A Brief History of Scott Walker

I didn't know who Scott Walker was until one day, on a whim, I watched the documentary Scott Walker: 30 Century Man on Netflix's insta-watch. As it turns out, I had heard of him and his 60's hit band The Walker Brothers through a song called Make It Easy On Yourself--their first #1 single in the UK in 1965. The Walker Brothers sort of flip-flopped the British Invasion: They were an American group that took the UK charts for a brief period.



The movie explores Scott Walker's beginnings in the Sunset Strip, the formation of The Walker Brothers (they were neither brothers, nor were any of them surnamed Walker), their invasion of the UK Charts, their subsequent breakup and, most importantly, Scott Walker's solo career.

As a solo artist, Scott Walker topped the charts and garnered huge fame covering the songs of French artist Jacques Brel, but more importantly he blossomed as a songwriter, fitting his albums with original compositions along with the MOR stuff. In 1969 he wrote the album that’s considered to be his masterpiece of the period: Scott 4.

This was the first of his albums to contain only original material. Its somber, philosophical mood clashed with the 60's Love and Peace tenet; it failed to make a dent in the charts and was quickly deleted from history.

After Scott 4 bombed with the public, the record company suggested he return to the tried-and-true covers-formula for his next albums. "Working off contracts," as he puts it in the movie. To this day, he refuses to re-release them.

In 1975, The Walker Brothers reunited, releasing the album No Regrets. The title track rose to #7 in the UK charts.



It’s not my favorite song, but without that boost they wouldn't have made two more records: Lines and then Nite Flights. Of the two, it's Nite Flights that garnered Scott Walker if not popular acclaim, then definitely significant insider interest. The first four songs of the album, Shutout, Fat Mama Kick, Nite Flights and The Electrician, all written and sung by Walker, were a sign post of his artistic direction. Listen to the The Electrician, below. Don't pay attention to the images on the screen; just put your headphones on and let it roll and you can drift. Don't fuss about liking it or not.



I love it. It's a weird fucking monster. The song, I mean. It's borne from a barren landscape. Then it catches me bopping my head. Then there are violins that make me soar. It ends where it began, in that barren landscape.

Following the Walker awareness that resulted from Nite Flights, he has released: Climate of Hunter (1984), Tilt (1995) and The Drift (2006). I recently purchased Tilt, and have listened to it a few times. I'll tell you about it at later time.

What's interesting about Scott Walker, is his unwillingness to churn out records for the sake of money or ego. He is like a painter who works on a concept, follows it through and presents it. Certain tracks in Tilt verge on the unlistenable, but I keep with it because there is truth in that culmination of an idea. Walker paints with sound, and some of his colors I ain't never seen before.

I hope that you found this post interesting, and that you'll check out all the videos I embedded and watch the movie. Explora, Pico!

"I've become the Orson Welles of the record industry. People want to take me to lunch, but nobody wants to finance the picture...I keep hoping that when I make a record, I'll be asked to make another one. I keep hoping that if I can make a series of three records, then I can progress and do different things each time. But when I have to get it up once every 10 years... it's a tough way to work." —in an interview for The Independent, April 1995.

Ciao,
Erik Barragan