The night I met Scott in the dream-time of his ‘wilderness years’

Fifty three years ago Scott released Scott: Scott Walker Sings Songs from his TV Series. It got to No 7 in the UK.

Despite its good chart rating, Scott thought it was a ‘wilderness years’ album and ultimately it was deleted for decades.

That’s sad because it contained some powerful big band-driven performances of songs like I Have Dreamed, The Impossible Dream and Lost in the Stars. (it was re-released in 2020 by Pleasure for Music).

After this album Scott’s wilderness years cast a dimming light on his shining career … many say his material was wrong, the time was wrong for one of the greatest singers of all time. Certainly, the charts were being raided by the likes of Simon and Garfunkel, the Carpenters and the Jackson 5.

They were good acts … but not for me.

The enigma of this thin man with a hip haircut and equally hip(ster) jeans, eyes as sad as dreams, a vulnerability and gentleness … and the voice that in so many ways out-classed Elvis and Sinatra and thundered through – or played with – your soul.

Scott was true romance.

I met him once, in a dark room the size of a cupboard behind a stage in Manchester. We got a bit drunk together.

I’d like to share a song and two stories about Scott with you (some of you may have read them before):

#scott #scottwalker #70s #manchester #rafters #simonandgarfunkel #jackson5