Scott 2

Scott 2 follows the formula of Walker's début release, with a mixture of contemporary covers ("Black Sheep Boy", "The Windows of the World") Jacques Brel interpretations ("Jackie", "Next", "The Girls and the Dogs"), film songs ("Wait Until Dark", "Come Next Spring") and his own original compositions ("The Amorous Humphrey Plugg", "The Girls from the Streets", "Plastic Palace People", "The Bridge"). The content of his own and Brel's material was markedly more risqué than on Scott, with "Jackie", "Next" and "The Girls from the Streets" standing out with themes of sexual tribulations and decadent lifestyles, while the contributions of Walker's regular arrangers and the structures of his own compositions were becoming more adventurous and progressive.

According to Jonathan King, writing in the liner notes to Scott 2, not long after the album had been completed Walker described it as the "work of a lazy, self-indulgent man." He added, "Now the nonsense must stop, and the serious business must begin." King continues about Walker: "I have no doubt that many years from now, over a space age dinner of vitamins, [...] he will say: 'Well, the last fifty years have been great fun, but now we must get down to doing something worthwhile.' And he'll mean it."{{cite web|url=http://boomkat.com/vinyl/86367-scott-walker-scott-2 |title=Scott 2 by SCOTT WALKER – LP – Boomkat – Your independent music specialist |publisher=Boomkat |date= |accessdate=2012-03-08}}

The album, released on Philips Records in March 1968, reached No. 1 for one week and stayed in the UK Albums Chart for eighteen weeks.{{cite web|url=https://www.officialcharts.com/artists/ | title=The Official Charts Company – Scott Walker| publisher=Official Charts Company| accessdate=2009-02-12}} The album was preceded by the single "Jackie" in late 1967. The single met with controversy in the UK due to its lyrics about "authentic queers and phony virgins" and drug references.{{cite book |first=Lewis |last=Williams |year=2006 |title=Scott Walker – The Rhymes of Goodbye |edition=1st |publisher=Plexus |location=London |isbn= 0-85965-395-1 |page=68}} The song was banned by the BBC and was not performed on BBC TV or played on the mainstream radio channels. The song eventually charted at No. 22. The album was eventually released in the United States in July 1968 with different artwork, but sold poorly.{{citation needed|date=October 2024}}

Neil Hannon, frontman of the Divine Comedy, later observed that Scott 2 was "A record about real stuff with quite disturbing imagery".Thornton, Anthony: 'Neil Hannon's Record Collection', Q No. 146, November 1998, p67

{{track listing

| headline = Side one

| title1 = Jackie

| writer1 = Jacques Brel, Gérard Jouannest, Mort Shuman

| length1 = 3:23

| title2 = Best of Both Worlds

| writer2 = Mark London, Don Black

| length2 = 3:14

| title3 = Black Sheep Boy

| writer3 = Tim Hardin

| length3 = 2:39

| title4 = The Amorous Humphrey Plugg

| writer4 = Scott Engel

| length4 = 4:31

| title5 = Next

| writer5 = Brel, Shuman

| length5 = 2:50

| title6 = The Girls from the Streets

| writer6 = Engel

| length6 = 4:11

}}

{{track listing

| headline = Side two

| title1 = Plastic Palace People

| writer1 = Engel

| length1 = 6:06

| title2 = Wait Until Dark

| writer2 = Henry Mancini, Jay Livingston, Ray Evans

| length2 = 2:59

| title3 = The Girls and the Dogs

| writer3 = Brel, Jouannest, Shuman

| length3 = 3:10

| title4 = Windows of the World

| writer4 = Hal David, Burt Bacharach

| length4 = 4:25

| title5 = The Bridge

| writer5 = Engel

| length5 = 2:50

| title6 = Come Next Spring

| writer6 = Lenny Adelson, Max Steiner

| length6 = 3:24

}}

• Wally Stott – arranger, conductor (1, 2, 12)
• Reg Guest – arranger, conductor (3, 4, 9)
• Peter Knight – arranger, conductor (6, 10)
• John Franz – producer
• Peter J. Olliff – engineer
• Jonathan King – liner notes

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Category:Scott Walker (singer) albums

Category:Song recordings with Wall of Sound arrangements

Category:1968 albums

Category:Fontana Records albums

Category:Albums conducted by Wally Stott

Category:Albums arranged by Wally Stott

Category:Albums conducted by Peter Knight (composer)

Category:Albums arranged by Peter Knight (composer)

Category:Albums produced by Johnny Franz

Category:Philips Records albums

Category:Smash Records albums