Linda Scott

Linda Scott (born Linda Joy Sampson; June 1, 1945) is an American pop singer and actress who was active from the late 1950s to the early 1970s. Her biggest hit was the 1961 million-selling single "I've Told Every Little Star"., recorded and released when Scott was just 15. An occasional songwriter, Scott self-penned her second biggest hit, "Don't Bet Money Honey", which was also a top 10 US success in 1961. She went on to place twelve songs on the charts over the next four years, the last being "Who’s Been Sleeping In My Bed," inspired by the film and written by Hal David and Burt Bacharach. In 1962, she portrayed a fictionalized version of herself in the musical film Don't Knock the Twist. She retired from performing in her early twenties, later going into teaching.

Born in Queens, New York, Linda Sampson was 11 years old when she moved with her family to Teaneck, New Jersey. According to syndicated columnist Dick Kleiner, when Sampson was 13, she read a local newspaper article about songwriter Jane Douglass White. Sampson wrote to White (also a New Jersey resident), the two were introduced, and White helped produce a demonstration cut which helped Sampson get attention. White also played piano on the record. She was attending junior high school in Teaneck when she auditioned to appear on Arthur Godfrey's popular CBS Radio show in 1959. After having won a place on the program, Sampson and other young performers became regular guests. During the show's run, the singer came to the attention of Epic Records and made her recording debut (as Linda Sampson) with the single "In-Between Teen".

Though still in Teaneck High School (class of ‘63), in 1961 she signed with Canadian-American Records, which had struck gold with Santo & Johnny's "Sleep Walk". The label changed her performing name to Linda Scott, producing and releasing the hit "I've Told Every Little Star," a standard written by Oscar Hammerstein II and Jerome Kern for their 1932 production Music In The Air. The track sold over one million copies, earning a gold disc for Scott.

Scott's three biggest hits came in that first year with "I've Told Every Little Star" (U.S. #3), "I Don't Know Why" (U.S. #12), and "Don't Bet Money Honey" (U.S. #9). The first two were standards, while the third was one of Scott's own compositions. Scott also charted with a song that peaked at #44 on Billboard, "Starlight, Starbright". It was mostly a regional hit in the Northeast and reached #44 in August 1961.

Scott was the showcase artist when Canadian-American started a subsidiary label, Congress Records, in 1962, and in fact both labels released new material of hers simultaneously. The following year, she sang her hit "Yessirree" which she composed for the Chubby Checker film Don't Knock the Twist.

Biography summary from English Wikipedia, photograph via Wikimedia Commons.