I was listening to Jens Lekman the other day, and, as usual, finding myself liking but not loving him. Great voice, great atmospheric productions, but the SONGS, for the most part, don't tend to add up to much for me.
But thinking about that VOICE got me thinking about Scott Walker. I always want to preface this man's name with "the late, great" - the way people do with Nick Drake. But Mr. Walker, thank our lucky stars, lives and breathes and every now and again crawls out of his seclusion to remind us of that fact.
Scott Walker, for those who don't know, was rather big in the UK in the '60s - first as a member of the Walker Brothers, and then as a solo artist. Since the '70s, though, he's been downright hermit-like. Still, he has had a huge influence on everybody from David Bowie to Bryan Ferry; from the Divine Comedy to Pulp. (In point of fact, he produced Pulp's last album, 2002's We Love Life.)
I just can't get enough of this guy's sound, from the lush-yet-playful productions to, yes, that VOICE - a rich, almost '50s-era baritone, like some hip-daddy, bizarro version of Andy Williams. Enjoy.
[MP3] "Jackie" [from LP Scott 2, 1968]
[MP3] "Next" [from the LP Scott 2, 1968]
[MP3] "No Regrets"/The Walker Brothers [from the LP No Regrets, 1975]
[MP3] "Birds in Your Garden"/Pulp [from the LP We Love Life, 2002] [have to think that Mr. Walker had something to do with those cool, '60s-styled backing vocals on the chorus]
2 comments:
Nice post.
u2 had been working on "sometimes you can't make it on your own" for years under the provisional title "scott walker song."
when they play it live, bono ends it often with a line from "no regrets" - there's no regrets, i don't want you back, we'd only cry. again. say goodbye. again.
i'm a dork, so i thought i'd share that :)
i like jens, too, though.
peace
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