Scott Walker (singer)

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For other people named Scott Walker, see Scott Walker (disambiguation).

Scott Walker
 Walker on Dutch TV, 1968

Background information

Birth name Noel Scott Engel

Born January 9, 1943

Hamilton, Ohio, U.S.

Died March 22, 2019 (aged 76)

London, England

 Pop
Genres
 rock

 avant-garde
  experimental

Occupation(s)  Singer-songwriter

 record producer

 multi-instrumentalist

Instrument(s)  Vocals

 guitar

 keyboards

Years active 1958–2019

Labels  Philips/Fontana

 Columbia

 Drag City

 Virgin

 4AD

Website 4ad.com/artists/scottwalker

Noel Scott Engel (January 9, 1943 – March 22, 2019),[1] better known by his stage name Scott Walker, was an American-
British singer-songwriter and record producer who resided in England. Walker was known for his emotive voice and his
unorthodox stylistic path which took him from being a teen pop icon in the 1960s to an avant-garde musician from the
1980s to his death.[2][3] Walker's success was largely in the United Kingdom, where he achieved fame as a member of pop
trio the Walker Brothers, who scored several hit singles, including two number ones, during the mid-1960s, while his first
four solo albums reached the top ten during the later part of the decade, with the second, Scott 2, reaching number one in
1968. He lived in the UK from 1965 onward and became a UK citizen in 1970. [4]
After the Walker Brothers split in 1967, he began a solo career with the album Scott later that year, moving toward an
increasingly challenging style on late-1960s baroque pop albums such as Scott 3 and Scott 4 (both 1969).[5][6] After sales of
his solo work started to decrease, he reunited with the Walker Brothers in the mid-1970s. [2][3] The reformed band achieved a
top ten single with "No Regrets" in 1975, while their last album Nite Flights (1978) marked the beginning of Walker taking
his music in a more avant-garde direction. After a few years hiatus, Walker revived his solo career in the mid-1980s,
progressing his work further towards the avant-garde;[6][7][8] of this period in his career, The Guardian said "imagine Andy
Williams reinventing himself as Stockhausen".[3] Walker's 1960s recordings were highly regarded by the 1980s UK
underground music scene, and gained a cult following.
Walker continued to record until 2018. He was described by the BBC upon his death as "one of the most enigmatic and
influential figures in rock history".[9]
Life and career[edit]
Early life[edit]
Noel Scott Engel was born on January 9, 1943, in Hamilton, Ohio,[10][11][12] the son of Elizabeth Marie (Fortier), who was
from Montreal, Quebec, Canada, and Noel Walter Engel.[13] His father was an oil industry manager whose work led the
family to successive homes in Ohio, Texas, Colorado, and New York. Engel and his mother settled in California in 1959.
Engel was interested in both music and performance and spent time as a child actor and singer in the mid to late 1950s,
including roles in two Broadway musicals, Pipe Dream and Plain and Fancy.[14] Championed by singer and TV host Eddie
Fisher, he appeared several times on Fisher's TV program. Engel cut some records including one named "Misery", which
saw him briefly promoted as a teen idol.[2][3]
Upon his arrival in Los Angeles, Engel had already changed both his taste and his direction. Interested in the progressive
jazz of Stan Kenton and Bill Evans, he was also a self-confessed "Continental suit-wearing natural enemy of the
Californian surfer"[2] and a fan of European cinema (in particular Ingmar Bergman, Federico Fellini, and Robert Bresson)
and the Beat poets. In between attending art school and furthering his interests in cinema and literature, Scott played bass
guitar proficiently enough to get session work in Los Angeles as a teenager.[2]
In 1961, after playing with the Routers, he met guitarist and singer John Maus, who was using the stage name John
Walker on a fake ID to enable him to perform in clubs while under age. The two formed a band, Judy and the Gents, to
back John Walker's sister Judy Maus, before joining other musicians to tour as the Surfaris (although they did not play on
the Surfaris' records). In early 1964, Engel and John Walker began working together as the Walker Brothers, later in the
year linking up with drummer Gary Leeds whose father financed the trio's first trip to the UK.[15]
1964–1967: The Walker Brothers[edit]
Main article: The Walker Brothers
As a trio, the Walker Brothers cultivated a glossy-haired and handsome familial image. Prompted by Maus, each of the
members took "Walker" as their stage surname. Scott continued to use the name Walker thereafter, with the brief
exception of returning to his birth name for the original release of his fifth solo album Scott 4, and in songwriting credits.
Initially, John served as guitarist and main lead singer of the trio, with Gary on drums and Scott playing bass guitar and
mostly singing harmony vocals. By early 1965, the group had made appearances on TV shows Hollywood A Go-
Go and Shindig and had made initial recordings, but the start of their real success lay in the future and overseas. [2]

