Keith Scott has reflected on his enduring career as the foil to “prolific songwriter” Bryan Adams, and how one of their most beloved hits wasn’t originally meant for them.
It wasn’t simply a case of Adams, Scott, and co. sweeping up sloppy seconds, though, as the guitarist tells Vertex Effects that he begged the British/Canadian singer-songwriter, “please don’t give that away!”
Next to Adams' biggest tracks, the wedding party classic Summer of '69 and heartthrob ballad Heaven, Run To You is another setlist staple, and it's a song that came from Adams' prolific songwriting partnership with Jim Vallance.
“There's no way to know what's a hit,” he says. “The business is always changing… we wanted to be a rock band with pop songs.
“In Bryan's case, he was a prolific songwriter, and he was writing consistently for all other artists. I think this was a real bonus and a benefit, because there was always new material coming one way or another, and some of the rejections would end up on our records.”
Just some of the songs Adams wrote for other artists include Kiss’ Rock and Roll Hell (1982), Mötley Crüe's Glitter (1997), and Ted Nugent's Draw The Line (1984). But not every song was snapped up by its intended target.
“Run To You was penned for Blue Öyster Cult at the time, which they decided not to use,” Scott explains. “I remember the phone call. He said, ‘Jim, I just wrote this thing. It was for Blue Öyster Cult. But I don't think they're going to keep it. I said, ‘Please don’t give it away!’”
Thankfully for Scott, he got his wish, if only because BOC weren’t sold on it. Considering the song’s success, they may regret that decision now.
“Things kind of drop into your lap sometimes,” Scott says with a smile.
He’s also said that the band’s label said releasing (Everything I Do) I Do It for You would be career suicide. However, the song, which provided Scott with his “David Gilmour moment,” defied expectation and boasts over 740 million Spotify streams at the time of writing.
Scott has also spoken to Guitar World about being a low-profile multi-platinum guitar hero, having played on a string of massive songs while being a name that not everyone is overly familiar with.
