⭐ Official Review [Album]: SCOTT GRIMES - "SCOTT GRIMES" S/T

What is your favorite track?

  • You're the Voice

    Votes: 1 4.8%
  • You've Got a Friend

    Votes: 2 9.5%
  • Show Me the Way To Your Heart

    Votes: 5 23.8%
  • Call On Me

    Votes: 1 4.8%
  • What Am I Gonna Say?

    Votes: 1 4.8%
  • I Don't Even Mind

    Votes: 3 14.3%
  • You Belong to Me

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Only Love

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Pressure Down

    Votes: 1 4.8%
  • Walkin' On the Water

    Votes: 5 23.8%
  • Chance in a Million

    Votes: 2 9.5%

  • Total voters
    21

Harry

Charter A&M Corner Member
Staff member
Site Admin
SCOTT GRIMES
Scott Grimes
CD 5244; SP 5244

ScottGrimes.jpg

Track Listing:
1. You're the Voice* (A.Quinta; M.Ryder; K.Reid; C.Thompson) 4:21
2. You've Got a Friend (C.King) 4:05
3. Show Me the Way To Your Heart (P.Oland; Ryo Asuka) 4:11
4. Call On Me (R.California) 4:32
5. What Am I Gonna Say? (Pamela Oland; Richard Carpenter) 4:55
6. I Don't Even Mind (W.Ingleheart; M.Joyce; T.Kimmel) 4:12
7. You Belong to Me (G.Sutton; J.Herron) 4:15
8. Only Love (P.Reswick; S.Werfel; M.Holden) 3:54
9. Pressure Down (H.Bogdanovs) 3:25
10. Walkin' On the Water (C.Thompson; T.Whitlock) 4:19
11. Chance in a Million (T.Harriman; P.De Remer; R.Lerrier) 3:55


Produced by Richard Carpenter
*Produced by Richard Carpenter and Herb Alpert
Executive Producer: Herb Alpert

Recorded at A&M Recording Studios & Oceanway Recording
Recording Engineer: Roger Young
Assistants: Greg Goldman, Ron Jacobs, Robert De La Garza, Eric Rudd, Stacy Baird, Clark Germain & Cliff Norell
Mixed by: John "Tokes" Potoker for "Direct Inject" Inc. at A&M Recording Studios
Assistant: Ed Goodreau
Mastered by: Bernie Grundman at Bernie Grundman Mastering

Art Direction: Chuck Beeson & Richard Frankel
Design: Mary Maurer
Photography: Peggy Sirota


With special thanks to Laythan Armor

Programming: Laythan Armor, Jim Cox
Backing Vocals: Richard Carpenter, Scott Grimes
Guitars: Michael Landau, Tim May
Drums: Paul Liem
Bass: Joe Osborn, Abraham Laboriel
Keyboards: Richard Carpenter, Michael Beasley
Lead Guitar: Tony Peluso
Concertmaster: Jim Getzoff
Sax/Flute: Joel Peskin
 
This month we'll look at the Scott Grimes album that Richard Carpenter produced. This is one I was surprised to find in the racks. I must have been leafing through all of the CDs that day, stumbling into the "G's" and spotting this cover. I knew of Scott from the TIME album, so I gave it a quick look and saw the Richard Carpenter and Herb Alpert credits on the back, making it an instant buy.

Personally, I was never crazy about the album as I've never been a fan of Scott's voice. But having all of the Richard production touches adds greatly to whatever enjoyment I get from this one.

Harry
 
It's pure CarpenterS or I should say Carpenter magic Scott doesn't miss a note but it's RCS production and the warm familiarity of yesteryear that crank my engine into aural overdrive
 
I picked 'Show Me The Way The Way To Your Heart'. Along with 'How Could I Ask For More' from the Akiko album, the backing vocals and general treatment of the songs are exactly what I think a Carpenters post MIA album would have sounded like in the mid-late 1980s.



 
I can't vote because I've never heard the songs from this CD however if his voice is anything like when he appeared on Time, not sure I would be able to take listening, can I get it with his lead vocals removed so I can just hear Richard's production and Richard's backing vocals? :D if that's the case here take my money. :laugh:
 
In my humble opinion, of Akiko, Scott, and Veronique, this disc is the most consistent in content and feel. I like it quite a bit. "Walking on the Water" is terrific.
 
In some prior discussion of the three Richard-produced albums, I had expressed that Scott's album was my least favorite. Someone else didn't like VERONIQUE, so we challenged each other to give our least favorite a full and honest listen. I discovered that there was indeed much to like on SCOTT GRIMES, and it wasn't as "bad" as I'd conjured up in my mind. Nevertheless, it still remains number 3 of those three.

