Scott Walker
An American pop idol in 1960s London who turned himself into one of the most uncompromising voices in British music, with a handful of albums across his last four decades.
- Origin
- Hamilton, Ohio, United States
- Years active
- 1958-2019
- Genres
- pop, rock, avant-garde, experimental
- Labels
- Philips, Fontana, Smash, CBS, Virgin, Drag City, 4AD
- Also known as
- Scott Engel
From Ohio to London
Noel Scott Engel was born in Hamilton, Ohio, in 1943, the only child of an oil industry manager and a mother from Montreal. The family moved through Ohio, Texas, Colorado and New York, and he and his mother settled in California in 1956. In the late 1950s he was a child actor and singer, appeared in the Broadway musicals Pipe Dream and Plain and Fancy, had a brief turn as a teen idol with the single Misery, and worked as a teenage session bassist.
In 1961 he met John Maus, who took the stage name John Walker. By early 1964 they were working as the Walker Brothers, and Gary Leeds joined on drums later that year. The brothers were not related. The trio reached London in early 1965, and Scott's baritone became the lead voice with Love Her, a UK Top 20 hit. Make It Easy on Yourself and The Sun Ain't Gonna Shine Anymore both went to number one in Britain, and the group was far bigger there than in the United States. Scott was in effect co-producer on their records, working with Johnny Franz and the engineer Peter Oliff. After a suicide attempt in August 1966, the group split in the summer of 1967.
The solo records
His first solo albums made him a different kind of star. Scott (1967) reached number three in Britain. Scott 2 (1968) went to number one and opened with Jackie, a Jacques Brel song in Mort Shuman's English translation. Walker covered nine Brel songs across his first three albums, and Scott 2 set them beside his own writing, including Plastic Palace People and The Amorous Humphrey Plugg. Scott 3 followed in 1969 and reached number three, and Scott Walker Sings Songs from his T.V. Series reached number seven the same year.
Scott 4 (1969), issued under his birth name Scott Engel, failed to chart. After Til the Band Comes In in 1970 he made four albums of cover versions, The Moviegoer, Any Day Now, Stretch and We Had It All, between 1972 and 1974, and later disowned them.
Reunions and silences
The Walker Brothers re-formed in 1975, and their cover of Tom Rush's No Regrets reached number seven in the UK. The follow-up album Lines did not chart. For Nite Flights in 1978 each brother wrote his own songs, and Scott's four were his first original work since 'Til the Band Comes In. It sold poorly and the group ended that year.
In 1981 Julian Cope compiled the collection Fire Escape in the Sky: The Godlike Genius of Scott Walker, and Climate of Hunter followed on Virgin in 1984, with guests including Billy Ocean and Mark Knopfler. Then came eleven years of near silence before Tilt, issued by Fontana in 1995. Tilt reached number 27 in Britain. He wrote the music for the film Pola X in 1999, curated the Meltdown festival in London in 2000 and produced Pulp's We Love Life in 2001.
The Drift and after
The Drift arrived on 4AD in May 2006, written slowly over the decade since Tilt and recorded between June 2004 and November 2005. It included Jesse, a song about Elvis Presley and his stillborn twin that the label's notes called Walker's 9/11 song. The same year Stephen Kijak's documentary Scott Walker: 30 Century Man, with David Bowie as executive producer, premiered at the London Film Festival. In 2008 the Barbican staged Drifting and Tilting, an evening of his songs with Jarvis Cocker and Damon Albarn among the singers. Walker produced it but did not perform.
Bish Bosch came out in December 2012, the longest of his albums and the last of what he called a kind of trilogy with Tilt and The Drift. Soused, made with Sunn O))), in 2014. He also wrote scores for the films The Childhood of a Leader and Vox Lux, and published a book of lyrics, Sundog, in 2018. He died in London on 22 March 2019, aged 76. The BBC had called him one of the most enigmatic and influential figures in rock history, and David Bowie, Radiohead, Jarvis Cocker and Brian Eno are among those who have cited him as an influence. Thom Yorke said he was a huge influence on Radiohead and himself.
