*In part one of our story on Alton McClain Scarborough (see article), she was revved up about her Valentine’s Day performance (February 14, 2019) in Baltimore (buy tickets here). However, that is not all she discussed. In her recent phone interview with Lee Bailey, she had a lot more to say about her music and the legacy of her husband Skip Scarborough, who wrote some of music’s most loved songs.
Read on for the rest of the interview OR scroll down to the bottom to HEAR our “For the Record” podcast/interview between Alton and EURweb’s fearless leader, Lee Bailey. ?
Alton has been in music for over 30 years and while she may not be a household name like other singers, when she tours, she packs the house.
“I did a concert in London (October 2016) a couple of years ago and I was so incredibly surprised,” she said. “People came from Paris and from Austria. They came from all over to see me. It was wonderful and they brought their LP covers so that I could sign them, that was really something.”
She recalled one very interesting moment with an ecstatic fan, “There was this one gentleman who had the entire discography of my songs and the one from when I first started singing in Baltimore.”
In the early 1970s, Alton was off and running with “Come Back Baby,” a song that became a local hit in her hometown of Baltimore. Produced by renowned drummer Bernard Purdie (Aretha Franklin/James Brown/B.B. King), the song sold over 20,000 copies and a few years later, she went to Los Angeles and formed the group Alton McClain & Destiny.
Often compared to the Emotions, Alton McClain & Destiny released three albums, “It Must Be Love” (1979), “More of You” (1980), and “Gonna Tell The World” (1981). The trio’s most successful song was the top ten R&B hit, “It Must Be Love.” When asked about girl group’s today, Alton laughed and wondered, “Are there any girl groups?”
She added that technology has almost eliminated the need for the girl group experience.
“It’s a totally different time,” Alton said. “I think with technology you’re able to get by – you can tune-up a voice if it’s short or flat, which I don’t really like. In preparation for (the Valentine’s Day concert), I’ve been listening to my music a lot and I remember just being in the studio with a lot of reverb and just singing it down. I didn’t do too many punches and did my best performance after the second or third time. But now it’s just so easy to punch in a line or word or do whatever you want to do.”
Alton continued, “The most successful singer from a girl group is Beyoncé. I went to one of her shows and was like, ‘Wow.’ She is truly an amazing performer and I appreciate that. The level of professionalism is what I really appreciated – the stage, the musicians, lighting, and her background singers. I was impressed.”
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While Alton McClain & Destiny’s last album, “Gonna Tell The World,” was not a hit, what was a huge success was the relationship she formed with Skip Scarborough, the album’s producer, whom she later married. She decided to work with Skip at the urging of songwriter/producer Frank Wilson (Marvin Gaye/the Supremes/the Temptations/ Lenny Williams). Alton said the group was not aware of Skip’s track record and when they checked him out, they were on board.
“We looked into Skip and that’s when we found out he had written ‘Don’t Ask My Neighbors’ by the Emotions,” she said. ‘So, we chose him because he worked with a girl group. We would go to his house, he would play us the songs, and made us tuna fish salad. I think he won me over with that. It was so delicious.”
In addition to “Don’t ask My Neighbors,” the Grammy-winning Skip also wrote and/or co-wrote Earth, Wind & Fire’s “Can’t Hide Love” and “Love’s Holiday,” Anita Baker’s “Giving You The Best That I Got,” Bill Withers’ “Lovely Day,” LTD’s “Love Ballad” (later recorded by George Benson), Mother’s Finest’ “Love Changes,” just to name a few. Alton sings many of Skip’s songs in concert and she does a little tweaking to them when she hits the stage.
“When he wrote his songs, they were mostly done by guys who had alto voices,” she said. “I am a true soprano and it’s fun adapting the songs to myself.”
Alton added that when Skip had an idea for a song, he had a very interesting technique in capturing the moment.
“We had a studio on our home, it’s still there, and when he got an idea during the night, he’d call the studio and put the idea on the answering machine. When he got up the next day, he would be in (the studio) for hours and emerge (with) a complete song.”
Through the years, Alton and Skip continued to make music, including gospel, until he died of cancer in 2003. Alton remembers Skip as being quite the catch.
“He was just a very wonderful man,” Alton said. “I think the greatest ability he had was that he could make any person he met feel like his best friend. He was very humble, very calm, and down to earth. If he didn’t tell you what he had done or who he was, you would never know.”
To honor Skip’s legacy, Alton formed The Scarborough Foundation a couple of years ago to provide scholarships and grants to public school students (elementary to 11th grade) excelling in music, dance, and theater in the state of Maryland.
“We tailor the scholarship to the student based on their need,” said Alton. “For example, we had a young lady and she sang ‘Home’ acapella. She stayed on pitch because I checked. She was so animated, so cute, and from the elementary school level. Her scholarship was at a theater summer camp close to D.C.”
The Scarborough Foundation scholarship period is open from February 15 through April 15 every year, so if you want to apply, now is the time. For more information, go here.
To see Alton McClain Scarborough in concert at the Baltimore Museum of Art’s Meyerhoff Auditorium on February 14, 2019, tickets can be purchased here.
Experience Alton’s interview with Lee Bailey via the new EURweb For the Record podcast, raw and uncut:
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