Harry
 
I ran across this when I was back searching for Billboard promo's and wasn't sure where to post it and now seems to be a great time.
This was published in a music magazine called The Gavin Report.
Promo Ad for Scott Grimes Single ran on April 14, 1989.
A short write up ran on Mar 31, 1989

The%20Gavin%20Report%20Grimes%20Carpenter%20Promo%20Ad%20April%2014%201989.png~original


The%20Gavin%20Report%20Grimes%20Carpenter%20Mar%2031%201989.png~original
 
Today marks the second time I listened to the Scott Grimes CD, the first time was the day of purchase--sometime in 1989.
As for my opinion, I greatly enjoy Joel Peskin's work on saxophone. Brilliant.
Otherwise, odds are I will never give this one another 'spin'.
 
I didn't think the Scott Grimes album was too bad. Not "Carpenters," but pretty good late '80s pop music. Scott Grimes is actually a good singer, and this album has seems to be the most radio-oriented of the three RC projects from that era.

"Pressure Down" got my vote for favorite track. Partially because I already liked the song (John Farnham did it a few years earlier), and partially because it doesn't sound at all like a "Carpenters" song. Hearing Richard's take on something completely different showed us what he was capable of, even if it wasn't something he did often.

And I love Steve Smith. "I have five friends on MySpace and I'm waiting on approval from a sixth."
 
Well, again, the odds were against it, but.... I had to listen again....what was I missing?...
Back in the day of its release, I purchased anything--site unseen and unheard--if Richard Carpenter's
name was associated. (No other artist--before or since-- gets that type of response from me.)
Thus, I will concur, the album here is not so bad--however, I can not 'get into' Scott's voice.
His voice is far to shrill for me to enjoy. However, the songs themselves are not so bad, and as I
wrote previously, the sax work on this album is quite enjoyable--if not brilliantly executed.
The song Call On Me is quite good--and, has a great arrangement. It is catchy and well done.
Otherwise, I concur with Chris-AnOrdinaryFool,
remove the lead singer and let me listen to backing vocals and Richard Carpenter's production/arrangements.
 
An Entertainment Magazine mention from 2005, when Scott was appearing on ER:

As ER’s borderline incompetent pothead Dr. Morris, Scott Grimes leaves most of the on-screen rocking to costar Shane West’s CBGB T-shirts. But the Party of Five vet got himself on Billboard’s Adult Contemporary chart this spring, peaking at No. 18 in April and holding on into June with ”Sunset Blvd.,” the first single off his recent meat-and-potatoes rock CD, Livin’ on the Run. It’s Grimes’ first album since attempting the obligatory child-actor music crossover in 1989 — after his success in Critters 2 — with a self-titled bubblegum pop record. (”It’s jumped up on eBay,” Grimes says of the Richard Carpenter-produced effort. ”It was, like, 3 cents before, and now I think it’s up to 12.”) He now cites such influences as Bruce Springsteen and Bryan Adams, and once even got the chance to sing with the latter…anonymously, of course. ”I was just a fan,” he says of being randomly called on stage to do ”Summer of ‘69” at a concert in Calgary. ”But some girl in the front row yells out, ‘Party of Five!’ And I looked at her and went, ‘Shh!’ ‘Cause you don’t know. Maybe the Canadians hated it.”

Scott's value on eBay appears to have improved. A cutout LP is available for $7.76, while a 12" single is near $3. Two promotional CD singles with various remixes can also be found at the inflated prices of $25 and $40.

Harry
 
Does anyone know the story of how Scott ended up on Richard's Time album? Was Richard already lined up to produce Scott's solo album at that point? Did A&M ask (or "force") him to do it as a way to promote their new signing? Or perhaps did A&M think Scott was going to be huge and therefore might give Richard's album a boost? Or did Richard decide to produce Scott's album after working with him on Time? Was "That's What I Believe" always intended for Time or was it possibly recorded for Scott Grimes but used for Time instead?

I have always wondered about the circumstances and sequence of events surrounding Scott and Richard's collaboration.
 
I don't know for sure, but just going by dates it would seem that Scott did the TIME track before his own album. TIME was out in 1987 while SCOTT GRIMES wasn't around until '89.

We know that Richard started working on TIME back as early as '84 or '85, but was held up by some studio construction in the mid-80s - at least that's the story I've heard bandied about publicly.

I'm guessing that "That's What I Believe" was a late entry to the album, with Scott Grimes added as a "let's see what he can do" track for A&M's benefit. Then he was probably paired with Richard for the full album, obviously with Herb Alpert's input and influence as executive producer.

Harry
 
June 5,1989, People Magazine:
Picks and Pans Review: Scott Grimes
Y
ou want to root for Grimes, you really do, because the guy starts so far in the hole. He steps into the box with two strikes against him.
First of all, at 17, he's another of the rapidly multiplying pop music teen brigade—the most insidious danger now facing this nation. Secondly,
he's another minor TV personality trying to make the transition to singing—that is if you consider Charles in Charge a TV show.
At first crack, it seems as if Grimes may have a chance at overcoming these obstacles with "You're the Voice," a rock anthem slickly produced
by Richard Carpenter and label chairman Herb Alpert. Other than that promising start (and "I Don't Even Mind," a passable pop pastry),
it's bar the door, Katie, and break out the Pepto-Bismol.
Here come the stupid covers (Carole King's "You've Got a Friend"), the simpy ballads ("Show Me the Way to Your Heart") and the bubble-gum twaddle ("Walkin' on the Water").
Grimes has decent range, most of it above high C.
His tonality is fairly smooth, and his delivery spirited, but he sells himself much, much too hard.
(There's a difference, Scottso, between being expressive and being manic.)
The overall effect, though, is a lot like your little brother singing along to a DeBarge or Rush record.
In case you don't already get enough of that at home, heeere's Scotty. (A & M)


