s c o t t . w a l k e r
A man's work is nothing but this slow trek to discover through the detours of art,
those two or three great and simple images in whose presence his heart first opened.- Albert Camus
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Old news:
2009:
15 July 2009: The Official John Walker Site.
15 April 2009: Music Inspired by the Film Scott Walker - 30 Century Man is a collection of 12 covers of Scott Walker originals, done mostly by some brilliantly talented women (with a few male voices thrown in as well). More info at http://www.myspace.com/scottwalker30centuryman. Tracklist:
"Duchess" Peter Broderick
"Big Louise" Sally Norvell
"World's Strongest Man" Damon & Naomi
"Manhattan" Saint Etienne
"The Electrician" Laurie Anderson
"The Seventh Seal" Nicole Atkins
"Montague Terrace (in Blue)" Dot Allison
"The Bridge" Bee & Flower
"Rhymes of Goodbye" Stephanie Dosen
"It's Raining Today" Ulrich Schnauss
"A Lover Loves" Jarboe
"Such a Small Love" Little Annie
Angela Morley (born as Wally Stott on 10 March 1924) died on 14 January 2009. Wally Stott arranged and orchestrated music for Scott Walker's 1960s solo albums.
Scott Walker guests on the track 'The Big Sleep' of Two Suns album by Bat For Lashes, out on Parlophone (UK) and Astralwerks (US), 6 April 2009. ['The Big Sleep' @ YouTube.]
2008:
11 November 2008: Scott Walker interviewed for The Observer by Sean O'Hagan. 2007:
13 September 2007: A Pitchfork article tells that Scott Walker will release an instrumental album called And Who Shall Go to the Ball? And Who Shall Go to the Ball? (4AD Records) on 24 September 2007, as a very limited, never-to-be-pressed-again edition. 2006:
5 September 2006: Harp Magazine has an interview called Scott Walker: Great Scott. 26 June 2006: The official Website for The Drift can be found at http://www.the-drift.net/. 1 June 2006: Mojo magazine (UK) has a Scott Walker interview in its June 2006 issue. 9 May 2006: The Drift @ Pitchfork 3 May 2006: The Drift review @ Brainwashed 2 May 2006: Revent Faves From the New Bin @ WFMU reviews The Drift 24 April 2006: The Wire magazine (UK) has in its May 2006 issue an interview with Scott Walker by Rob Young, where Scott sheds light on the backgrounds of The Drift album's tracks. 3 April 2006: Momus on The Drift 1 April 2006: a Scott Walker article on WFMU blog 4AD announced on 19 January 2006 that the new Scott Walker album has been completed. Called The Drift, it is scheduled to be released in May 2006. There will also be a documentary film on Scott Walker in 2006, called 30 Century Man and directed by Stephen Kijak. 2005 and earlier:
Gary Walker, the other "brother" of Scott, has also now his own fully finished Website, at http://www.gary-walker.net/. As far as the latest Gary Walker news go, on 18th July 2005, Gary joined John Walker to do a concert in The White Rock Hotel, Hastings, England, with the backing band Chris Black and Blackcat. Gary and Chris are also planning some joint ventures in the next year, starting with the 3rd of December 2005 at the White Rock. Gary and Chris also have a Yahoo group for fans. John Walker (a.k.a. John Maus), the "brother" of Scott (from Walker Bros), is also still active. John is currently back on the scene again in the UK having had a very successful tour in 2004. You can find his own Website at http://www.john-walker.org/, where you will also find much information on John, complete with full discography. Scott Walker has left his record label Mercury and signed to 4AD. He is just embarking on recording sessions for his next album, due to 2006(?). Scott and Pete Walsh will produce, contributions from Elizabeth Frazer and Brian Gascoigne are rumoured. May include 'Scope J' and 'Lullaby', so far known as Ute Lemper versions. There is now out a Scott Walker 5-CD box, called Five Easy Pieces (Mercury/Universal), including rare material such as his songs for films, hard-to-find tracks and so on. Scott Walker has produced the latest album of Pulp, called We Love Life (released 22 October, 2001). One Scott Walker-penned track, 'Scope J', on Ute Lemper's latest album Punishing Kiss (Decca). Also another track written by Scott on Japanese edition. The official Scott Walker's Meltdown 2000 page can be found at: http://www.meltdown.co.uk/ Scott Walker's original score for Pola X by Leos Carax published on Barclay. Also one new Scott track, 'Only Myself To Blame', on the soundtrack of the latest Bond film. Scott Walker hosted Meltdown Festival 2000 in London.
Biography:
Born Noel Scott Engel, 9 January 1943, Hamilton, Ohio, USA. After relocating to New York during childhood, this precocious talent initially pursued a career as an actor, and also briefly recorded under the name Scotty Engel. Moving to Hollywood, he worked on sessions with arranger Jack Nitzsche before joining the Routers as a bassist. He next teamed up with singer John Maus as the Dalton Brothers, which gradually evolved into the Walker Brothers with the addition of drummer Gary Leeds. The trio moved to England and found themselves fêted as teen-idols, with a string of hits that established them as one of the most successful UK-based groups of the mid-60s. The group broke up in May 1967 at a time when Scott was still regarded as a sex symbol and potential solo superstar. Yet there was something contradictory about the singer's image. Ridden with angst during the Walkers' teen-idol peak, he was known for his moody reclusiveness, tendency to wear dark glasses and stay in curtain-closed rooms during daylight hours. The classic pop existentialist, Walker was trapped in a system that regarded him as a contradiction. His manager Maurice King encouraged a straightforward showbusiness career involving regular television appearances and even cabaret. Walker, meanwhile, had become a devotee of Belgian composer Jacques Brel and included several of his songs on his debut solo album, Scott. There is no finer example of the contradiction that Walker faced than the incongruous image of the singer performing 'My Death' on BBC television's chirpy Billy Cotton Band Show.
