Issue link: http://maconmagazine.uberflip.com/i/1474185
Macon's legendary behind-the-scenes band leader BY CLARENCE W. THOMAS, JR. | PHOTOGRAPHY BY DSTO MOORE When we marvel at the hit-makers in the music industry, there is a tendency to overlook those who laid the foundation for their success. Macon is a hotbed of past and present entertainment sensations, and one man, at one school from 1956 – 1970, taught and produced a succession of talent backed up some of the biggest legends in the business. The legacy of the late, great Robert Louis Scott, Jr., band director at Ballard Hudson High School, leads to over 30 students who went on to superstardom as musicians, producers, composers, percussionists, vocalists — and the list plays on and on and on. T he world is familiar with Macon music legends Little Richard and Otis Redding and locally developed acts like the Allman Brothers, Wet Willie and Marshall Tucker Band, as well as the fact that this city influenced the likes of James Brown, Buddy Guy and Jimi Hendrix landing on the map of music lovers. But what about the unsung heroes who set them up for greatness? While he wasn't responsible for directly catapulting the careers of those mentioned previously, no person in Macon history planted seeds of musical success more often than Robert L. Scott Jr. Born in Macon on Aug. 31, 1933, Scott used his passion and gift to lift students bitten by the music bug to higher heights. He was a music instructor and band director of Ballard Hudson High School, the city's first Black high school bandleader. And despite this happening primarily during segregation, Scott created an iconic, formidable marching music force in Macon. Overtime, Scott was a trusted source of talent for the music business, even establishing an office downtown near the future headquarters of Redwal Music Company, the booking and management agency of Redding and brothers Phil and Alan Walden. Ballard Hudson was formed in 1949 as Macon's only high school for ninth through 12th graders available to Black residents. Some students that attended gravitated to the band because of their love for music but also because of the mastery of music that Scott possessed. One of those students was Newton Collier. Collier played trumpet at the height of his career with Otis Redding, Sam & Dave, Percy Sledge and other renowned outfits. He and Scott were both residents of Tindall Fields (Heights). Scott first became Collier's music teacher and later his bandleader at Ballard Hudson. Another star student was the late bassist Calvin Arline, most known for his arrangements on the 1970s R&B supergroup The Manhattan's hit "Kiss & Say Goodbye." He co-wrote "We Got to Get Our Things Together" for the Dells, later covered by The Soul Children. Arline also played with Bobby Womack, Percy Sledge, Santana and recorded with Cher. 116 maconmagazine.com | JUNE/JULY 2022