The Walker Brothers in 1965 with Scott in the middle

While working as a session drummer, Leeds had recently toured the United Kingdom with P.J. Proby and persuaded both
John and Scott to try their luck with him on the British pop scene. The Walker Brothers arrived in London in early 1965.
Their first single, "Pretty Girls Everywhere" (with John still as lead singer), failed to chart. Their next single, "Love Her" –
with Scott's deeper baritone in the lead – made the UK Top 20 and he became the group's main singer from this point on.
[16]

The Walker Brothers' next single, "Make It Easy on Yourself", a Bacharach/David ballad, went to No. 1 on the UK Singles
Chart (No. 16 on the U.S. charts) on release in August 1965. After hitting again with "My Ship Is Coming In" (No. 3 UK),
their second No. 1 (No. 13 U.S.), "The Sun Ain't Gonna Shine Any More", shot to the top in early 1966; shortly thereafter
their fan club grew to contain more members than the official fan club of the Beatles.[17] Although this is no indication that
their actual fan base was larger than that of the Beatles, the Walker Brothers—especially lead singer Scott—attained pop
star status.
Between 1965 and 1967, the group released three albums, Take It Easy with the Walker Brothers (1965), Portrait (1966)
and Images (1967), and two EPs, I Need You and Solo John/Solo Scott (both 1966). Following "The Sun Ain't Gonna
Shine Anymore", the group's subsequent singles in 1966 were "(Baby) You Don't Have to Tell Me" (No. 13 UK), "Another
Tear Falls" (No. 12 UK) and "Deadlier Than the Male" (No. 32 UK), the latter a co-write between Scott and Johnny
Franz for the soundtrack of the film of the same name, while 1967 brought two more singles in "Stay With Me Baby" and
"Walking in the Rain" (both of which reached No. 26 in the UK).
The Walkers' 1960s sound mixes Phil Spector's "wall of sound" techniques with symphonic orchestrations featuring
Britain's top musicians and arrangers, notably Ivor Raymonde. Scott served as effective co-producer of the band's records
throughout this period, alongside their named producer Johnny Franz and engineer Peter Oliff.[18] Many of their earlier
numbers had a driving beat, but with the release of their third album, Images, in 1967 ballads predominated.
By 1967, John Walker's musical influence on the Walker Brothers had waned (although on Images he sang lead on a
cover of "Blueberry Hill" and contributed two original compositions), which led to tensions between him and Scott. At the
same time, Scott was finding the group a chafing experience: "There was a lot of pressure. I was coming up with all the
material for the boys, and I was having to find songs and getting the sessions together. Everyone relied on me, and it just
got on top of me. I think I just got irritated with it all."[3] His desire to shake off his pop pin-up reputation might have
influenced his drinking habits. In 1967 he told one British journalist that he was drinking “a bottle of wine and a bottle of
Scotch a day” with the sole purpose, he claimed, of wanting to coarsen the baritone voice he thought sounded too sweet. [19]
Artistic differences and the stresses stemming from overwhelming pop stardom led to the break-up of the Walker Brothers
in the summer of 1967, although they reunited temporarily for a tour of Japan in 1968. [20]
1967–1974: Solo work[edit]
For his solo career, Walker shed the Walker Brothers' mantle and worked in a style clearly glimpsed on Images. Initially,
this led to a continuation of his previous band's success. Walker's first four albums, titled Scott (1967), Scott
2 (1968), Scott 3 (1969), and Scott: Scott Walker Sings Songs from his TV Series (1969), all sold in large numbers,
with Scott 2 topping the British charts. Walker also achieved two UK Top 20 singles during this period with "Joanna"
(1968) and "Lights of Cincinnati" (1969).
During this period, Walker combined his earlier teen appeal with a darker, more idiosyncratic approach (which had been
hinted at in songs like "Orpheus" on the Images album). While his vocal style remained consistent with the Walker
Brothers, he now drove a fine line between classic ballads, Broadway hits and his own compositions, and also included
risqué recordings of Jacques Brel songs (translated by Mort Shuman, who was also responsible for the hit
musical Jacques Brel is Alive and Well and Living in Paris). Walker's own original songs of this period were influenced by
Brel and Léo Ferré[21] as he explored European musical roots while expressing his own American experience and reaching
a new maturity as a recording artist.
Walker continued to grow as a producer. In 1968 (during the brief Walker Brothers reunion and tour of Japan), he
produced a single with the Japanese rock group the Carnabeats, featuring Gary Walker on vocals. [22] Upon his return to the