Walker's solo albums were equally quirky and stylistically diverse, fusing the brutal visions of Brel alongside contemporary MOR standards such as Tony Bennett 's 'When Joanna Loved Me'. Walker was also displaying immense talent as a songwriter in his own right with poetic, brooding songs, such as 'Such A Small Love' and 'Always Coming Back To You'. Eschewing young, modern producers, Walker stuck with the lush, orchestral arrangements of Johnny Franz, Reg Guest, Peter Knight and Wally Stott. The resulting concoction was rendered unique by Walker's distinctive, deep, crooning tone and strong vibrato. On the strength of the Walker Brothers' dedicated audience, Scott's solo albums were chart successes in the UK, but as an artist he remained the great contradiction. Singer/songwriter, MOR entertainer, Brel interpreter and television personality, his entire career dramatized a constant clash between pop star trappings and artistic endeavour. Even his similarly titled hit singles emphasized the grand contradiction: 'Jackie' was a racy Brel song that mentioned 'authentic queers' and was banned by the BBC; 'Joanna' was pure schmaltz, written by the Tin Pan Alley husband and wife team Tony Hatch and Jackie Trent. Walker's uneasiness about his career was emphasized in a number of confusing decisions and record releases. At one point, he reverted to his real surname Engel, and announced that he would no longer be issuing singles.
While the brilliant Scott 4 at last contained solely original material and might have heralded the re-evaluation of Walker as a serious songwriter, the BBC chose that very same period to issue the MOR Scott Sings Songs From His Television Series. Undervalued and apparently uncertain about his direction, Walker's muse grew increasingly weary after the 60s. Reissued in 1996, 'Til The Band Comes In, his 1970 collaboration with songwriter Ady Semeland however, is a joy of discovery. Released a year after the Woodstock festival, Walker could not have been more out of step with musical fashion, yet more than 25 years later the quality of the songs stands up, and above all they feature a voice to weep to. By 1972 he seemed to bow to popular demand by recording an album of cover versions, The Moviegoer. A shift towards country music followed before Scott reunited with Maus and Leeds for a series of Walker Brothers albums. Thereafter, Scott retreated from the music business returning only for the critically acclaimed Climate Of Hunter in 1984. His enigmatic career, remarkable voice and intense songwriting have inspired a wealth of performers including Julian Cope (who compiled a Walker album), Marc Almond (who provided sleeve notes for a compilation) and a number of deep, crooning vocalists, who have attempted to recapture that unique Scott vibrato. It was reported in 1992 that Walker had signed a major recording contract and three years later he delivered a new album. Tilt was the most ear-challenging work he has so far recorded. The record found two distinct camps: one that criticized him for not delivering the smooth ballad of old and the other (a much younger audience) who found this difficult work intriguing. The record company showed a great sense of humour when they released the title track as a single. Radio play was not forthcoming.
Encyclopedia of Popular Music Copyright Muze UK Ltd. 1989 - 1998.Interviews:
Scott Walker by Richard Cook, The Wire, Issue 135, March 1995 - sorry, link not working Bibliography:
Reed, Jeremy: Another Tear Falls: An Appreciation of Scott Walker (Paperback - 192 pages, November 1998, Creation Pub Group; ISBN: 1871592755) Watkinson, Mike & Anderson. Pete: Scott Walker: A Deep Shade of Blue (Paperback, September 1996, London Bridge Trade; ISBN: 0863698778) Mailing lists
Links:
[NOTE: pHinnWeb can't guarantee the continuing validity of these.]
Scott Walker - Montague Terrace - RECOMMENDED Scott Walker @ Wikipedia Scott Walker page by Chad Van Wagner Scott Walker (2) Scott Walker (3)
Scott Walker (4) Scott Walker - It's Raining Today Scott Walker Lyrics Archive - NOTE: new URL Scott Walker fan page @ Facebook [registration needed] Scott Walker Photos Scott Walker & The Walker Brothers Photos by Chris Walter Scott Walker @ The Rough Guide To Rock Scott Walker @ iMusic Scott Walker @ UBL Scott Walker @ IMDB Scott Walker @ NME
Scott Walker: 30 Century Man - a 2006 documentary film by Stephen Kijak
The Walker Brothers
The Walker Brothers @ VH1.com Scott Walker @ MySpace
The Godlike Genius of Scott Walker Scott Walker - The Rhymes of Goodbye Scott Walker: 30 Century Man Google search results:
Scott Walker @ Google (search results) Walker Brothers @ Google (search results) Scott's "brothers":
Gary Walker John Walker
John Walker (an unofficial fan site)
Videos:
Scott Walker videos @ YouTube
Walker Brothers videos @ YouTube
Scott Walker/Walker Brothers videos @ Bedazzled
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