The Walker Brothers

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Walker Brothers
The Walker Brothers 1965
The Walker Brothers 1965
General information
origin Los Angeles , United States
Genre (s) Baroque pop , blue-eyed soul
founding 1964, 1975
resolution 1968, 1978
Last occupation
Scott Walker †
John Walker †
Gary Walker

The Walker Brothers were an American pop band formed in Los Angeles in 1964 and finally disbanded in 1978. She consisted of Scott Walker (Scott Engel), John Walker (John Joseph Maus) and Gary Walker (Gary Leeds).

Band history

Because there was no musical success in America, John Maus and Scott Engel decided to try their luck in England under the band name The Walker Brothers. John Maus had adopted the name Walker as early as 1959 as a student at El Camino College in California. Scott Engel previously appeared in the Broadway musical Pipe Dream , and later played in the amateur band The Routers . He met Gary Leeds in a car accident.

The first successes were seen in 1964. This year they appeared together for the first time in Hollywood A Go-Go . The group's first single, Pretty Girls Everywhere , was unsuccessful, but their second single, Love Her , made it into the UK's Top 20 . The breakthrough came with the song Make It Easy on Yourself, written by Burt Bacharach and Hal David , as well as the titles My Ship Is Coming In and The Sun Ain't Gonna Shine (Anymore) .

There was a veritable "Walkers mania" with screaming and fainting teenagers and the corresponding press hype. This, as well as the strains of everyday touring, led to tension in the band. To make matters worse, the hoped-for breakthrough did not materialize in the USA and the emerging flower power movement and psychedelia did not fit into the band's concept.

In 1967 they separated amicably. John and Scott honed their solo careers, and Gary Leeds formed the band Gary and the Rain. However, only Scott Walker was somewhat successful. His solo albums Scott 1 to Scott 4 became sought-after collector's items.

In 1975 the Walker Brothers got together again. With No Regrets they had another hit. The first two albums after the reunion consistently contain a kind of middle-of-the-road country pop of the melancholy kind. The third album, Nite Flights , which was released shortly before the end of the record company GTO, gives every musician space for their own songs. Not much attention was paid to the stragglers album back then. Today it can hardly be found on LP. Nite Flights was added to The Wire's “100 Records That Set the World on Fire (While No One Was Listening)” list.

On May 7, 2011, John Walker died after a long illness (liver cancer) in Los Angeles.

Scott Walker died on March 22, 2019 after a serious illness (cancer) in London

Members

  • Scott Walker alias Noel Scott Engel: vocals, bass, guitar, keyboard instruments (born January 9, 1943 in Hamilton, Ohio; † March 22, 2019 in London)
  • John Walker alias John Joseph Maus: vocals, guitar (born November 12, 1943 in New York City, † May 7, 2011 in Los Angeles, California)
  • Gary Walker alias Gary Leeds: drums (born March 9, 1942 in Glendale, California)

Cover version

David Bowie covered the title track of the album Nite Flights , a composition by Scott Walker, on his album Black Tie White Noise (1993).

Discography

Chart positions
Explanation of the data
Albums
Take it easy
  UK 3 December 18, 1965 (36 weeks)
The Walker Brothers
  DE 7th 07/15/1966 (20 weeks)
portrait
  DE 8th November 15, 1966 (12 weeks)
  UK 3 09/03/1966 (22 weeks)
Images
  DE 23 05/15/1967 (16 weeks)
  UK 6th 03/18/1967 (15 weeks)
Walker Brothers Story
  UK 9 16.09.1967 (19 weeks)
No regrets
  UK 49 02/21/1976 (3 weeks)
No Regrets - The Best of 1965-1976
  UK 4th 
gold
gold
01/25/1992 (13 weeks)
The Best Of - The Sun Ain't Gonna Shine
  UK 24 05/13/2006 (3 weeks)
Singles
Love Her
  UK 20th 05/01/1965 (13 weeks)
Make It Easy on Yourself
  UK 1Template: Infobox chart placements / maintenance / NR1 link 08/21/1965 (14 weeks)
  US 16 10/16/1965 (10 weeks)
My Ship Is Coming In
  UK 3 December 04, 1965 (12 weeks)
  US 63 01/29/1966 (5 weeks)
The Sun Ain't Gonna Shine Anymore
  DE 4th 05/01/1966 (16 weeks)
  UK 1Template: Infobox chart placements / maintenance / NR1 link 05.03.1966 (11 weeks)
  US 13 04/16/1966 (9 weeks)
(Baby) You Don't Have to Tell Me
  DE 21st 08/01/1966 (8 weeks)
  UK 13 07/16/1966 (8 weeks)
Another tear falls
  DE 24 November 15, 1966 (2 weeks)
  UK 12 09/24/1966 (8 weeks)
Deadlier Than the Male
  UK 32 December 17, 1966 (6 weeks)
Stay with Me Baby
  UK 26th 02/11/1967 (6 weeks)
Walking in the Rain
  UK 26th 05/20/1967 (6 weeks)
No regrets
  UK 7th January 17, 1976 (9 weeks)

