The Walker Brothers

Welcome to Rock and Roll Flashback!  I'm Bill Price, and in this episode I’ll feature the American vocal trio The Walker Brothers, who rose to fame by relocating to the UK during the height of Beatlemania and the British Invasion. 

All podcasts on the Rock and Roll Flashback Podcast are produced by brothers-in-law Bill Price and "Jumpin' John" McDermott. The Podcast Theme Song, "You Essay", was written by John, and the basic track was recorded by Bill and John on April 1, 2004.
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Transcript

 In this episode of Rock and Roll Flashback, I’ll feature the American vocal trio The Walker Brothers, who rose to fame by relocating to the UK during the height of Beatlemania and the British Invasion. And for a short time were just as popular as the Beatles in the UK. Interestingly, The Walker Brothers just like the Righteous Brothers, were not actually brothers nor related. 

The Walker Brothers Trio was formed in Los Angeles, California in 1964, by lead vocalist and guitarist John Maus, bass guitarist and vocalist Noel Engle, who used the name Scott Walker and Al Schneider on drums. Before the trio was formed, John had been using the name John Walker while performing professionally. He also recorded a number of singles with his sister Judy, which were not successful. Prior to joining The Walker Brothers, Noel Engle was the bass player for The Routers. In 1963 Walker and Engle, along with two other band members toured in the American Midwest using the name The Surfaris. Interestingly, none of the band members were part of original Surfaris, which was a Southern California surf band of the early 1960s. 

After dropping Trio from the band’s name, the Walker Brothers were signed to Mercury Records. They recorded the single “Pretty Girls Everywhere” and became popular performers at Gazzari’s Club in Hollywood, California. They also made an appearance on the Shindig television show and the weekly TV program Hollywood A Go Go. During the latter part of 1964, John and Scott met Gary Leeds. Gary was the former drummer for The Standells, who had the hit “Dirty Water”, which reached number 11 in 1965. Interestingly, Gary and Brian Jones of The Rolling Stones convinced the group that their rock and blues music style would play well in the UK. However getting to the UK required money, so the group got a $10,000 loan from Gary’s father. But before leaving for London, they recorded a second single titled “Love Her” with Scott singing lead vocal. The recording was conducted under the guidance of producer Jack Nitzsche, who was well known for his work with Phil Spector and the “Wall of Sound”. Then they appeared in the film “Beach Ball” and sent demo recordings to the UK. In February 1965, the group traveled to the UK to check out the music scene. Upon their arrival, record producer Johnny Franz signed them, and soon the group began performing in various venues and eventually got a recording contract with Philips Records. This led to an opportunity to tour with The Yardbirds. They soon changed their appearance by adopting the current trend of mop top haircuts and casual attire. After several performances, UK audiences quickly embraced the group. An appearance on the weekly show “Thank Your Lucky Stars” was in fact their lucky star, in that it launched what would become the Walker Brothers version of Beatlemania, often referred to as Walkermania. 

The first UK release “Pretty Girls Everywhere”, unfortunately did not achieve much success. The next single, a cover of The Everly Brothers’ recording titled “Love Her”, did manage to get radio airplay, which helped it reach the Top 20 in the UK Singles Chart in June 1965. Then the group recorded the Burt Bacharach and Hal David composition titled “Make It Easy on Yourself”, which had been previously recorded by Jerry Butler. By August it managed to reach the top spot of the record chart. Later it reached the number 16 position in the US Billboard Hot 100. In the UK it sold 250 thousand copies and over one million worldwide, acquiring gold disc status. Interestingly in September, it knocked The Rolling Stones’ big hit “Satisfaction” from the top spot in the UK. 

