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Born Noel Scott Engel in Hamilton, Ohio, Engel and his mother settled in California by 1959.
When he became disenchanted with the strictures of fame, Scott Walker struck a singular path away from it.
But when the Walker Brothers released their 1978 swan songNite Flights, a transformed Scott Walker emerged.
He penned the song while the massacres were still happening in the country.
Juxtaposing soaring strings with dread-inducing drones, it plotted the trajectory of Walkers irascible late career.
Or have a drum sound derived frompunching a side of pork ribs?
There are also somefart jokes.
It can sound outrageous and opulent, indulgent even.
But it also speaks to the fearlessness of Scott Walker.
He could scan as easy-listening music, supple enough for your grandparents and suburban housewives.
Walker found a way to contain some of humanitys greatest atrocities within his music.
In making his baritone voice such horrors, Scott Walker made sure such things wouldnt disappear.
