''Scott'' is the debut solo album by Scott Walker, originally released in the United Kingdom on

Philips Records Philips Records is a record label founded by Netherlands, Dutch electronics company Philips and in 1999 was absorbed into Netherlands, Dutch-United States, American music corporation Universal Music Group. It was founded as Philips Phonograph ...

in 1967. The album received both strong commercial success as well as critical praise, hitting No. 3 on the

UK Albums Chart The Official Albums Chart is the United Kingdom's industry-recognised national record chart for album, albums. Entries are ranked by sales and audio streaming. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the O ...

. The album was produced by John Franz, who had previously worked with Walker's group

the Walker Brothers The Walker Brothers were an American pop group formed in Los Angeles in 1964 by John Walker (musician), John Walker (real name John Maus) and Scott Walker (singer), Scott Walker (real name Noel Scott Engel), with Gary Walker (musician), Gary Wal ...

, while its instrumental accompaniments were arranged and conducted by

Angela Morley Angela Morley (10 March 192414 January 2009) was an England, English composer and Conductor (music), conductor who became familiar to BBC Radio listeners in the 1950s under the name of Wally Stott. Morley provided incidental music for ''The Go ...

, Reg Guest and Peter Knight.

Overview

''Scott'' was released only six months after Walker's third album with

The Walker Brothers The Walker Brothers were an American pop group formed in Los Angeles in 1964 by John Walker (musician), John Walker (real name John Maus) and Scott Walker (singer), Scott Walker (real name Noel Scott Engel), with Gary Walker (musician), Gary Wal ...

, ''

Images An image or picture is a visual representation. An image can be two-dimensional, such as a drawing, painting, or photograph, or three-dimensional, such as a carving or sculpture. Images may be displayed through other media, including a project ...

''. Its mixture of Walker's original compositions and selection of cover versions established Walker as a more serious and sombre artist; gone were the

Beat group Beat music, British beat, or Merseybeat is a British popular music Music genre, genre that developed around Liverpool in the late 1950s and early 1960s. The genre melded influences from British rock and roll, British and Music of the United St ...

and

Blue-eyed soul Blue-eyed soul (also called white soul) is rhythm and blues (R&B) and soul music performed by white artists. The term was coined in the mid-1960s, to describe white artists whose sound was similar to that of the predominantly black Motown and St ...

material of his former group. The choice of material generally fell into four main categories: his own work ("Montague Terrace (In Blue)", "Such a Small Love", "Always Coming Back to You"), contemporary covers (" The Lady Came from Baltimore", "Angelica"), movie songs ("You're Gonna Hear From Me", "Through a Long and Sleepless Night") and significantly, English-translated versions of the songs of the Belgian singer and songwriter

Jacques Brel Jacques Romain Georges Brel (; 8 April 1929 – 9 October 1978) was a Belgian singer and actor who composed and performed theatrical songs. He generated a large, devoted following—initially in Belgium and France, but later throughout the world ...

(" Mathilde", "My Death", "

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , ; ; ) is the capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, largest city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It has a population of 933,680 in June 2024 within the city proper, 1,457,018 in the City Re ...

"). Brel was a major influence on Walker's own compositions, and Walker included three of his songs on each of his next two solo albums, '' Scott 2'' and ''

Scott 3 ''Scott 3'' is the third solo album by American singer songwriter Scott Walker, released on March 1, 1969, in the United Kingdom through Philips Records. It was produced by John Franz. Though a majority of the tracklist features original songs ...

''. Walker described Brel without qualification as "the most significant singer-songwriter in the world". The real coup for Walker was his luck in acquiring and recording the new

Mort Shuman Mortimer Shuman (12 November 1938 – 2 November 1991) was an American singer, pianist and songwriter, best known as co-writer of many 1960s rock and roll hits, including " Viva Las Vegas". He also wrote and sang many songs in French, such as ...

-translated versions of Brel's material before anyone else. Since the album's release, three complete outtakes, likely recorded during the ''Scott'' album sessions, have circulated in bootlegged form. These are "Free Again" (Basile/Canfora/Colby/Jourdan), "I Get Along Without You Very Well" (

Hoagy Carmichael Hoagland Howard "Hoagy" Carmichael (November 22, 1899 – December 27, 1981) was an American musician, composer, songwriter, actor, author and lawyer. Carmichael was one of the most successful Tin Pan Alley songwriters of the 1930s and 1940s, a ...

) and "I Think I'm Getting Over You" ( Roger Cook/

Roger Greenaway Roger John Reginald Greenaway (born 23 August 1938) is an English singer, songwriter and record producer, best known for his collaborations with Roger Cook and Tony Burrows. His compositions have included " You've Got Your Troubles" and the ...

), the latter of which was recorded for potential single release.

Release and reception

The album was released by Philips Records on 25 August 1967 in the UK. It reached No. 3 on the

, and stayed on the chart for seventeen weeks. It was released the following year in the US on

Smash Records Smash Records was an American record label founded in 1961 as a subsidiary of Mercury Records. History Mercury Record Corporation president Irving Green announced the formation of the company’s new pop subsidiary label, Smash Records, in Ma ...

under the title ''Aloner''.

Track listing

Personnel

* Scott Walker – vocals *

Wally Stott Angela Morley (10 March 192414 January 2009) was an English composer and conductor who became familiar to BBC Radio listeners in the 1950s under the name of Wally Stott. Morley provided incidental music for ''The Goon Show'' and ''Hancock's ...

– arranger, conductor (1, 2, 5, 7, 8) * Reg Guest – arranger, conductor (3, 4, 6, 11) * Peter Knight – arranger, conductor (9, 10) * John Franz – producer * Peter J. Olliff – engineer * Keith Altham – liner notes

Release history

Charts

References

CitationsSources *