left banke - walk away renee

If you want any more info Rob, email me off board.

I'm downloading the Left Banke best of - "There's gonna be a storm". It's ridiculously good.

(P.S. I love this stuff but when I'm not actively listening to it, it always seems a little too fey for me. Also the lyrics for things like "Men Are Building Sand" are kind of embarrassing.)

If I'm not mistaken There's Gonna Be A Storm is not the best of, but the entire recorded works of the Left Banke, and, yeah, the second half isn't very good.

More than the Left Banke, I love Montage, especially the stripped down, pannicky version of Desiree!

Has anyone heard the Left Bake reunion record from the 80's/early 90's?

(honestly)

There is an interview with a couple of the original members of the Left Banke in one of the last issues of The Big Takeover.

to my ears, the structure of this song is: pre-chorus/chorus/pre-chorus/chorus/etc.

it's kind of brilliant.

i love the fact that "what do you know" is a country song sung in faux british accents.

Not a big fan of Stories, though...just seems mannered and lacking in energy, without the saving grace of callowness found on the LB recordings. Michael Brown's dad, Harry Lookofsky, did the string arrangements on the early stuff--he was a big-time NYC arranger/session man...

"And you have to take the crunchy with the smooth I s'pose"
and
"And then one day it happened - She cut 'er hair and I stopped lovin' 'er"

You should download the masterpiece Black Cab from Jens Lekman/Rocky Dennis homepage (he released stuff on Secetly Canadian etc) It was the best single last year.

It samples I´ve got something on my mind.

http://www.srvice.com/rockydennis.html

You sure about that link? Didn't work for me.

http://www.srvice.com/mp3/rockydennis_blackcab.mp3

his page on secretly

-- amateurist (amateuris...), August 7th, 2003 6:06 PM. (amateurist)

i guess you're not actively listening to it!

-- fact checking cuz (factcheckingcu...), August 8th, 2003.

I love songs like that. The Raspberries' "Go All the Way" and "I Wanna Be With You" are like that too.

Michael Brown's dad, Harry Lookofsky, did the string arrangements on the early stuff
Looks like the dad's album is getting rereleased tomorrow.

Yes! I thought of "I Wanna Be With You" right away.

And the acronym is "WAR."

i'm a big fan of the banke. "she may call you up tonight" is their best song, i always thought, though i quite love "left banke too" LP which has "goodbye holly" and "my friend today." just dark, dripping pop that sounds like nothing else. "men are building sand" is some kind of genius song, too--i mean, the decemberists will spend their whole career trying to do something as good. but, it's such callow music. it's kind of amateur night in a way, but that's what makes it so affecting, in that classic power-pop manner. funny to compare the l.b. and the beau brummels from the same period. there's something very very uptight about those left banke hits whereas "laugh laugh" is a bit less inhibited.

what a strange history, too. michael brown was gone by the time they did "left banke too," right?

haven't checked this, but you mean the "there's gonna be a storm" comp is OP? out-of-print seems a perfectly good term. and pinefox, i think the comp is worth having. a few things that are just too fucking fey, strained, mannered, but overall it's great stuff.

i have the orig. smash LP of "walk away renee" in good shape, and i remember my buddy's *dad* had a copy of "left banke too," this was years ago, that we taped and were way into back then...

It's not worth $60. Either look for it cheap (it used to be a budget price comp for under $10 so I'm sure you'll find it eventually) or wait until it or something to replace it cycles back into print.

That said I've been listening to the Raspberries a lot too. The David also has these kinda baroque pop elements as well. Good stuff.

Ben

then, a few years ago, I sold it on eBay for $55. The fucker who bought it emailed me back and said that it had a scratch and he wanted his money back. Natch, I said he could have his money back as soon as he returned the disc. He ripped the disk to his hard drive, and then sends me back the disc and it is still in perfect condition (it was in perfect condition because I played it exactly one time when I ripped it to my hard drive, and he played it one time when he ripped it to his hard drive.)

I then sold it again on eBay for about the same amount.

Record companies are so stupid to let shit go out of print.

it's kind of brilliant.

This comment made me want to listen and count. The verses are 8 bars long, which seems relatively normal (and is the same as e.g. "About a Girl" by Nirvana). But there is a sense of everything being there to set up the chorus. So maybe it's something in the way the melody and changes lead to the chorus that gives this impression?