UK, he produced a solo album for the Walker Brothers' musical director and guitarist Terry Smith. In 1968, Walker also
produced Ray Warleigh's First Album. According to Anthony Reynolds, "[Warleigh's] album, recorded on December 13
and released in the following year, had little in common with the more esoteric progressive jazz that Scott was digging at
the time, and the result veered more toward pleasantly middle-of-the-road muzak than the jazz fusion just around the
corner."[22] In 1968, Scott Walker also produced John Walker's solo single "Woman".[22]
Walker's own relationship with fame, and the concentrated attention which it brought to him, remained a problem for his
emotional well-being. He became reclusive and increasingly distanced from his audience. In 1968 he threw himself into an
intense study of contemporary and classical music, which included a sojourn in Quarr Abbey, a
Catholic Benedictine monastery in Ryde on the Isle of Wight, to study Gregorian chant,[23] building on an interest
in lieder and classical musical modes.[24]
At the peak of his fame in 1969, Walker was given his own BBC TV series, Scott, featuring solo Walker performances of
ballads, big band standards, Brel songs, and his own compositions. Archival footage of the show is extremely rare as
recordings were not conserved. However, audio selections from the show were released in 2019 as the box set Live on Air
1968-1969.[25] In later interviews Walker has suggested that by the time of Scott 3, his first album to be dominated by his
own songwriting, a self-indulgent complacency had crept into his choice of material. His next album, Scott: Scott Walker
Sings Songs from his TV Series, featured no original material and exemplified the problems he was having in failing to
balance his own creative desires with the demands of the entertainment industry and of his manager Maurice King, who
seemed determined to mould his protégé into a new Andy Williams or Frank Sinatra.[2] Despite the failure of the Scott TV
show, the aforementioned companion LP was a commercial success, reaching the top 10 of the UK Albums Chart -
Walker's last album to do so. Around this time, Walker also recorded the title song for the French/Italian film Une Corde,
Un Colt (The Rope and the Colt in English), and in 1970 he recorded "I Still See You" for the soundtrack of the film The
Go-Between.
Having parted company with King, Walker released his fifth solo LP – Scott 4 – at the end of 1969. Compensating for the
previous all-covers album, this was his first album to be made up entirely of self-penned material. It has been speculated
that Walker's decision to release Scott 4 under his birth name of Scott Engel contributed to its chart failure. All subsequent
re-issues of the album have been released under his stage name. As Sean O'Hagan wrote in The Guardian, "Now
recognised as one of his greatest recordings, it sold poorly. The world was not ready for the existentialist musings of a pop
singer whose touchstones were the films of Kurosawa and Bergman and the novels of Kafka and Camus."[26]
Walker then entered a period of self-confessed artistic decline, during which he spent five years making records "by rote,
just to get out of contract"[2] and consoling himself with drink.[2][3] His next album, 'Til the Band Comes In (1970), showed a
pronounced split between its two sides. Side A featured original material (mostly co-written with new manager Ady Semel)
while side B consisted almost entirely of cover versions. Subsequent releases saw Walker revert to cover versions of
popular film tunes, easy listening standards and a serious flirtation with country music. All of his next four albums - The
Moviegoer (1972), Any Day Now (1973), Stretch (1973), and We Had It All (1974) - feature no original material
whatsoever.[27] Walker would later prevent these four albums, and the 1969 TV Series album, from being released on CD.
[28]
The last two did receive a CD release by independent label BGO Records in the late 1990s, though without Walker's
own approval.
In the 2006 documentary Scott Walker: 30 Century Man, Walker describes these as his "lost years" in terms of creativity.
He has also confessed to having surrendered his direction due to outside pressure:
The record company called me in [following the commercial failure of Scott 4] and carpeted me and said you've got to
make a commercial record for us... I was acting in bad faith for many years during that time... I was trying to hang on. I
should have stopped. I should have said, 'OK, forget it' and walked away. But I thought if I keep hanging on and making
these bloody awful records... this is going to turn round if I just hang in long enough, and it didn't. It went from bad to
worse...[3]

