The recent passing of John Walker was so “unannounced” by the media, you could be forgiven for thinking that it was another John Walker, rather than one third of one of the most popular Sixties bands. But then again, The Walkers have been semi-written out of history by numerous people - from one of my relatives who claims they were “never that big”, to the hipsters who namecheck the correct Scott solo albums, but have no idea where it all started. I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again - no “Portrait”, no “Scott 4”.

No “Nite Flights”, no “Climate Of Hunter”. To commemorate John’s death, in this blog I shall look at the band’s 60’s and 70’s output. The Early Years Both Scott Engel and John Maus, as they were then known, had long been involved in music before they formed The Walker Brothers Trio with drummer Al Schneider. They were effectively a beat combo, with John as the lead singer and guitarist, and Scott as bass player. They released their debut single in 1964, “Pretty Girls Everywhere”, a so-so pop song, which gave no indication as to the direction the band would take later on.

Nite Flights, 1978. Nite Flights, 1978. The Walker Brothers. Nite Flights. The Walker Brothers. Nite Flights.

The b-side, “Doin’ The Jerk”, was a song that wouldn’t have sounded out of place in an Austin Powers movie, and the band even performed the song - playing themselves - in a film called “Beach Ball”, one of the most surreal things you will ever see in your life. By the end of the year, with the single flopping universally, Schneider was replaced by Gary Leeds, and the trio adopted their Walker surnames. Leeds had a good pedigree musically, but had apparently signed a bizarre deal earlier on in his music career, and was thus precluded from recording on any Walkers records, meaning session drummers had to be used on all future Walker Brothers studio recordings.

The “trio” recorded their next 45, “Love Her”, in the USA. It had more of a brooding, Phil Spector-esque sound, with a big orchestral roar that would become the Walkers ‘sound’ throughout the sixties, but the first version taped with John on lead was deemed poor. John himself suggested that Scott’s deeper voice would suit the track better, and although Scott was reluctant to be in the limelight, he agreed to sing the song if it was felt he could provide a better vocal. 'The Voice' was discovered, and the Walkers were never the same again.

Scott, more or less, became the group’s lead singer, and although it was later claimed John was jealous of this shift in “rank”, he stated he was more interested in the band becoming popular, even if it meant he had to hand the reins over to Scott. After recording “Love Her”, the band relocated to the UK, whom Gary suggested would “get” the band more than in the US. Upon arrival, “Love Her” started to garner interest, and charted well in the UK. The band decided to stay in Europe, a move that pleased Scott as he was fascinated by European Cinema. The band’s success back in the States remained minimal. By the time the band released their monumental version of “Make It Easy On Yourself” as their next 45, they were superstars - it gave the band a UK Number 1, and the band’s gigs were starting to become manic affairs - John and Scott were often mobbed on stage, and attempts to continue playing as a guitar based 3-piece had to be abandoned almost immediately.

The group instead moulded themselves into a vocal duo with a full band backing them, The Quotations, with Gary as second drummer - twenty five years before Adam And The Ants did it! The band’s debut LP, “Take It Easy With The Walker Brothers”, was issued at the tail end of 65, and charted well. A bit of a patchy affair at times, heavily reliant on covers, it’s image on the front of the three Walkers with their mop tops looking miserably at the camera gave something of a clue as to the morose nature of some of the material they were performing. Although the album did not hit the top spot, the band were by now so popular, their fan club was rivalling that of The Beatles - it seemed that whilst the Fab Four had a lot of admirers who were not obsessive enough to join their fanclub, the Brothers seemed to be worshipped by just about everybody who bought one of their records. There were no 'floating' fans.