#96: Oh Little One by Jack Scott

City: Toronto, ON
Radio Station: CHUM
Peak Month: June 1960
Peak Position in Toronto ~ #2
Peak Position in Vancouver ~ #8
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~#34
YouTube: “Oh Little One”
Lyrics: “Oh Little One”

Giovanni Dominico Scafone Jr. was born in 1936 in Windsor, Ontario, and spent some of his years growing up in the Detroit suburb of Hazel Park, Michigan. In 1954 he formed a band called the Southern Drifters. In 1957 he got a record deal with ABC-Paramount. He released two singles that year that sold little outside of Detroit and Cleveland. He scored four Top Ten hits on the Billboard Hot 100 and two more in the Top 30 in the USA. In Vancouver Jack Scott was a teen idol with his good looks and classic rock ‘n roll. He enjoyed eight Top Ten hits on the Vancouver charts including “What In The World’s Come Over You” and his most successful hit in town, “Goodbye Baby” that peaked at #2 and spent 17 weeks on the CKWX charts in 1958. At the time, Scott had more US singles in the Billboard Hot 100 (19), 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 charted twenty songs on the local record surveys in Vancouver between July 1958 and November 1962.

Jack Scott wrote all but one of his hits, that being “Burning Bridges.” One song would be a ballad, the next a rockabilly hit, a third a doo-wop tune, and then he’d release a pop-country song. “Leroy,” “Geraldine”, “Save My Soul”, “The Way I Walk” and “I Never Felt Like This” are the favorites by Jack Scott among rockabilly fans. Scott was versatile and his deep bass voice was always on the airwaves in that four year period along with Elvis Presley, Ricky Nelson and Roy Orbison who were also putting out a lot of singles at the time. In 1958 his first Top Ten hit was “My True Love” which showcased his bass voice. His follow up single, also on a love-related theme was “With Your Love”. He also made the Top Ten in 1958 with “Goodbye Baby”.

Between February and May 1959, Jack Scott served in the U.S. Army. Jack Scott was one of a few Canadian pop stars in the early rock ‘n roll era. Other teen idols from Canada, prior to the British Invasion in 1964, included Paul Anka and Bobby Curtola.  In his book, Rockabilly: A Forty Year Journey, author Billy Poore describes Jack Scott as “the best rockabilly vocalist of any artist outside the Southern states.” In 1960, Jack Scott organized two tours and shared the bill with Danny & The Juniors, The Champs and Sonny James.

In 1960 Jack Scott returned to the Top Ten on the Billboard Hot 100 with “What In The World’s Come Over You” and “Burning Bridges”. In Vancouver (BC) he managed to climb back into the Top Ten in 1960 with the B-side to “Burning Bridges” titled “Oh Little One”, and later with “Cool Water”.

Jack Scott wrote “Oh, Little One”. In this song the narrator is a guy who loved his “little one” who “loved her,” and she was “so true to me.” The “little one” discovers her boyfriend was “untrue, so untrue.” He shared himself with “every little one,” (other females). Consequently, he laments “my tears now I cry, as she walks by his side.” A new boyfriend has replaced the guy who cheated on her. While watching her walk with her new boyfriend, she ex-boyfriend says “bye little one.” He concludes “Oh I will die without you.”

“Oh Little One” climbed to #2 in Toronto, Kansas City (MO), Little Rock (AR), Davenport (IA), and Philadelphia, #3 in Syracuse (NY), and Providence (RI), #4 in Albany (NY), #5 in San Francisco, Utica (NY), and Topeka (KS), #6 in Milwaukee, #7 in Potsdam (NY), and Winnipeg (MB), #8 in Vancouver (BC), Oxnard (CA), Seattle, Atlanta, and Wheaton (MD), #9 in Pittsburgh, Salt Lake City, and Olympia (WA), and #10 in Baltimore.

In November 1961, Jack Scott had his nineteenth and final hit on the Billboard Hot 100 in the USA. It was titled “Steps 1 And 2“.

Jack Scott had a few more hits in Canada including “If Only” in the fall of 1962.

Over the decades, Jack Scott has continued to perform. In 1977, Jack Scott toured Europe with Buddy Knox and others during a rockabilly revival. On June 1, 1986, Jack Scott appeared at the Expo Theatre during Expo ’86 in Vancouver. In early February 1991, Jack Scott performed at the Tribute to Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and the Big Bopper, in Clear Lake, Iowa. Others on the bill were Carl Perkins and Wanda Jackson. In 2007, he performed at the five-day Rockin’ 50’s Fest in Green Bay, Wisconsin. Among the other performers was Little Richard.

Jack Scott has been inducted into the Rockabilly Hall of Fame and the Canadian Music Hall of Fame. Into his 81st year, Jack Scott was performing infrequently. In December 2019, at the age of 83 Jack Scott died of congestive heart failure.

October 12, 2026
Ray McGinnis

References:
Jack Scott bio, Michigan Rock n Roll Legends.com.
Jack Scott bio, Rockabilly Hall of Fame.com.
“Bob Nolan bio,” Bobnolan-sop.net.

CHUM Hit Parade | CHUM 1050-AM Toronto (ON) | June 13, 1960