1975–1978: The Walker Brothers reunite[edit]

By the mid-1970s, Walker's career was at its nadir, and he joined back up with John Maus and Gary Leeds to revive the
Walker Brothers in 1975. Their first comeback single, a cover of Tom Rush's song "No Regrets", from the album of the
same title reached number 7 in the UK Singles Chart, some months after its release. However, the parent album peaked
at only number 49 in the UK Albums Chart. The two singles from the next album Lines (its title track, which Scott regarded
as the best single the group ever released, and "We're All Alone") both failed to chart, and the album fared no better.[29]
[30]
Neither No Regrets or Lines included any original material by Scott.
With the imminent demise of their record label, the Walkers collaborated on an album of original material that was in stark
contrast to the soft rock/easy listening style of the previous two albums. The resulting album, Nite Flights, was released in
1978 with each of the Brothers writing and singing their own compositions (the opening four songs by Scott, the middle
two by Gary and the final four by John). Scott's four songs – "Shut Out", "Fat Mama Kick", "Nite Flights" and "The
Electrician" – were his first original compositions since 'Til the Band Comes In and represented his first steps away from
the MOR image and sound he had cultivated since the commercial failure of Scott 4. The extremely dark and
discomforting sound of Scott's songs, particularly "The Electrician", was to prove a forerunner to the direction of his future
solo work.[16]
In spite of a warm critical reception (with Scott's contributions particularly lauded), sales figures for Nite Flights were
ultimately as poor as those of Lines. The supporting tour saw the band concentrating on the old hits and ballads and
ignoring the songs from their new record. Apparently now fated for a stagnant career on the revival circuit, the Walker
Brothers lost heart and interest, compounded by Scott's increasing reluctance to sing live. By the end of 1978, now without
a record deal, the group drifted apart again and Scott Walker entered a three-year period of obscurity and no releases. [2]
1979–1995: Return to solo career[edit]
In 1981, interest in Scott Walker's work was stimulated by the compilation Fire Escape in the Sky: The Godlike Genius of
Scott Walker, containing tracks selected by Julian Cope, which reached number 14 on the UK Independent Chart.
[31]
Building on the critical and sales momentum of the compilation, Walker subsequently signed with Virgin Records. [16]
In 1984, Walker released his first solo album in ten years, Climate of Hunter. The album furthered the complex and
unnerving approach Walker had established on Nite Flights. While based loosely within the field of 1980s rock music, and
featuring guest appearances by contemporary stars Billy Ocean and Mark Knopfler, it had a fragmented and trance-like
approach.[2] Many of the eight songs lacked either titles ("Track Three", "Track Five" etc.) or easily identifiable melody, with
only Walker's sonorous voice as the link to previous work. Like Nite Flights before it, Climate of Hunter was met with
critical praise but low sales. Plans to tour were made but never came to fruition. A second album for Virgin was begun in
1985, with Brian Eno and Daniel Lanois producing and Robert Fripp on guitar, but was abandoned after early sessions.
[32]
Soon afterwards, Walker was dropped by the label.[33]
Walker spent the late 1980s away from music, with only a brief cameo appearance in a 1987 Britvic TV advert (alongside
other 1960s pop icons) to maintain his profile.[2] He did not return to public attention until the early 1990s when his solo and
Walker Brothers work was critically reappraised again. During 1991 and 1992, Walker's first four solo albums (not
counting TV Series) were issued on CD for the first time and the compilation album No Regrets – The Best of Scott
Walker and The Walker Brothers 1965–1976 hit number 4 on the UK Albums Chart. 'Til the Band Comes In and all of the
Walker Brothers' albums would also see CD release later in the 1990s. Walker's own return to current active work was
gradual and cautious. In 1992 he co-wrote and co-performed (with Goran Bregović) the single "Man From Reno" for the
soundtrack of the film Toxic Affair. Having signed to Fontana Records, he began work on a new album. In the
meantime David Bowie covered Scott's song "Nite Flights" on his Black Tie White Noise album, which also contained the
Walker inspired 'You've Been Around'.[34]
Tilt, Walker's first album for eleven years, was released in 1995, developing and expanding the working methods explored
on Climate of Hunter. Variously described as "an anti-matter collision of rock and modern classical music",[2] as "Samuel
Beckett at La Scala" and as "indescribably barren and unutterably bleak... the wind that buffets the gothic cathedrals of
everyone's favorite nightmares",[35] it was more consciously avant-garde than its predecessor with Walker now revealed as
a fully-fledged modernist composer.[3] Although Walker was backed by a full orchestra again, this time he was also
accompanied by alarming percussion and industrial effects; and while album opener "Farmer in the City" was a melodic
piece, albeit a very dark one, the remaining pieces were harsh and demandingly avant-garde. [36]
Lyrically, subject matter included the life and murder of Pier Paolo Pasolini (and his relationship with Ninetto
Davoli), cockfighting, the Holocaust, the First Gulf War, a conflation of the trials of Adolf Eichmann and Caroline of
Brunswick, and a man talking to the corpse of Che Guevara.[2]
1996–2005: Interim work[edit]
