Bent Rej captures the spirit of The Walker Brothers
As the 1960s progressed, the British music scene expanded at a rapid and almost uncontrollable pace. After The Beatles blew a hole in music history, other acts like The Rolling Stones and The Animals were rising to the surface, bringing tunes indebted to the blues and folk music. There was still room for easy listening styles of music, however, and in between the sounds of pop music arrived The Walker Brothers.
Instead of the usual dangerous sounds that an artist like Mick Jagger talked about, The Walker Brothers had a much more easygoing approach, adopting the traditional pop tunes from America like ‘Dancing in the Street’ for their biggest hits. Though their style might have been a bit behind the times, there’s a post-modern flair from Bent Rej’s photography that wasn’t common among rock stars around the same time.
Since London was still swinging, a certain warmth comes with seeing photographs of The Walker Brothers, having a more clean-cut image while also not being afraid to let their hair grow down to ‘Beatles’ length. Outside of the action shots in which the band were performing on television, Rej coats each subject in different sweaters, bringing a slightly cosy feeling to their appearance. It wasn’t too far removed from what the music was like, either. Since the band was a much softer version of ‘The British Invasion’, it makes sense to shoot them in this way, almost making a mirror image of someone like Keith Richards and presenting it as a more approachable version of rock and roll.
Despite their image, Rej’s portrayal of the brothers onstage does have a fair bit of mystery behind them. When looking at Scott Walker onstage in his trademark shades, a striking edginess comes with the territory, almost like there’s some sinister edge behind those wireframes.
Outside of the performance shots, Rej’s portraits of the blue-eyed soul group reflected the album covers they were making at the time. The stoic cover behind Take It Easy is contrasted with sharp imagery so that each brother stands out individually, and these photos are no different. Aside from the traditional band shots, the strength behind Rej’s art lies in the simplicity of his work, whether that’s a photograph of John sitting in a field in Paris or Gary resting comfortably in a top hat during a break in the sessions.
For Rej, the swinging sixties was just getting started. From working with the Walker Brothers, his style became much more chaotic, capturing striking images of everyone from The Beatles to The Stones to Frank Zappa’s live gigs. Despite the chaotic freedom that came with rock and roll’s birth, there’s a striking amount of intimacy to these photos that don’t have to be confined to the seedy side of rock and roll.
The other British Invasion acts may have seemed dangerous, but Rej’s take on The Walkers was always genuine to who they were: a bunch of English kids presenting a sophisticated take on soul music. Whereas The Beatles may have caused frenzies in teenage girls everywhere and The Rolling Stones gave sexual energy to rock and roll, one look at these stills made The Walker Brothers feel like a far more gentle take on rock.
