I think it was a thankless task, TBH. By perfectly recreating the lush symphonic backing they left the singers with not much of anywhere to go in terms of interpretation, reducing it pretty much to kareoke, and Scott’s original recordings set the bar ridiculously high for that kind of direct comparison. The Swedish lass (sorry, forgot name) naturally gained some leeway from the gender swap, and Hawley’s insistence on adding his own guitar gave him some room to manoeuvre. John Grant probably had the best match, voice wise, but Jarvis rather lost out, doing straight covers with a (comparatively) weak voice. I’d very much like to hear Jarvis cover some Walker tracks on his own terms, with his own instrumentation. So was it a good idea? I’d say not really - it had to be symphonic to fit in with the proms, but it was too constrained by being symphonic. Still, nice for Scott to get some mainstream love, and his interview with Jarvis on 6Music the week before was essential listening (moreso than the actual prom). It also made me finally get off my rear and track down the BGO CD of ‘Til The Band Comes In, so it has that in its favour.
Heard about him from some young youtuber called adam nichols. sampled some stuff and sounded interesting. This was about 4 years ago. Today i finally sat down and listened to scott1/2/3/4. i didn't really connect with 2 and 4. But love 1 and 3. so i'll be picking those up. I figure this is enough for me
scott 1-4 came in the post a couple days ago. had to replace the jewel cases as they took some damage but thankfully the discs and art work are in great shape. these are the original fontana pressings: they sound great! also picked up an original cd pressing of climate of hunter: second from the last track doesn't rip cleanly in dbpoweramp. have to figure out what I'm going to do there. also trying to get used to my new scanner (v800)...scanned, tweaked, and uploaded 1-4 to album art exchange: https://www.albumartexchange.com/covers?q=slainte&fltr=UPLOADER&sort=DATE&status=&size=any#
Because I'm a Scott Walker freak and I have to own everything he's done, I picked up Humble Beginnings: The Scott Engel Sessions at a used CD store in PDX. It's great: his voice hasn't lowered yet to that distinctive tone, but the performances are wonderful.
re-posting with images since i don't see an edit option in my original post: scott 1-4 came in the post a couple days ago. had to replace the jewel cases as they took some damage but thankfully the discs and art work are in great shape. these are the original fontana pressings: they sound great! also picked up an original cd pressing of climate of hunter: second from the last track doesn't rip cleanly in dbpoweramp. have to figure out what I'm going to do there. also trying to get used to my new scanner (v800)...scanned, tweaked, and uploaded 1-4 to album art exchange: https://www.albumartexchange.com/covers?q=slainte&fltr=UPLOADER&sort=DATE&status=&size=any#
Been looking on both ebay and Discogs of late prices have really gone up for the original Philips pressings,in spite of all the vinyl reissues.I bought all four very cheaply on ebay,in the early 2000s,for some reason they never clicked with me.I have 1 as a UK mono 2 as an Australian stereo 3 as a Dutch Philips 4 as a Japanese original pressing,with the double OBI. Something made me hold onto these records,and for some reason I began to reexamine Scott's Catalog last year,and was blown away.It finally hit me what incredible records these were.Mind-blowing stuff,especially 3 and 4.I am considering shelling out the big bucks for the original Fontana limited LP of "Tilt".
Regarding appreciation. I started getting into him in 1992 with prerecorded cassettes, they were cheap pocket friendly started with Scott (1) after finishing work, maybe pub with friends ..home I listened on headphones all my serious music listening in was done with hphones on( though past 15 years no). A week later I picked up Scott 2 ( and so on). His lyrics /voice/songs are like a movie in your head. I'd recommend Til The Band Comes In.
Looking a lot like my collection. All the best sounding CD versions there. I was listening to Scott 4 the other day and the bass is amazing. I also love the retro look of those Fontana discs! Enjoy.
Having attended in person, I can tell you that the televised version conveyed only a fraction of what occurred in the actual hall. It was absolutely spellbinding.
In the midst of the Prom, I managed to get an orig "Scott 4" off eBay for not expensive which surprised me. Possibly because the artist was down as Noel Scott Engel. A strong VG+ as they say in the biz..
I was surprised that Scott went, and seemingly enjoyed it. Is the Jarvis/Scott interview available anywhere?
thank you. definitely enjoying again and again and again... you are absolutely right about the bass on scott 4! i especially enjoy it on 'the old man's back again'. then i listen to something like 'boy child' and it just resonates on a level beyond music. admittedly, lyrics are usually secondary to the music for me, but with scott's material, i feel they warrant an equal level of attention. his voice is both another instrument and the vehicle for said lyrics. where lush arrangements ruled much of what i listened to before hearing 'boy child', the sparseness of this track is just as effective. the plucking of a single string...maybe a japanese influence in there somewhere? anyways, ahead of its time? undoubtedly. but even stating so doesn't do justice to the way i feel about it.
After seeing Kate Bush live, there is still a verrrrrry slight bit of hope in me that Scott will do a gig one day...
This thread has got me pulling down my Scott albums and re-listening! Also just ordered Soused to complete the collection. For me, Scott's finest hour is probably Tilt. I put it on last night and all the usual emotions came flooding back. Such a complete piece of work. Also, a special mention for Til The Band Comes In which would get a lot more attention if it was called Scott 5!
It's a shame the book about Bish Bosch has been cancelled (for the time being). It was to include downloads of exclusive versions/remixes of material from Tilt/Drift/Bish I think.
Posting here, as this seems to be the active Scott Walker thread. Spotted on my eBay saved search this morning - what is apparently all four ‘92 Fontana CDs and the BGO Band Comes In for less than £20. A bargain if correctly described - the BGO CD alone usually goes for £15ish.