In 1996, Walker recorded the Bob Dylan song "I Threw It All Away" under the direction of Nick Cave for inclusion in the
soundtrack for the film To Have and to Hold. In 1998, in a rare return to straightforward balladeering, he recorded
the David Arnold song "Only Myself to Blame" (for the soundtrack of the Bond film The World Is Not Enough) and also
wrote and produced the soundtrack for the Léos Carax film Pola X, which was released as an album. In 1999, he wrote
and produced two songs - "Scope J" and "Lullaby" - for Ute Lemper on her album Punishing Kiss. "Lullaby" is only
available as a bonus track on the Japanese version of the CD.[37]
In 2000, Walker curated the London South Bank Centre's annual summer live music festival, Meltdown, which has a
tradition of celebrity curators. He did not perform at Meltdown himself, but wrote the music for the Richard Alston Dance
Project item Thimblerigging. The following year he served as producer on Pulp's 2001 album We Love Life (whose track
"Bad Cover Version" includes a mocking reference to the poor quality of "the second side of 'Til The Band Comes In").
In October 2003, Walker was given an award for his contribution to music by Q magazine, presented by Jarvis Cocker of
Pulp. Walker received a standing ovation at the presentation. This award had been presented only twice before, the first
time to Phil Spector, and the second to Brian Eno. The release of a retrospective box set, 5 Easy Pieces, comprising five
themed discs spanning Walker's work with the Walker Brothers, his solo career (including film soundtrack work), and the
two pieces composed for Ute Lemper, followed soon after. The British independent label 4AD Records signed Walker in
early 2004.[38]
2006–2019: Later years[edit]
On May 8, 2006, Scott Walker released The Drift, his first album in eleven years (the same amount of time that separated
his previous two albums Climate of Hunter and Tilt). Critical acclaim for the album garnered a Metacritic score of 85.[39]
In both composition and atmosphere, The Drift was a continuation of the surreal, menacing, partially abstract approach
displayed on Tilt. It featured jarring contrasts between loud and quiet sections; instrumentation was similar to Tilt in the
use of rock instruments and a large orchestra, but the album also interpolated unnerving sound effects such as the
distressed braying of a donkey, a demoniac Donald Duck impression, and (during a recording sequence captured on film)
an orchestral percussionist punching a large cut of raw meat. Lyrical subjects included torture, disease, the relationship
and eventual shared death of Mussolini and his mistress Clara Petacci, and a conflation of the 9/11 attacks with a
nightmare shared by Elvis Presley and his dead twin brother Jesse.[40][41] In contemporary interviews, Walker appeared more
at ease with media attention, revealing a wish to produce albums more frequently and hinting at significant changes in the
nature of his own material if and when it suits him. Although he mentioned the possibility of touring again with a compact,
five-piece band in an interview with The Wire this never transpired.[41]
In June 2006, Mojo and radio honored Scott Walker with the MOJO Icon Award: "Voted for by Mojo readers and
Mojo4music users, the recipient of this award has enjoyed a spectacular career on a global scale". It was presented by
Phil Alexander. A documentary film, Scott Walker: 30 Century Man, was completed in 2006 by New York film
director Stephen Kijak (Cinemania and Never Met Picasso). Interviews were recorded with David Bowie (executive
producer of the film), Radiohead, Sting, Gavin Friday and many musicians associated with Walker over the years. The
World Premiere of Scott Walker: 30 Century Man took place as part of the 50th London Film Festival. When The
Independent released its list of "Ten must-see films" at the 50th London Film Festival, Scott Walker: 30 Century Man, was
among them. A documentary on Walker containing a substantial amount of footage from the film was shown on BBC1 in
May 2007 as part of the Imagine... strand, presented by Alan Yentob.[42]
Walker released "Darkness" as part of Plague Songs, an album of songs for the Margate Exodus project, a re-telling of
the Book of Exodus, the story of Moses and his search for the Promised Land. Ten singer-songwriters were commissioned
by Artangel to write and record a song inspired by one of the ten biblical plagues. Walker's evocation of "Darkness"
appears as the ninth.[43]
On September 24, 2007, Walker released And Who Shall Go to the Ball? And What Shall Go to the Ball? as a limited,
never-to-be-re-pressed edition. The 24-minute instrumental work was performed by the London Sinfonietta with solo
cellist Philip Sheppard as music to a performance by London-based CandoCo Dance Company. The recording is currently
unavailable. From November 13 to 15, 2008, Drifting and Tilting: The Songs of Scott Walker was staged at The Barbican,
in London. It comprised eight songs, two from Tilt – "Farmer in the City" and "Patriot (a single)" – and the rest from The
Drift: "Cossacks Are", "Jesse", "Clara (Benito's Dream)", "Buzzers", "Jolson and Jones" and "Cue". Each song was
presented in a music-theatre manner, with the vocal parts taken by a number of singers, including Jarvis Cocker, Damon
Albarn and Dot Allison.[44] Walker collaborated with Bat for Lashes on the song "The Big Sleep" from her 2009 album Two
Suns.[45] He wrote the score for the ROH2 production of Jean Cocteau's 1932 play Duet for One, which was staged in
the Linbury Studio in June 2011.[46]
Walker's final solo album, Bish Bosch, was released on December 3, 2012, and was received with generally favourable
