Gary Walker | |
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Background information | |
Birth name | Gary Leeds |
Also known as | Gary Walker |
Born | March 9, 1942 82) Glendale, California, U.S. | (age
Genres | Rock |
Occupation | |
Instruments | |
Years active | 1962–1978 |
Labels | |
Formerly of |
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Gary Walker (born Gary Leeds; March 9, 1942) is an American retired [1] musician, who was the drummer with both the Standells and the Walker Brothers. Gary is now the last surviving member of The Walker Brothers.
Born in Glendale, California to Jack and Violet Leeds, [2] he attended Glendale High School. [1] His first ambition was to be a pilot, eventually obtaining a pilots license. [2] After a short time in The Standells, [3] he formed the Walker Brothers with John and Scott Walker in 1964. They moved to the United Kingdom with P. J. Proby soon after [1] and had two number ones there. All three members changed their surnames to "Walker". Walker put out four singles as a solo artist in 1966, two of which both peaked at no.26 in the UK. [4] Following a UK and Japan tour in 1967 and 1968, the Walker Brothers disbanded, and Gary formed his own band, Gary Walker & The Rain with Joey Molland, Charlie Crane, and John Lawson. [2] [5]
Gary joined the Walker brothers for another tenure from 1975–1978 and other brief reunions, and by the 1980s was living a private life, operating a small castle model business, and eventually creating models of the Titanic. [2] Walker moved back to the United States at some point, but returned to England when his parents passed away as "there is no reason to go back there". [1] He lives in England with his wife Barbara, who he married on 17 Novmeber 1979. [2] Their son, Michael, was born on 17 December 1986. [2] In 2009, Gary and John Walker wrote the book "The Walker Brothers: No Regrets—Our Story". [6] [7] [8]
Love is an American rock band formed in Los Angeles in 1965. Led by Arthur Lee, the band's primary songwriter, they were one of the first racially diverse American rock bands. Their sound incorporated an eclectic range of styles including garage, folk rock, and psychedelia. While finding only modest success on the music charts, peaking in 1966 with their US No. 33 hit "7 and 7 Is," Love would come to be praised by critics as their third album, Forever Changes (1967), became generally regarded as one of the best albums of the 1960s.
The Standells are an American garage rock band from Los Angeles, California, formed in the 1960s, who have been referred to as a "punk band of the 1960s", and said to have inspired such groups as the Sex Pistols and Ramones. They recorded the 1966 hit "Dirty Water", written by their producer, Ed Cobb. "Dirty Water" is the anthem of several Boston sports teams and is played following every Boston Red Sox and Boston Bruins home win.
Noel Scott Engel, better known by his stage name Scott Walker, was an American-British singer-songwriter and record producer who resided in England. Walker was known for his emotive voice and his unorthodox stylistic path which took him from being a teen pop icon in the 1960s to an avant-garde musician from the 1980s to his death. Walker's success was largely in the United Kingdom, where he achieved fame as a member of pop trio the Walker Brothers, who scored several hit singles, including two number ones, during the mid-1960s, while his first four solo albums reached the top ten during the later part of the decade, with the second, Scott 2, reaching number one in 1968. He lived in the UK from 1965 onward and became a UK citizen in 1970.
Charles Mallory Hatfield was an American "rainmaker".
Pauline Matthews, better known by her stage name Kiki Dee, is an English pop singer. Known for her blue-eyed soul vocals, she was the first female singer from the UK to sign with Motown's Tamla Records.
"Dirty Water" is a song by the American rock band The Standells, written by their producer Ed Cobb. The song is a mock paean to the city of Boston, Massachusetts, and its then-famously polluted Boston Harbor and Charles River.
The Walker Brothers were an American pop group formed in Los Angeles in 1964 by John Walker and Scott Walker, with Gary Walker joining shortly after. They adopted the 'Walker Brothers' name as a show business touch even though they were unrelated. After moving to Britain in 1965, they had several Top 10 albums and singles there, including the No. 1 hits "Make It Easy on Yourself" and "The Sun Ain't Gonna Shine (Anymore)", both of which also made the US Top 20 and Canadian Top 2. Between them was the UK No. 3 hit "My Ship is Coming In". They provided a unique counterpoint to the British Invasion, a period when the popularity of British bands such as The Beatles dominated the U.S. charts, by achieving much more success in the UK than in their home country.
