Post by Rob Durkee on May 9, 2011 22:23:56 GMT -5
By ROCKIN' ROBIN
John Walker, the founder and lead singer of the Walker Brothers who had two Top 40 mid-1960's hits, died Saturday, May 7, 2011 in the Los Angeles area. He was 67. According to his personal assistant, Polly Klemmer, and the Associated Press, Walker had been diagnosed with liver cancer this past December.
The Walker Brothers burst onto the USA pop music scene in late 1965, when they reached #23 on the Cash Box pop chart with "Make It Easy On Yourself." The song was a remake of a 1962 #24 hit by Jerry Butler. After a modest #68 hit with "My Ship Is Coming In" in early 1966, the Walker Brothers followed up with their biggest USA hit ever with "The Sun Ain't Gonna Shine (Anymore)," which peaked at #14.
John Walker's real name was John Maus, but he adopted the professional last name of Walker when he was in his teens. He did so in order to be able to obtain fake ID's and be able to perform at nightclubs even though he was technically underage. John Walker, bass player Scott Engel and Al "Tiny" Schneider called themselves the Walker Brothers when they were the house band at the Gazzari's, a famous Hollywood nightclub. Not long after attaining success at Gazzari's, John Walker and Engel moved to England, where they joined drummer Gary Leeds to form the most successful Walker Brother lineup.
The Walker Brothers were much more successful in England, where both "Make It Easy On Yourself" and "The Sun Ain't Gonna Shine (Anymore)" both were #1 hits. The Walker Brothers had eight other Top 40 pop hits on the UK chart plus sold over 23 million records worldwide. The group appeared regularly on at least three British TV shows plus were in a movie entitled "Beach Ball." The Walker Brothers disbanded in 1967 with its members going their separate ways into solo careers. The group had a brief reunion in the mid-70's.
Ironically, the Walker Brothers reminded a lot of music fans of the Righteous Brothers in more ways than one. The Walker Brothers sounded like the Righteous Brothers...and neither act had any brothers. Like John Walker, the other members of the Walker Brothers would change their surnames to Walker even though none of them were related. Among the other popular groups over the years that really weren't brothers have been the Blues Brothers, the Buchanan Brothers, the Doobie Brothers and the Brothers Four. The Statler Brothers, by the way, had no one named Statler in the group but did have brothers Don and Harold Reid.
John Walker returned to the USA in the 1980's and continued to tour in England every year until his health started to decline last year.
John Walker, the founder and lead singer of the Walker Brothers who had two Top 40 mid-1960's hits, died Saturday, May 7, 2011 in the Los Angeles area. He was 67. According to his personal assistant, Polly Klemmer, and the Associated Press, Walker had been diagnosed with liver cancer this past December.
The Walker Brothers burst onto the USA pop music scene in late 1965, when they reached #23 on the Cash Box pop chart with "Make It Easy On Yourself." The song was a remake of a 1962 #24 hit by Jerry Butler. After a modest #68 hit with "My Ship Is Coming In" in early 1966, the Walker Brothers followed up with their biggest USA hit ever with "The Sun Ain't Gonna Shine (Anymore)," which peaked at #14.
John Walker's real name was John Maus, but he adopted the professional last name of Walker when he was in his teens. He did so in order to be able to obtain fake ID's and be able to perform at nightclubs even though he was technically underage. John Walker, bass player Scott Engel and Al "Tiny" Schneider called themselves the Walker Brothers when they were the house band at the Gazzari's, a famous Hollywood nightclub. Not long after attaining success at Gazzari's, John Walker and Engel moved to England, where they joined drummer Gary Leeds to form the most successful Walker Brother lineup.
The Walker Brothers were much more successful in England, where both "Make It Easy On Yourself" and "The Sun Ain't Gonna Shine (Anymore)" both were #1 hits. The Walker Brothers had eight other Top 40 pop hits on the UK chart plus sold over 23 million records worldwide. The group appeared regularly on at least three British TV shows plus were in a movie entitled "Beach Ball." The Walker Brothers disbanded in 1967 with its members going their separate ways into solo careers. The group had a brief reunion in the mid-70's.
Ironically, the Walker Brothers reminded a lot of music fans of the Righteous Brothers in more ways than one. The Walker Brothers sounded like the Righteous Brothers...and neither act had any brothers. Like John Walker, the other members of the Walker Brothers would change their surnames to Walker even though none of them were related. Among the other popular groups over the years that really weren't brothers have been the Blues Brothers, the Buchanan Brothers, the Doobie Brothers and the Brothers Four. The Statler Brothers, by the way, had no one named Statler in the group but did have brothers Don and Harold Reid.
John Walker returned to the USA in the 1980's and continued to tour in England every year until his health started to decline last year.