reviews.[47] In 2014, Walker collaborated with the experimental drone metal duo Sunn O))) on Soused, which was released
on October 21, 2014.[48] A year later, Walker composed the score for Brady Corbet's film The Childhood of a Leader;[49] this
was followed in 2018 by the score for Corbet's film Vox Lux, also featuring music by Australian singer-songwriter Sia.[50]
Collaborations[edit]
As a record producer and guest performer, Walker worked with a number of artists and bands, including Pulp, Ute
Lemper, Sunn O))), and Bat for Lashes.[51]
Personal life[edit]
He is survived by his partner, Beverly; his daughter, Lee, from his marriage to Mette Teglbjaerg, which ended in divorce;
and his granddaughter, Emmi-Lee, who lives with her mother in Denmark.[16][52]
Born an only child, Walker was always reclusive and reluctant to discuss his private life. "He suffered depression, drank
too much, took too many drugs and, like many of the great musicians of the 1960s, went missing in action",
reported Simon Hattenstone in 2012. "He rarely talks to the media" and "has come across as sombre and taciturn." When
asked, Walker agreed that he had found fame hard to deal with. "Well, I was an intense young guy." [3]
Death[edit]
Walker died at the age of 76 in London on March 22, 2019. His death was announced three days later by his record
company 4AD, which announced cancer as the cause of death,[53] while calling him "a unique and challenging titan at the
forefront of British music" and summarising his career highlights online.[54] Tributes included those from Thom Yorke, Marc
Almond and Neil Hannon.[55][56]
Artistry and compositional approach[edit]
Initially working as an interpreter of other people's songs, Scott Walker had developed his own songwriting skills by the
heyday of the Walker Brothers and by the time of his first solo album in 1967. In a 1984 interview he spoke of difficulty in
writing songs: "I don't write songs for pleasure. I can only write when I have to – like I'm under contract, or to finish an
album."[57]
Walker's late 1960s and 1970s work was relatively conventional. On a superficial level, it followed the melodic orchestral
pop template used by singers such as Frank Sinatra, Andy Williams and Jack Jones – mainstream artists whose career
path he was initially expected to follow. Crucial differences came via the more avant-garde orchestrations of his arrangers
(primarily Angela Morley (at the time known as Wally Stott), Peter Knight and Reg Guest) and by Walker's own approach
to lyrics, which involved a cinematic mise-en-scene approach once described as "unsettling short stories, all the more
creepy for their delicate orchestral backdrop."[3] As his solo career progressed, Walker began working political themes into
his lyrics. Among the first of these was "The Old Man's Back Again (Dedicated to the Neo-Stalinist Regime)" (from Scott
4). Further references came via his dramatisation of the work of a CIA torturer on "The Electrician" (Nite Flights).[33]
Walker's next artistic development as a songwriter came when he jettisoned his remaining conventional lyrical concerns
along with his remaining connections to formal popular song (and, by extension, the easy-listening ballads which he had
been famous for). The New York Times described Walker as arriving at "the point where he barely needs melody
anymore. Instead, there are whirring synthesizers, great orchestral blocks of sound, noises of unknown
provenance."[40] Despite the radical alteration of his methods, Walker commented that he did not consider himself a
"composer" in the established sense of the term: "I think of myself as a songwriter, but I agree they are maybe not
traditional songs. I know what people mean, but what else can you call them?"[3]
Walker described his lyrical technique (assembling short blocks of text containing images that are sometimes seemingly
unconnected and disparate from each other) as being similar to "a general, assembling troops on the battlefield." The
Wire has noted that the short blocks of white-on-black text presented in the CD insert for The Drift is reflective of this. The
roots of this compositional technique are apparent as early as the Scott Walker tracks on Nite Flights – the lyrics insert for
the album clearly feature the technique, albeit with a black text on a white background. [41]
Walker stated in the documentary film Scott Walker: 30 Century Man and in numerous interviews that for his entire career
he had not listened to any of his own work after completion, either due to exhaustion from the project or self-criticism. [58][59]
Legacy[edit]
In 2018, Walker published Sundog, a book of selected lyrics. The book is divided into six sections: "The 60s", "Tilt", "The
Drift", "Bish Bosch", "Soused" and "New Songs". The foreword to the book was written by Irish novelist Eimear McBride. [60]
Many artists have expressed their admiration for Walker or cited him as an influence, including David Bowie,[61] Alex
Turner,[61] Marc Almond,[61] Bauhaus,[62] Goldfrapp,[61] Neil Hannon of The Divine Comedy,[61] Julian Cope (who compiled
the Fire Escape in the Sky: The Godlike Genius of Scott Walker compilation in 1981),[63] Jarvis Cocker,[61] Anohni, Thom
Yorke and Radiohead,[64] Steven Wilson of Porcupine Tree,[65] and Mikael Åkerfeldt of Opeth[66] (particularly expressed in
their joint project Storm Corrosion),[67] Tim Bowness of No-Man,[68] Leonard Cohen,[61] Efterklang,[69] East India Youth,[70] Kevin
Hufnagel,[71] Ihsahn,[72] Russell Mills,[73] Dennis Rea,[74] John Baizley of Baroness[75] and Brian Eno.[61]
Discography[edit]
Main article: Scott Walker discography
See also: The Walker Brothers discography