"Do You Hear What I Hear?" is a song written in October 1962, with lyrics by Noël Regney and music by Gloria Shayne. The pair, married at the time, wrote it as a plea for peace during the Cuban Missile Crisis. Regney had been invited by a record producer to write a Christmas song, but he was hesitant due to the commercialism of Christmas. It has sold tens of millions of copies and has been covered by hundreds of artists.
Joseph Charles Molland is an English songwriter and rock guitarist whose recording career spans five decades. He is best known as a member of Badfinger, the most successful of the acts he performed with. Since the death of Mike Gibbins in 2005, Molland is the last surviving member from the band's classic line-up.
Tower Records was an American record label active from 1964 to 1970. A subsidiary of Capitol Records, Tower often released music by artists who were relatively low-profile in compared to those released on the parent label, including artists—such as The Standells and The Chocolate Watchband—later recognized as "garage bands". For this reason Tower is often associated with the garage rock phenomenon of the 1960s.
"Urgent" is a song by the British-American rock band Foreigner, and the first single from their album 4 in 1981.
"No Regrets" is a song by folk and blues singer/songwriter Tom Rush. It is the final song on his 1968 album The Circle Game and was released as a single in the UK in January 1968 and in the US in April. It peaked at number 57 on the UK BMRB Breakers, an official extension of the UK Singles Chart.
Nite Flights is the sixth and final studio album by American pop group the Walker Brothers, released in July 1978 by GTO Records. In contrast to their previous two albums, which were made up almost entirely of cover versions, Nite Flights is the group's only album to feature entirely original songs; Gary Walker contributed two while Scott Walker and John Walker each contributed four. In addition to containing all original material, the album was a radical departure from the group's usual mainstream sound, displaying elements of art rock, new wave and experimental music. It is generally considered an artistic breakthrough for Scott Walker, presaging his later re-emergence as an avant-garde artist.
No Regrets is the fourth album by the American pop group The Walker Brothers. The album was released in 1975 and was the group's first together since 1967. It reached number forty-nine on the UK Albums Chart and includes the single "No Regrets". The single backed with the non-album B-side "Remember Me" became the group's final significant hit single, reaching #7 in the UK Singles Chart in early 1976.
Scott Walker is the stage name of the American singer-songwriter Noel Scott Engel (1943–2019), former lead singer with The Walker Brothers. He lived in the United Kingdom from the 1960s until his death.
"You Don't Love Me" is a rhythm and blues-influenced blues song recorded by American musician Willie Cobbs in 1960. Adapted from Bo Diddley's 1955 song "She's Fine She's Mine", it is Cobbs' best-known song and features a guitar figure and melody that has appealed to musicians in several genres.
John Joseph Maus, known professionally as John Walker, was an American singer, songwriter and guitarist, best known as the founder of the Walker Brothers, who had their greatest success in the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom.
The discography of American pop group The Walker Brothers consists of eight studio albums, two of which were created for the American market, one live album, three extended plays, twenty singles, twenty b-sides and numerous compilations - several of which are listed here.
Let's Go (Pony) is a 1962 song by The Routers. Its infectious “[clap clap clap-clap-clap clap-clap-clap-clap] Let's Go!" chant became a favorite of cheerleaders and football fans worldwide. The musicians were key members of the famous session musicians known as the Wrecking Crew: Earl Palmer (drums), Plas Johnson (saxophone), Tommy Tedesco (guitar), Bill Pitman (guitar), and Jimmy Bond (bass).
"Ooh Poo Pah Doo" is a song written and performed by Jessie Hill. It was arranged and produced by Allen Toussaint. The single reached No. 3 on the Billboard R&B chart and No. 28 on the Hot 100 in 1960 although the charts list the B-side, instrumental "Ooh Poo Pah Doo - Part II", as the hit.