N.C. 'beach music' singer Billy Scott dies at 70

MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. -- Billy Scott, whose "beach music" hits included "I Got the Fever" and "California," died Saturday in Charlotte, N.C., of cancer.

He was 70 years old and leaves behind his wife, Gail.

Harry Turner, president of the Beach Music Association International, said Scott's illness came about suddenly within the last month.

On his 70th birthday on Oct. 5, Scott was cheerful and in good health, Turner said. A few days later, he complained of stomach pains that progressively became worse. He backed out of an appearance at the North Carolina Music Hall of Fame induction ceremony on Oct. 11 because of severe pains.

Scott eventually checked himself into a Charlotte hospital and tests determined he had liver and pancreatic cancer.

"It was unbelievable. I've never seen a cancer move so fast," Turner said.

He saw Scott for the last time Thursday night. Despite his deteriorating health and weight loss, Turner said his friend was in high spirits.

"He was one of the most amazing people you'll ever be around," Turner said.

Scott was originally from Huntington, W.Va., and was raised on a musical diet of rhythm and blues and soul. In his early career as a member of The Scottsmen and various incarnations of The Prophets, he was labeled an R&B singer.

But when he settled in the Carolinas over 30 years ago, he got tagged as a beach music singer. It was a title he didn't initially like.

"I kind of fell into it, it was there, and all the songs we were doing were R&B and soul and then this beach music term came up in the Carolinas and it just became a part of what we were doing," Scott said in a 2000 interview.

"But I didn't particularly like it until I realized this is where we were, and of course everybody would rather be a big fish in a little pond," he said.

Diane DeVaughn Stokes, chairwoman of the Myrtle Beach Cultural Arts Advisory Committee, said Scott had recently embarked on a new project: working with school booster clubs to bring beach music legends to area schools.

"He believed that the only way to keep beach music thriving was to reintroduce it to the youth," she said.

Stokes and Scott recently co-hosted the second annual Beach Music Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony at Coastal Carolina University.

After the ceremony, Stokes said she received a call from Scott, who thanked her for her help.

Scott, Stokes recalled, said he's a great singer but not a very good public speaker, and his co-host gave him confidence.

"It's a tremendous loss to the Myrtle Beach community," Stokes said.