 Scott (1967)
 Scott 2 (1968)
 Scott 3 (1969)
 Scott: Scott Walker Sings Songs from his T.V. Series (1969)
 Scott 4 (1969)
 'Til the Band Comes In (1970)
 The Moviegoer (1972)
 Any Day Now (1973)
 Stretch (1973)
 We Had It All (1974)
 Climate of Hunter (1984)
 Tilt (1995)
  Pola X OST (1999)
 The Drift (2006)
 And Who Shall Go to the Ball? And What Shall Go to the Ball? (2007)
 Bish Bosch (2012)
 Soused (2014, with Sunn O))))
 The Childhood of a Leader OST (2016)
 Vox Lux OST (2018)

Contents

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Background

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Composition


Promotion and release


Critical reception
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 Year-end lists


Track listing
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Vinyl edition


Personnel


Charts


Release history


References

The Beggar (album)

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The Beggar

Digital artwork for the album; physical copies come with the heart on a

plain brown background

Studio album by

Swans

Released June 23, 2023

 Recorded May 2 – August 25, 2022

Studio Candy Bomber (Berlin)

 Post-rock[1]
Genre
 drone[2][3]

Length 121:37

Language English

Label  Mute

 Young God

Producer Michael Gira

Swans chronology

Is There Really a The Beggar

Mind? (2023)
(2022)

Singles from The Beggar

1. "Paradise Is Mine"

Released: March 22, 2023

2. "Los Angeles: City of Death"

Released: May 24, 2023

The Beggar is the sixteenth studio album by the American experimental rock band Swans. It was released
by Mute and Young God Records on June 23, 2023. Written during the COVID-19 pandemic,[4] it was recorded at Candy
Bomber Studio in Berlin, Germany across 2022, with key collaborators of front man Michael Gira, as well as both past and
present members of the band.[5][6] The announcement of the album coincided with the release of its lead single, "Paradise Is
Mine", as well as the announcement of a world tour. The Beggar was preceded and funded by the acoustic demo album Is
There Really a Mind? (2022).
Background[edit]
Swans released their fifteenth studio album Leaving Meaning in 2019, which was a new direction for the band. Front
man Michael Gira stated that, starting with Leaving Meaning, he "decided to make Swans a more open-ended venture,
with musicians coming and going from project to project". After the album's release, Swans planned for a series of tours to
support Leaving Meaning in 2019 and 2020, but the tours were cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This prompted
Gira to write songs for a new Swans album.[6][7] Gira needed funding for the then-upcoming sixteenth studio album from the
band, which led to the release of the fundraiser demo album Is There Really a Mind?, which was released in February
2022. The demo album consisted of acoustic renditions of many of the album's then-unfinished tracks, primarily recorded
by Gira alone at his home studio. Gira promised support for the fundraiser would "go a long way in ensuring a fully realized
and well produced album".[8] The album was recorded and mixed at Candy Bomber Studio in Berlin, Germany.[9]
Composition[edit]
The Beggar has been classified as post-rock[1] and drone.[10][11] Tyler Golsen of Far Out described the album's tone as "dark,
mysterious, and lingering" and mentioned "Gira's signature ominous bray frequently moans and gargles its way throughout
the seemingly-endless songs".[12] Compositions on The Beggar are constructed around heavy repetition, that unlike the
sheer force of older Swans records, is described by Aural Aggravation's Christopher Nosnibor as "woozy and nagging".[13]
Promotion and release[edit]
The Beggar was announced on March 22, 2023 and coincided with the release of the album's lead single, "Paradise Is
Mine". That same day, they also announced a world tour with shows in North America as well as the United Kingdom. [7][6][14]
[15]
The band followed it with a second and final single, "Los Angeles: City of Death", on May 24, 2023, as well as
announced new shows to their world tour.[16]
The Beggar was released on June 23, 2023, via Mute and Young God Records.[7][17][18]
Critical reception[edit]
 Professional ratings

Aggregate scores

Source Rating

AnyDecentMusic? 7.5/10[19]

Metacritic 80/100[20]

Review scores

Source Rating

[21]
AllMusic

Beats Per Minute 90%[22]

[4]
The Guardian

[23]
Louder Than War

[24]
Mojo

[25]
MusicOMH

[26]
The Skinny

Slant Magazine [27]

 Sputnikmusic 3.7/5[28]

Uncut 8/10[29]

