultant for The Beach Boys’ 50^th Anniversary Celebration Reunion world tour and album. Real Gone Records working with Capitol Records released Durocs original album on CD and it was also released as a limited edition vinyl to celebrate 33 and 1/3 years since it was recorded. In 2013 he travelled to Australia where he held a series of “The Artist’s MasterClass”.

During the course of his career, Scott has worked with countless artists and groups as a musician, composer and/or producer and just a few of these include Al Anderson, J.J. Cale, Eric Clapton, Tommy Castro, Elvis Costello, Ry Cooder, Robert Cray, David Crosby, Dick Dale, Dr. John, David Foster, Jerry Garcia, Sammy Hagar, George Harrison, Mick Jagger, Etta James, Jefferson Starship, Booker T. Jones, B.B. King, Los Lobos, Nick Lowe, Taj Mahal, Steve Miller, Eddie Money, Giorgio Moroder, Graham Nash, NRBQ, The Pointer Sisters, Bonnie Raitt, The Rubinoos, Carlos Santana, Boz Scaggs and Ike Turner.

As you will appreciate, his album output has been extensive with him either songwriting, performing and/or producing them. Just a tiny selection of them are Pay Before You Pump by Al Anderson, Lead Me to the Water by Gary Brooker, Hog Heaven by Elvin Bishop, Southern Nights by Glen Campbell, Sweetwater by Elvis Costello, Glitter Grass from the Nashville Hollywood Strings by Dillard-Hartford-Dillard, Sabre Dance by Dave Edmunds, Ridin’ Might High by Pee Wee Ellis, Why We Fight by John Wesley Harding, Riding with the King by John Hiatt, Jealous by John Lee Hooker, A Postcard from California by Al Jardine, Chameleon by Labelle, Bugs and Friends Sing The Beatles by Looney Tunes, Chops Not Chaps by Roy Rogers, Nearly Human by Todd Rundgren, Raising Hell by South Side Slim and Safety Zone by Bobby Womack.

He is continued to collaborate with Ralph Nagle and they have written around fifty songs since the turn of the new millennium.

Glen Campbell Recordings
Southern Nights (Allen Toussaint)
Capitol 4376 S93475A

Sources:

Mathews, Scott (25th July 1955-Present)

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