Source:
http://www.people.com/people/archive/article/0,,20120443,00.html
 
I haven't heard much of this but what I have heard I'm not crazy about. If he did this a few years later in his 20s with Richard's arrangements (hopefully moving past the dated 80s-ness) he may have sounded pretty great with his voice developed.
 
I'm sure everyone knows, but Grimes has been the voice of the son Steve in American Dad for the past decade. . . love the show, btw.
 
It's funny, but I found this CD exactly the way Harry found it. It was in Rotterdam, September 1992 and I found my copy in the cheap CD's racks (ouch). Being 20 at that time, the heavy synthesizer poppy sound did appeal to me and I was surprised that a Carpenters-related CD could sound so modern! I was almost kind of proud that a guy about my age (Scott is one year older) had made it to recording an album with one of my idols (maybe I may have been a tiny bit jealous too :D). I even thought that at times his backing vocals with Richard sounded like Karen & Richard (e.g. some "ooohs" in "Call on me" and "...call my name out loud..." in "You've got a friend"). I played this album quite often in 1992/'93, but I must say that I haven't listened to it for some time, though I enjoyed doing so in order to write this :)
There are no songs on this CD that I can't bear to listen to, although some of them I would listen to more often than others... Some of my favorite tracks are "Call on me" and "Pressure down".
"Only love" is a fun track which I think is as close as he'll sound to Michael Jackson, not just his voice, but the way it is produced (at least to my ears).
I hope someone will ever cover the beautiful(ly orchestrated) "Chance in a million".
But I voted for What am I gonna say because of the mysterious and complex melody line and chords. It's always been my favorite on this album. I'm glad to have that one on a 45 :cool:

It's a shame that Scott seems to be hiding this album from his history, it's not a bad one at all! I wonder what he would sound like singing one of the songs nowadays. Oh well, maybe some of the Carpenter kids will discover these someday and do a cover :)
 
So far I've only heard "I Don't Even Mind", as I managed to find the 1-track CD single a few years ago. It's a really nice track. And someday I would like to be able to find the whole album, and I think it's a style of music that was not to far from the Carpenters "(Want You) Back In My Life" and "Please Mr. Postman".
 
Can honestly say, I never really gave Scott Grimes a second thought outside of the Time project. I bought Time, pure and simple, because it was an RC project. Already was well aware of Dusty & Dionne, and was quite pleased with their contributions. Never heard of Scott Grimes before this, and never followed through with his career after this. "That's What I Believe" was a good pop song, but that's all it was. Never thought it was a stand-out track on that album, in fact, I always felt it was out of place with the rest of the album. At the time, I was still in the "If it's not Karen, it's not good enough" frame of mind. Although, with the passing of time, I've warmed up a little more to this song, and his (supposed) talent. I suppose, someday, in the future, I will give this guy's recordings a fair judgement. After all, if his record is an RC production, it has to have some value (I guess).
 
I love this album. I believe this is the direction Richard would have taken on a production level had Karen been around for the 80's. I'm almost sure she would have loved the new synth sounds like that beautiful DX-7 type piano sound and surely would have dug the songs he replaced the older pianos with. I first became aware of this album after seeing the music video to I Don't Even Mind on some late night video show. I knew immediately that Richard Carpenter had produced this. I think the announcer even mentioned it but really liked that song. I went straight to our local record store and had to order it. It took about 3 weeks to get it in but not long after I got it, I started seeing it in the cut out bins. What a shame more people didn't hear of it when it came out because I would bet the sales would have been better. Scott has kept recording and you can find some of his material on Itunes. I think his voice improved with age. He is a talented singer and songwriter.
 
Does anyone know the story of how Scott ended up on Richard's Time album? Was Richard already lined up to produce Scott's solo album at that point? Did A&M ask (or "force") him to do it as a way to promote their new signing? Or perhaps did A&M think Scott was going to be huge and therefore might give Richard's album a boost? Or did Richard decide to produce Scott's album after working with him on Time? Was "That's What I Believe" always intended for Time or was it possibly recorded for Scott Grimes but used for Time instead?

I have always wondered about the circumstances and sequence of events surrounding Scott and Richard's collaboration.
Scott was a potential artist that Richard was "sponsoring"-meaning that A&M agreed to sign Scott for an album on the condition that Richard would produce it. (This was what K&R had attempted to do with BL Mitchell in 1978.But,his debut "test" single got no response-and BL's album didn't go forward.)

"That's What I Believe" was recorded for the "Time" album-and I think Richard used this as a "test" track to determine whether He should go forward with producing a whole album for Scott.
 
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