And I'll also add, since this has become a more generalized Left Banke thread, that Susanna Hoffs and Matthew Sweet did a GREAT job with their cover of "She May Call You Up Tonight." If anything, even more convincing than the original, and I love that it works with either gender.

No, no, no.

that comp isn't worth $60. as joseph mccombs says, it does kinda trail off a bit toward the end. but shit, I quite like it all except maybe "myrah" and a couple-three others. "give the man a hand" is good.

as for the foreshortened "walk away." well, how long is the track itself? 2:42.

xp

The verses may not be wildly short but they're not long either. The chorus is a little long, with a defined ending. Perhaps most importantly, there's never a double verse.

i go back and forth on preferring the left banke and montage renditions of desiree - right now i'd pick montage, for the focus and propulsion. it's an incredible song. the instrumental version that montage did is also wonderful - it's piano, bass, drums, and sitar, leaving only the verse melody intact. the chorus is just piano emphasizing the original bass line, which makes the entire song.

the montage album is really great - the song grand pianist rivals the best of the left banke, for me, and tinsel and ivy, i shall call her mary, and the piano-and-wah-wah heavy instrumental thor and or are all solid.

you can get Pretty Ballerina on a 45 for 3 bucks.

The butler opened the parlor door
I took my coat and approached the floor
A door opened at the top of the stairs
A sexy lady she was a-standing there
I stumbled and turned around to see
Her Evening Gown
Said yeah, Alright!

She said Forward your love was there
The light was on the jewels in her hair
The only sign gettin' down on my chest
I start to mumble on the way to address
I made the way up and down upon
Her Evening Gown
Said yeah, Alright!

(solo)
Oh...
Mmm-hmm, alright...

The door was on the touch of her feet
Her eyes were wide and her hands petite
I knew I didn't stand a breath of a chance
With all her will she gave me a glance
She won't throw me out, I turned around to meet
Her Evening Gown
Said Yeah, Wowwwwwww!

The butler opened the parlor door
I took my coat and approached the floor
A door opened at the top of the stairs
A sexy lady she was a-standing there
I stumbled in and turned around to see
Her Evening Gown

http://www.lyrics007.com/Left%20Banke%20Lyrics/Evening%20Gown%20Lyrics.html
--

I don't get it.

walk away renee is one of my fave songs ever

yes, it's terrific, but lauren was right, way upthread, to put the extraordinary 'pretty ballerina' alongside it - in fact I think the latter wins, and is the greatest LB song I've heard.

Well we'll agree to differ there then. Interestingly, The Stories wrote one really great song ("Love Is In Motion") and didn't come close to writing another one as good - well, not as near to doing so as the Left Banke did in following their 'great song'.

Picked up the first lp (on vinyl natch) over the weekend. Even the lesser stuff on it is charming. It's a real crime that this and the other Left Banke material is so hard to get. I wonder why, when it seems like everyone and their dog is redoing 60s music, there hasn't been new reissue or at least an audiophile pressing of the debut. Rights holders: get yer ass in gear!

BTW, did that Michael Brown/Steve Martin reunion stuff that harveyw posted about upthread ever come out?

Pretty Ballerina and Walk Away Renee are near-perfect pop songs. Is the rest of this group's output worth investigating?

Those are the peaks, but there is much to love on the first album. Haven't heard the stray singles or the second album.

There's Gonna Be A Storm cd has practically everything and there is a lot to love imo.

"She May Call You Up Tonight" f'rinstance.

Actually, thanks to youtube, here's a couple of the strays:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TeYzV74Il-8

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wpB3LXxyXlw&feature=related

Man, "Desiree" is awesome.

totally

<3 tweethan threads :)

Oh my goodness... "there's Gonna Be a Storm" is possibly one of the GREATEST compilations ever. A least at this moment. On headphones. God, I love this band...

Nah. Guggit. It is one of the GREATEST compilations ever without a doubt. Godhead.

Er..."Fuggit".

Anybody heard this import? It's both albums in correct track order plus the stray tracks and a song not on There's Gonna Be A Storm. Never heard of the label but the reviews are uniformly positive and the it's a good deal cheaper on cd than Storm.

um
i will probably be banned

but I'm not sure I get the love for this song

the singing sounds kind of strained & off key or something

i'll listen some more tho

the slight straining in the vocals helps convey the tune. Please listen some more

Found that import I linked to a few posts up on Ebay for a lower price and got it in the mail today. Surprise surprise it's a bootleg with no liner notes or credits outside of the bare minimum. Sounds ok, no needledrops--I assume it was ripped from There's Gonna Be A Storm. Some of the stuff from the second lp sounds kinda muffled and some of the first album stuff is in mono instead of stereo with no explanation why.

