Given
that the Walker Brothers were mostly famous for big ballads, the music on
their first album is not very much dominated by ballads. There are
actually only a couple of songs that are clearly ballads. Mostly it
is comprised of midtempo songs that aren't even particularly gloomy despite Scott Walker singing lead almost all the time. The Walker
Brothers' music comes across as very classy, aurally massive, a bit
melancholic but definitely more uplifting rather than dark.
The
Sun Ain't Gonna Shine Anymore was originally performed by Frankie
Valli without any huge success. The Walkers version could have
suffered the same fate if Scott hadn't demanded it to be recorded
once again after the first attempt. The end result was a huge
classic, a track to cherish from now to eternity. Despite being
rather dark in the lyric section, the overall feel you get from it is
something completely different. It is a great song, great arrangement and
performance by both Scott and the studio band.
Randy
Newman's I Don't Want to Hear It Anymore is one of Scott's most
fantastic vocal performances. It seems almost unbelievable that with
this kind of power, style, emotion and flawless phrasing he is still
pretty much a self-learned singer. And even though Scott is just as
great as he is, he also sounds fantastic when singing together with
John Walker. John's background vocals appear in many songs, and the
lovely female choir also plays an important role. Therefore, don't forget
to check out the Walkers' take on the Everly Brothers song the
Seventh Dawn which was the b-side of the Love Her single. There we have
probably the most heavenly, uniquely beautiful harmony ever recorded
by Scott and John. And speaking of great harmonies, also check out
their version of Bob Dylan's Love Minus Zero!
Even
though Scott sang lead on almost anything, John got one lead vocal on
the debut album. His performance on Dancing in the Street may sound even a bit too cool but is in fact very good. John's talents were at this point
largely overshadowed by Scott's amazing performances on songs like
The Girl I Lost in the Rain (chilling!), There Goes My Baby (probably
Scott's best uptempo number here) and, obviously, Make It Easy on Yourself. One Engel composition is even
included on the debut album, You're All Around Me. More of his compositions appeared on b-sides.
An
interesting thing is that at times the Walkers seemed to be very much
drawn towards soul and funk music. However, when it comes to the funk
part, the results rarely were very commendable. Songs like Tell The
Truth and Everything's Gonna Be Alright were great live numbers but
not really Scott's strongest area. Land of 1000 Dances was included
on the debut album and was also a very popular song but I think it
just sounds bizarre when Scott Walker sings it – especially when
you think about what was to come.
Take
It Easy with... was certainly a worthy debut but if you're interested
in hearing the singles and b-sides, which are all very, very good and
not included on the album, I recommend checking out the extended
version as a whole. You don't want to miss the uplifting beauty of
songs like I Need You, After The Lights Go Out, and Young Man Cried. One of my personal favorites is My Ship Is Coming in, which will probably always amaze me. Scott and John make quite a theatrical opera duo!
Here are some samples:
The Sun Ain't Gonna Shine Anymore (promo video - now that's what I call Marketing! And by the way, can you imagine they also performed it live)
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