The Beggar received positive reviews from music critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to
reviews from professional publications, it received an average score of 80, based on 10 reviews, indicating "generally
favorable reviews".[20] The aggregator AnyDecentMusic? gave it a 7.5 out of 10, based on their assessment of the critical
consensus.[19]
Writing for Louder Than War, John Robb awarded the album five out of five stars, and praised the band for being "full of
surprise and enigma", and believes "they paint pictures and atmospheres that other bands can only dream of".
[23]
Reviewing the album for Beats Per Minute, John Wohlmacher applauded the album for "mark[ing] Gira’s most self-
reflective lyricism" and feels the album contains "his most approachable and nuanced compositions". [22] In a review for The
Guardian, critic Dave Simpson wrote that the album's "prevailing atmosphere" is "one of unsettling, claustrophobic unease,
as [Gira] contemplates life and mortality" and compared tracks "Los Angeles: City of Death", "Michael Is Done" and
"Unforming" to the work of the Velvet Underground, Brian Eno and Spiritualized, respectively.[4] Wyndham Wallace
of Uncut declared the album is "definitely not for the fainthearted" in a positive review. [29] For MusicOMH, David Murphy
proposed the album has "two [flavors], gliding between sweet and sour, heavenly and harrowing, or […] paradise and
parasite" and wrote that "whilst listening is intentionally oppressive, it’s like the insidious continual whisper of conscience
rather than the brimstone sermon, and even when songs reach a clangorous attack they tend to build frog-boilingly slowly
from hushed beginnings".[25] The Arts Desk's Guy Oddy stated that "there is plenty that is new and interesting on The
Beggar" while also noting "at two hours' long, some may still find it a bit much to consume in one sitting" in an overall
positive review.[30]
Other reviewers were less enthusiastic, yet still positive. Reviewing the album for AllMusic, Paul Simpson compared it to
the band's previous release, stating that "for the most part, The Beggar builds on the sound of Leaving Meaning, though
Gira is clearly interested in pushing the band into weirder territory again," and called it, "a riskier yet more successful effort
that feels like a step in a more fulfilling direction."[21] Paul Attard of Slant Magazine found The Beggar was stopped from
"reaching true greatness" because of "how it stands in the shadow of Swans’s recent albums" and criticized the album's
"grandiosity" for becoming "slightly predictable".[27] The Skinny's Joe Creely called The Beggar "another solid entry into the
Swans canon, if not one that suggests it will have the staying power of their classics", and complimented the album for
"mark[ing] Swans as a group intent on developing long into their career" as well as recognizing "there’s no threat of them
losing their intensity" in a lukewarm review.[26] In a review for Far Out, Golsen criticized the album's "interminable song
lengths" and "complete absence of accessible melodies" for not appealing to casual listeners, but simultaneously praised
Gira for "forsaking compromise and only playing to the most dedicated of listeners". [12]
Year-end lists[edit]

Publication List Rank Ref.

Top 100 Albums of the Year

Rough Trade 42 [31]

2023

Fopp Best Albums of 2023 — [32]

Track listing[edit]
Disc one
No. Title Length
1. "The Parasite" 8:21
2. "Paradise Is Mine" 9:23
3. "Los Angeles: City of Death" 3:29
4. "Michael Is Done" 6:08
5. "Unforming" 5:55
6. "The Beggar" 10:15
7. "No More of This" 6:55
8. "Ebbing" 11:04
9. "Why Can't I Have What I Want Any Time That I Want?" 7:38
Total length: 69:08
Disc two
 No. Title Length
10. "The Beggar Lover (Three)" 43:51
11. "The Memorious" 8:38
Total length: 52:29
Vinyl edition[edit]
All tracks are written by Michael Gira
Side A
No. Title Length
1. "Paradise Is Mine" 9:23
2. "The Beggar" 10:15
Total length: 19:38
Side B
No. Title Length
1. "Los Angeles: City of Death" 3:29
2. "The Parasite" 8:27
3. "The Memorious" 7:53
Total length: 19:49
Side C
No. Title Length
1. "Michael Is Done" 6:08
2. "Why Can't I Have What I Want Any Time That I Want?" 7:41
3. "Unforming" 6:10
Total length: 19:59
Side D
No. Title Length
1. "Ebbing" 11:25
2. "No More of This" 6:55
Total length: 18:20
Notes

 "The Beggar Lover (Three)" is excluded from the vinyl release, save for in the form of a digital download card. [17]
Personnel[edit]
Credits adapted from The Beggar digital liner notes and press release.[33][17]
Swans

 Michael Gira – vocals, words, acoustic guitar, production

 Kristof Hahn – lap steel guitar, various guitars, vocals
 Larry Mullins – drums, orchestral percussion, Mellotron, vibes, keyboards, backing vocals
 Dana Schechter – bass guitar, lap steel, keyboards, vocals, piano
 Christopher Pravdica – bass guitar, sounds, keyboards, vocals
 Phil Puleo – drums, percussion, vocals, piano, exotic wind instruments
Other musicians

 Ben Frost – guitar, synthesizers, sound manipulations

 Jennifer Gira – backing vocals
 Lucy Kruger – backing vocals
 Laura Carbone – backing vocals
 Norman Westberg - guitar on “Ebbing”
Additional personnel

 Ingo Krauss – engineering

 Doug Henderson – mastering
 Nicole Boitos – artwork