Records
- Scott 1967 · Philips
His first solo album, a UK number three that sets Brel translations beside his own songs.
- Scott 2 1968 · Philips
His second solo album, a UK number one that sets Brel songs beside his own writing.
- Scott 3 1969 · Philips
His first album dominated by his own writing, with three Brel songs closing it out.
- Scott 4 1969 · Philips
Released under his birth name, Scott Engel, and made entirely of his own songs. It failed to chart.
- 'Til the Band Comes In 1970 · Philips
A loose concept album about the residents of a tenement, ten originals and five covers.
- Climate of Hunter 1984 · Virgin
His only album of the 1980s and his only one for Virgin, with half its tracks left untitled.
- Tilt 1995 · Fontana
His first album in eleven years, and the first part of what he called a trilogy.
- The Drift 2006 · 4AD
His thirteenth solo studio album, and the first in eleven years: ten long, harrowing pieces.
- Bish Bosch 2012 · 4AD
His fourteenth and final solo studio album, 73 minutes long and built around a 21 minute song.
Songs
- Jackie Scott 2 · 1967
Jacques Brel's daydreamer in Mort Shuman's English words, a 1967 single the BBC would not play.
- Jesse The Drift · 2006
Elvis Presley talks to his stillborn twin, and the album's 9/11 song.
- It's Raining Today Scott 3 · 1969
The opening song of Scott 3, a Thom Yorke desert island choice.
- The Seventh Seal Scott 4 · 1969
The opening track of Scott 4, built on Ingmar Bergman's 1957 film.
- Farmer in the City Tilt · 1995
The opening song of Tilt, subtitled Remembering Pasolini.
- Epizootics! Bish Bosch · 2012
The first full song released from Bish Bosch, with a video by Olivier Groulx.
Related artists
The Walker Brothers, Jacques Brel, David Bowie, Radiohead, Marc Almond
Where to go next
Reference
- Scott Walker (singer) The longest English biography, covering life and career.
- Scott 2 Tracklist, credits and reception.
- Jacky (Jacques Brel song) The Brel original, Walker's single and the covers.
- The Drift (album) Credits, charts and recording dates.
- The Walker Brothers The group's history and line-up.
- Meltdown The London festival Walker curated in 2000.
- MusicBrainz The canonical artist record, as a data query.
- Songfacts: Jackie Notes on the song and Walker's comments on Brel.
Discography and data
- Scott Walker discography Chart peaks and labels for every release.
- Discogs: Soused Tracklist of the 2014 album with Sunn O))).
- Discogs: Jackie The 1967 single and its B-side.
Writing and criticism
- Far Out: Jesse A reading of Jesse and the Elvis twin story.
- Treble: The Drift A detailed track-by-track review.
- The Skinny: The Drift A dissenting, negative review.
- Pitchfork: Tilt Jazz Monroe on the reception of Tilt.
- Pitchfork: Bish Bosch Mike Powell on Walker's final solo album.
- Pitchfork: The Collection 1967-1970 A review of the box set of his early albums.
- Pitchfork: Soused Grayson Haver Currin on the 2014 collaboration with Sunn O))).
Live performance archives
- setlist.fm: Scott Walker Song counts from logged concerts.
Film and video
- Scott Walker: 30 Century Man Stephen Kijak's 2006 documentary.
Sources
- Scott Walker (singer), Wikipedia
- Scott Walker discography, Wikipedia
- The Walker Brothers, Wikipedia
- Scott Walker: 30 Century Man, Wikipedia
- Scott Walker, singer of Walker Brothers, dies at 76, ABC7
- Scott Walker: The Drift, Treble (2006-05-08)
- Scott: The Collection 1967-1970, Pitchfork (2013-06-20)