Knowing Scott Walker: on screen, and in song

Kevin Bronson on February 24th, 2009

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Unless you’re British, or an American of a certain age, chances are you don’t know Scott Walker. Oh, you may have heard the voice – the soaring, tremulous baritone behind the ’60s hit “The Sun Ain’t Gonna Shine Anymore” and some other gems from that era. To most, Walker’s name, if it was recalled at all, has receded into the chords of history.

This week affords two opportunities to get to know Walker, an Ohio native who shot to stardom with the Walker Brothers in the mid-1960s, gradually retired from the spotlight over the next decade and emerged as a vital yet reclusive figure in avant-garde music (despite releasing just three albums since 1984) after that.

You want a guy who chucked idol-dom to explore the dark side? Check out his career trajectory when the documentary movie “Scott Walker: 30 Century Man” finally starts its L.A. run on Friday at the Nuart Theatre. Want to hear the music that inspired the likes of David Bowie, Radiohead, Bryan Ferry, Julian Cope, Johnny Marr and Jarvis Cocker? The Fold and Don’t Knock the Rock are mounting “A Tribute to Scott Walker” at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday at Bordello, featuring, among others, John Doe of X, David J of Bauhaus, Rob Dickinson of Catherine Wheel, Jason Falkner and Ann Magnuson & Kristian Hoffman.

With testimonials from artists such as Bowie, Cocker, Sting, Brian Eno, Damon Albarn of Blur, Alison Goldfrapp and Dot Allison, “30 Century Man” offers a patient, almost reverential look at the driving force behind the Walker Brothers, three American non-siblings who were bigger in the U.K. than in their homeland and whose popularity rivaled that of the Beatles at their pinnacle. Filmmaker Stephen Kijak resists any urge to sex up his 95-minute effort, instead relying on Walker’s career arc to help viewers get their minds around a guy who, decades after being the object of screaming teenage girls’ affection, can be found in a studio punching a slab of pork to record the sound it makes.

The film sheds any pretense of suspense quickly, introducing Walker (born Noel Scott Engel) early, but retains its air of myth-busting throughout, linking, as it does, Walker’s dark work to modern purveyors of melancholia. It’s as respectful as a film could possibly be about a man who clearly lives inside his own head. It’s also a small bit of irony that “30 Century Man” (which premiered in London over two years ago) has left Los Angeles to the end of its run. It’s the geographic reverse of the Walker Brothers, who actually formed in L.A. in 1964 (drummer Gary Leeds is from Glendale) before moving to England and shooting to stardom a year later. Whatever, it is a film that should not be ignored.