MOR Scott Walker In the 70's: What's the Best Stuff?

I saw one today! Two CD thingy.

Yeah? Scott or Brothers?

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It's a well chosen selection: it has "I Still See You", "Country Girl" (hooray!), "This Way Mary", "Cowboy", "Lost in the Stars"

CD 1:

1. If You Go Away
2. I Will Wait For You
3. In My Room
4. The Sun Ain't Gonna Shine Anymore
5. It's Over
6. Joanna
7. Angels Of Ashes
8. Mathilde
9. Winter Night
10. Orpheus
11. Jackie
12. The Bridge
13. It's Raining Today
14. Once Upon A Summertime
15. Such A Small Love
16. Rhymes Of Goodbye
17. Big Louise
18. Next
19. Til' The Band Comes In
20. Plastic Palace People
21. Butterfly
22. Just Say Goodbye

CD 2:

1. The Me I Never Knew
2. We Could Be Flying
3. I Have Dreamed
4. The Gentle Rain (Stereo)
5. I Still See You
6. Loss Of Love
7. Do I Love You
8. Country Girl
9. Come Saturday Morning
10. When The World Was Young
11. That Night
12. This Way Mary
13. Someone To Light Up My Life
14. The Impossible Dream
15. Who (Will Take My Place)
16. When You Get Right Down To It
17. Face In The Crowd
18. Cowboy
19. If She Walked Into My Life
20. All My Love's Laughter
21. Speak Softly Love
22. Easy Come, Easy Go
23. Lost In The Stars

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1. No Regrets
2. Lover's Lullaby
3. I've Got To Have You
4. Loving Arms
5. I Never Dreamed You'd Leave In Summer
6. Moon's A Harsh Mistress
7. Marie
8. Lines
9. Inside Of You
10. We're All Alone
11. Brand New Tennessee Waltz
12. Dreaming As One
13. Til I Gain Control Again
14. Ballad Of Ty And Jerome
15. Shutout
16. Fat Mama Kick
17. Nite Flights
18. Electrician
19. Death Of Romance
20. Tokyo Rimshot (which as I noted on another thread is supposed to include "Tomita-style electronics" from Scott — not MOR but certainly intriguing-sounding)

Thoughts on Any Day Now?

I dithered for some minutes at a car -boot sale a few years ago before picking this up for £4 or so. It's bound to suffer in comparison with the previous albums, but it has its moments: We Could Be Flying is pretty marvellous - bettered only by the version by Singers Unlimited (with Art Van Damme, of course...). Do I Love You has nice romantic memories for me, too.
Bizarrest cover version on here is Caetano Veloso's Maria Bethania. Just why Scott decided to do this song - a very personal meditation on Caetano's exile in London, sung to his sister - will probably remain a mystery for ever.... but check out his cod-Brazilian accent!

(aside: Orbital sampled his "all the naked and the dead" line from this song on the Halycon EP, and it is the only example of a Scott-sample that I can think of)...

To reiterate: this sounds enticing.

It's not very good, though. It sounds like incidental music for an episode of Starsky & Hutch.

Been pulling these records down off various blog sites this last week ... can’t find Any Day Now anywhere but am digging thru The Moviegoer and Stretch/We Had It All.

Much has been made about how he dips into country in this era—and badly—but while I agree he gets blown pretty far off course, I kind of appreciate where he lands. The juxtaposition of the strings and singing (which largely continues to be fabulous), gospel backing and slide guitars and the syrupy sentiments many of these tracks make for an experience not without its charms. Put another way, this stuff is often bad but rarely boring.

Also, one thing that occurs to me is how much David Sylvian pulled from this period of Scott’s work. He was never the pop balladeer Walker was in the 60s so the MOR era where he was covering industry hacks suited him better, with their richer chord progressions and offbeat melodic turns. Songs like “September” and “Waterfront” owe quite a debt to tracks like Michael Legrand’s “A Face In the Crowd.”

Perhaps we’ll see these records reissued now that Scott isn’t around to block them.