Is it just me, or does "Pedestal" have serious early 70s Bowie thing goin' on? The ache in the vocals, wounded romanticism in the lyrics, Ronson-esque axe heroics...

this fuckin' song guys

Sundazed just revealed on Facebook today that they're doing a reissue of at least the first lp.

UPDATE: First AND Second lps, on hd vinyl & cd, possibly in May, no bonus tracks.

http://www.wpclipart.com/small_icons/misc_7/.cache/thumbs_up.png

And they're doing a reunion:

http://www.rockedition.com/news/the-left-banke-to-reunite/

:)

Shared by Sundazed on Facebook this morning:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nzaig_jlyt4

Cool. Did not know Doug Sahm was in The Left Banke

Sundazed Reissue Product Synergy.

Wait, now I looked at the actual personnel and I see that Mike Fornatale did the lead vocals, the same guy who filled in for The Monks. The guy is some kind of genius.

Remasters in June

I wonder why Sundazed didn't just reissue their albums as a twofer with the two non-album singles as bonus tracks, the way Mercury did with the oop single-disc There's Gonna Be a Storm collection. still, the liner notes and remastering job should be first-rate, so I'm not complaining too much.

Bob Irwin (or whomever it was posting for Sundazed on fbook, usually it's him) replied to a similar query back when they made the initial announcement that the rights holder stipulated that the discs would not have bonus tracks. I guess the stray songs are still a sore point to someone.

The bootleg of the two albums that I have & wrote about upthread has the extras from There's Gonna... plus the mysterious outtake "Foggy Waterfall". The same label (Red Cap) did another twofer comprising the Montage album* and the 80s Left Banke album plus the Montage rarities and the Left Banke Coke ads.

*Apparently the Sundazed edition of this went OOP recently.

Amazing acapella version from the Four Tops

http://youtu.be/bp0OHYnuuXs

OK, this is really awesome

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=SsJodqBURNA#!

Unable to resist calls for a reunion, founding members Tom Finn and George Cameron have reformed The Left Banke for their first live performances since 1970.

Didn't that already happen?

Don't know. I copied and pasted that from a Baltimore nightclub's website touting an upcoming appearance by the Left Banke. Perhaps they just copied it from an old press release

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ts5igrW5Hf4&feature=related

last march

Think forks or someone went. Believe the lead singer is the same ringer who sang at The Monks reunion. Guys got a great gig

Or, what I said in March

<3

Thanks. I shoulda read upthread first.

just found this
rough b+w version
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=seuwhZvXa6Y

& a Shadows Breaking Over My Head
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZQKx47otiIE

I forgot this song existed!

What's the classical melody this sounds a lot like? Something from Beethoven, maybe? I'm blanking.

I never figured it out, did you?

I meant to ask somebody but didn't get a chance yet.

My quick google search came up empty

this song is responsible for Belle and Sebastian

It's not really an exact copy, like "A Lover's Concerto" is, so it won't be on the intranetz, it's more that it's reminiscent of something.

D'oh, it's "Ode to Joy" I'm thinking of. Se me hizo una laguna.

this song is responsible for Belle and Sebastian

You heartless bastard you

http://open.spotify.com/user/grannykart/playlist/3bDTFicBI01pDFT8vFqmlp

The Left Banke – Walk Away Renee
Four Tops – Walk Away Renee
Linda Ronstadt – Walk Away Renee
Jimmy LaFave – Walk Away Renée
Billy Bragg – Walk Away Renee
The Arrows – Walk Away Renee
Karla Devito – Walk Away Renee
Gabor Szabo – Walk Away Renee
Willie Bobo – Walk Away Renee - Instrumental
Jim Wilson – Walk Away Renee
Theodore – Walk Away Renee
Karmaley Ween – Don't Walk Away Renee
Mamontovas – Walk Away Renee
Angel – Walk Away Renee
Rick Price – Walk Away Renee
Orpheus – Walk Away Renee
Jive Bunny And The Mastermixers – Walk Away Renee
Lake Forest – Walk Away Renee
St. Cecilia – Just Walk Away Renee
Pan Pipes Chillout Band – Walk Away Renee (Instrumental Version)
Michael Higgins – Walk Away Renee
Steve Lalor – Walk Away, Renee
Alisa Fineman & Kimball Hurd – Walk Away Renee
Doug Spartz & Larry Suess – Walk Away Renee (with Larry Suess)
Alvin Stardust – Walk Away Renee
Somerdale – Walk Away Renee
Robey, Falk & Bod – Walk Away Renee - Bonus Track
Gjorgi – Walk Away Renee
John De Roo – Walk Away Renée
Hands – Walk Away Renee
Catgut & Steel – Walk Away Renee
Katch 22 – Walk Away Renee
Lee Newman – Walk Away Reneé
Thomas Kovacs – Walk Away Renee

Heh, cool...I did one of these for "Never My Love" last month.