Albums

  • 1965: Take It Easy with the Walker Brothers
  • 1965: Introducing the Walker Brothers
  • 1966: The Sun Ain't Gonna Shine Anymore
  • 1966: portrait
  • 1966: The Walker Brothers
  • 1967: Images
  • 1968: The Walker Brothers in Japan
  • 1975: No Regrets
  • 1976: Lines
  • 1978: Nite Flights

Compilations

  • 1966: Attention! The Walker Brothers! (alternative album title: Hitsounds )
  • 1966: The Fabulous Walker Brothers
  • 1967: I Need You
  • 1968: The Walker Brothers Story
  • 1968: The Immortal Walker Brothers
  • 1972: Make It Easy on Yourself
  • 1975: Greatest Hits (2 LPs)
  • 1977: Spotlight On (2 LPs)
  • 1982: hits
  • 1982: motifs
  • 1984: The Sun Ain't Gonna Shine Anymore
  • 1986: Gala
  • 1989: The Walker Brothers Collection (UK:silversilver)
  • 1990: After the Lights Go Out
  • 1992: No Regrets - The Best of 1965–1976 (with Scott Walker )
  • 1992: Make It Easy on Yourself
  • 1993: A Very Special Collection
  • 1995: Anthology
  • 2000: The Singles + (2 CDs)
  • 2001: If You Could Hear Me Now
  • 2006: The Best Of - The Sun Ain't Gonna Shine
  • 2006: Everything Under the Sun (The Complete Recordings) (Box with 5 CDs)
  • 2007: The Silver Collection
  • 2009: My Ship Is Coming In - The Collection (2 CDs)
  • 2010: 3 original album Classics (box with 3 CDs)

Singles

  • 1965: Pretty Girls Everywhere
  • 1965: Love Her
  • 1965: Make It Easy on Yourself
  • 1965: My Ship Is Coming In
  • 1966: Land of 1,000 Dances
  • 1966: The Sun Ain't Gonna Shine Any More
  • 1966: (Baby) You Don't Have to Tell Me
  • 1966: Another Tear Falls
  • 1966: Deadlier Than the Male
  • 1967: Stay with Me Baby
  • 1967: Walking in the Rain
  • 1975: No Regrets
  • 1976: Lines
  • 1976: We're All Alone
  • 1978: The Electrician

literature

  • Ken Barnes, Mike Saunders: The Walker Brothers. In: Greg Shaw: The British are coming. From the childhood days of English rock music . Translated from the English by Walle Bengs. Rowohlt Verlag, Reinbek near Hamburg 1983, pp. 139–142.
  • Mike Watkinson and Pete Anderson: Scott Walker. Deep shade of blue. Virgin 1995.
  • John and Gary Walker: The Walker Brothers. No regrets. Our story. London: John Blake 2009.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ see English Wikipedia
  2. ^ SWR - The Walker Brothers . As of September 3, 2016
  3. ^ The Associated Press: Scott Walker of the Walker Brothers Dies at Age 76 . In: The New York Times . March 25, 2019, ISSN  0362-4331 ( nytimes.com [accessed March 30, 2019]).
  4. ↑ Music Sales Awards: UK
  5. ↑ Chart sources singles: DE US UK