The Walkers Bothers’ recordings incorporated the backing of symphonic orchestration, which featured some of the UK’s top musicians and arrangers and resembled the Phil Spector "Wall of Sound". The next release was a cover of a song originally recorded by solo artist Jimmy Radcliffe in 1965, titled “My Ship Is Coming In”. In the UK, The Walker Brothers’ version became a hit, reaching number three. In March 1966, The Walker Brothers achieved their second number one hit with a cover of Frankie Valli’s recording of “The Sun Ain’t Gonna Shine Anymore”. By this time the group’s popularity had soared and it was reported that at one point in 1966, their fan club was bigger than The Beatles. In the US “The Sun Ain’t Gonna Shine Anymore” only managed to reach the Top 20. Interestingly the group remained more popular in the UK than in the US. As John Walker would later recall, quote; “As soon as the three of us began playing our instruments, the girls ran on to the stage and attacked us, ripping our clothes and hair, knocking us over, pulling out cables and wreaking havoc everywhere”. “It was complete chaos and mayhem”. Unquote. John passed out after a bunch of teenage girls choked him while ripping off his polo-neck sweater. In a separate incident while being chased down a flight of stairs, he fell and smashed his head open. Due to the swarm of teenage girls constantly hanging outside his house, Scott attempted to retreat from the spotlight. He really did not like being famous, especially for the deeply private Scott, who inspit of the group’s fame, suffered from stage fright and soon came to dislike what being a celebrity entailed. However, as the group gained more popularity it soon became a real problem. Tired of returning home bloodied with torn clothing, and then having to contend with fans pounding on his windows, he tried to hide from the public by wearing disguises. 

By 1964, Kathy Young who had a US hit in 1960 with “A Thousand Stars”, saw that her career was beginning to come to a standstill, most likely as a result of a British Invasion. Then around 1966, she traveled to London where she married John Maus, the founder of The Walker Brothers. The marriage however only lasted for three years and in 1969, Kathy returned to the US. Kathy is featured in the One Hit Wonders episode “Ketty Lester and Kathy Young”. The group released three albums, “Take It Easy with the Walker Brothers” in 1965, “Portrait” in 1966 and “Images” in 1967, plus two extended play releases “I Need You” and “Solo John/Solo Scott” in 1966. After “The Sun Ain’t Gonna Shine Anymore”, additional releases followed which included “You Don’t Have to Tell Me” which climbed to number 13, “Another Tear Falls” reached number 12 and “Deadlier Than the Male” managed to reach number 32 in the UK. In 1967 two additional singles were released, “Stay With Me Baby” and “Walking in the Rain”. Both releases made it to number 26 in the UK. 

By early 1967, The Walker Brothers’ recordings were beginning to sound out of step with the direction the music was taking. This also may have contributed to disagreements and tension within the group. After completing a tour in the UK, which featured Jimi Hendrix, Cat Stevens and Engelbert Humperdinck the group, disbanded, but then in 1968 reformed temporarily in order to perform in Japan. After the Japan tour, all three members released solo singles. Then in the latter part of 1974, they agreed to reform once again as The Walker Brothers. In 1975 the album “No Regrets” was released. The title song was issued as a single and by early 1976, climbed to number 7 in the UK. A follow up album “Lines” failed to become as successful. By 1978, the group released their final album “Nite Flights”, which even though it received favorable reviews, did not sell well at all. The group then performed occasionally, but as John Walker would later state, that the group eventually “Just drifted apart”. In 1992, the group briefly experienced some renewed interest when a compilation album was released titled “No Regrets-The Best of Scott Walker and The Walker Brothers 1965 to 1976”. The album was successful reaching the number four position in the UK Albums Chart. The following year David Bowie recorded a cover of “Nite Flights” which appeared on Bowie’s “Black Tie White Noise” album. In 2006, The Walker Brothers box set titled “Everything Under the Sun” was released, which also included unreleased songs. 

Eventually, John Walker returned to the US and established his own recording studio in California. He also customized guitars and in 2004 started touring again. Gary Walker chose to remain in the UK where he is still active. Scott Walker recorded occasionally, with a change in music style to avant–garde. On May 7th, 2011 John died at his home in Los Angeles. Eight years later, Scott died in London on March 22, 2019. As of 2022, Gary remained the last surviving member of The Walker Brothers. John at one time remarked quote: “Those of us who lived through that time know that it was unique in history, I was lucky enough to be in the middle of that phenomenon”, unquote. This has been a look back at the story behind the success of an American group who relocated from the US to the UK and went on to rival the Beatles, even if for only a brief period of time; The Walker Brothers.