Scott Walker—'Til the Band Comes In

Scott Walker—'Til the Band Comes In

'Til the Band Comes In—"What happened?" thought the Scott Walker faithful upon the release of his fifth album in December of 1970. The story of Scott Walker in the '70s was unfortunately not an uncommon one; plenty of artists before and since have been given ultimatums by their record companies: sell or die, and even the biggest stars can have short leashes. It took Walker only one failed product, the critically lauded Scott 4 (1969), for Philips to reel him in, and the still-young if well-traveled singer-composer apparently lacked the gumption to stand up to them. What followed was nearly a decade with no original material from Scott Walker, which was one of the biggest losses for pop music in history.

His swan song, as it could be called, was 'Til the Band Comes In. It's an album that has been unfairly lumped in with his infamous '70s tetralogy (The Moviegoer [1972], Any Day Now [1973], Stretch [1973], and We Had It All [1974]), and it is deserved to a small degree. It is, without a doubt, a step down from Scott 4 in every way. It is often prosaic, hardly introspective, and rarely intricate musically, with far less nuance. On the other hand, it captured Walker in a different light, with it having an air of being off-the-cuff like nothing else he recorded among his originals. The brevity of the material often makes it seem as though it was written as a minor observance, or a snapshot of life during wartime.

The "Prologue" sets the tone: a tenement building with a leaky faucet and screaming children, set across a backdrop of soggy strings from Walker's usual arranger, Wally Stott (Angela Morley). It segues into the 10/8 shuffle of "Little Things (That Keep Us Together)," which beat "What's Going On" to the punch by about a month, or was presented as a revved-up "A Day in the Life," if you will. Walker sings that how "A moving car/Stole a movie star" and "Jumbo jets can die/Killing 81" are the "Little things that keep us together," keeping us busy "while the war's going on." The slick "Joe" is the tale of a living, bygone relic who has run out of friends as he waits for death, while the singer muses that Joe has recognized the futility of resisting the course of the world in his old age. "Thanks for Chicago Mr. James" is a tryst between a "kept cowboy," according to Ady Semel's back cover notes, and his city-slicker lover.

"Long about Now," about an unfaithful lover, is sung by Esther Ofarim, Israeli singer of moderate international fame; her performance is nothing terribly special, but it does provide some variety in Walker's format and adds a needed female voice. On "Time Operator," the singer pines for same, and hasn't paid the water or electricity bills, but makes sure to "[make] the bill for the telephone." The song adds to the album's themes of loneliness, evoking a sympathetic reaction as on "Joe," though perhaps with a bit of embarrassment thrown in. "Jean the Machine" pokes fun at Communist paranoia, saying that Jean the burlesque stripper used the "boys in the band ... as part of her dirty Commie plan," according to the landlady. The appropriately curt "Cowbells Shakin'" casts invective at a former lover. Carnivalesque title cut "'Til the Band Comes In" either references the coming of an army, the nearness of death, or both intrinsically tied together. "The War Is Over (Sleepers)" ends the suite as if it is not just the war ending, but a story of people, suggesting that the conflict and its observers are inherently inseparable, at least thematically.

The rest of the record—covers of "Stormy" by Classics IV, "The Hills of Yesterday" from the box-office flop The Molly Maguires with Sean Connery, the First Edition's domestic hit "Reuben James," "What Are You Doing the Rest of Your Life?" from The Happy Ending, and Jimmie Rodgers' "It's Over"—became a large part of the reason why 'Til the Band Comes In came under fire. While they are a bit pointless, it is curious that these five innocuous covers are treated as so insidious when the beloved Scott (1967) and Scott 2 (1968) were littered with covers. The Jacques Brel covers were of course characteristic, as Brel was Walker's main artistic influence, but they were also curiously faithful and, at best, slightly inferior. Others, such as Mann/Weil's soppy, foppish "Angelica," which was also a contemporary tune, are no more or less offensive than the movie music here. Peter Knight handled the covers on 'Til the Band Comes In, and his arrangements are no less interesting than they were on the excellent Scott 4.

Even Walker's fourth album, Scott Walker Sings Songs from his T.V. Series, gets occasional accolades just for the performance factor, which helps present a key point: people liked Walker's covers when they were prepared to hear them, and not tacked on to the tail end of a record of originals. On the first three albums, the covers gave context to the originals, whereas on 'Til the Band Comes In, their placement gives the impression that they were afterthoughts. Perhaps they were, but his versions of "Stormy" and especially "It's Over" are great, and while the middle three are not anything to write home about, they are a small part of the whole.

'Til the Band Comes In is not Scott Walker's best album. It's probably not even in his top three, but based on the talent factor alone, it is a quality work. The production is less adventurous, and the arrangements are more spartan. Perhaps Wally Stott, who told David Toop that Walker "used to sit on the floor with a guitar and strum a few chords and expect me to go away and do Sibelius" (Scott Walker, Pitchfork, November 30, 2012) had grown tired of the collaboration and did not feel compelled to go all-out—indeed, the album was the last time the two would work together. The concept is interesting, and Walker's lyrics are at least thought-provoking, especially the keen "Little Things (That Keep Us Together)" and the heraldic "'Til the Band Comes In," and the humor and variety that pervades the rest of the suite is invigorating.

More Scott Walker reviews by The Old Noise:

Scott (1967)
Scott 2 (1968)
Scott 3 (1969)
Scott Walker Sings Songs from his T.V. Series (1969)
Scott 4 (1969)
'Til the Band Comes In (1970)
The Moviegoer (1972)
Any Day Now (1973)
Stretch (1973)
We Had It All (1974)
Climate of Hunter (1984)
Tilt (1995)
The Drift (2006)
Bish Bosch (2012)
Soused (2014)