It is almost inconceivable to me that Jive Bunny did a remix of "Walk Away Renee."

NOW Sounds is reporting on FB that Michael Brown has died.

Guess I know what I'm listening to tonight!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=POdiO1xOg-E

when I worked at STeak 'n Shake, back when it still played old 50s/60s muzak and prior to it playing the same shit everybody did, this song would come on every few hours. and it was one of the few songs I looked forward to because of that chorus.

rest in peace

can you please link to a source for this??

https://www.facebook.com/nowsoundsmusic/posts/10153193166664802:0

really love this version

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lSgO-gFnpSk

Rest In Peace :(((

http://www.oregonlive.com/music/index.ssf/2015/03/michael_brown_the_left_banke_death.html

I've had Louis CK on in the next room, so I've heard "Brother Louie" a few times tonight.

RIP Michael :(

RIP, Mr. Lookofsky :(

clemenza, you seem to be thinking of Errol Brown of Hot Chocolate.

No, you are correct. Completely forgot about his involvement with The Stories. My bad.

Gorgeousness...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zxooopmMmTo

James: wasn't till years later that I found out "Brother Louie" was originally Hot Chocolate's. I only knew the Stories version from the radio. (Truthfully, I never really cared for it, although the "Louie Louie" connection is interesting.)

WAs it that way round I had it in my head that Hot Chocolate had a hit with a cover of an obscure song.

According to Wikipedia, the Stories followed about six months later. Not surprising anyone over here wouldn't know that: the Stories hit #1 on Billboard, Hot Chocolate didn't chart (but made it to #7 in the UK).

I'm from the UK but the song would have come out when I was 6 years old. & I've never been massively into the band Hot Chocolate.
Not sure if I've ever actually heard the Stories version. & haven't seen the writing credits or I'd've known, though they're both Browns so maybe I wouldn't.

But I was aware there was a Stories version that somehow related to Michael brown.

I'd bet The Four Tops and several others got higher with covers of Michael Brown material than the Left banke did too.

Left Banke version went to #5 in the U.S., Four Tops went to #14.

Once some guy who fancied himself an office oldies maven was going on about three hit versions "Walk Away Renee." Which led to the following exchange:

JR&tB: Three? I only know the Left Banke original and the Four Tops, which is the third?
OOM: The best of all, Southside Johnny.

Anyway, this page has a version I like which I think I mentioned upthread:

thanks

where's the love for desiree, the less famous but just as good "woman's name ending with -ee" song that MB wrote!
i looooved this song when i was younger. it sounds like a showtune!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z6d9k-Nn0P4

Bad year for Michael Browns.

RIP

Yeah! love "Desiree" (both versions).

Relinking to interesting piece about his dad, Harry Lookofsky: http://www.jonroseweb.com/c_articles_stringsville.html. His dad played and arranged strings on both Left Banke and Stories records, as well as producing, particularly on "Walk Away Renee" for which he apparently had to knock on a lot of record company doors to get a release.

RIP George Cameron
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9_QVUfZv92U

RIP George, had a hand in writing some great songs and also sang lead occasionally.

Rest In Peace and thank you xx

It's always a pleasant surprise to be re-reminded that the entire Walk Away Renée/Pretty Ballerina album is fantastic.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EZSlF2AkrS4
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D_yCSNj50iI

Sundazed:

We’re deeply saddened to hear of the passing of Steve Martin Caro, lead singer for the Left Banke, it’s always brought us tremendous pride and joy to share so much of his art with you over the years. Our tone arms are now at half mast. The work of the Left Banke has long been an elusive holy grail for vintage pop fanatics. The legendary "baroque rock" combo's work ranks with the greatest American music of the 1960s, and remains beloved by discerning pop connoisseurs around the world. Out of print for decades and despite its longstanding unavailability, the Left Banke's music has attained an ever-increasing level of prestige over the years, and continues to exercise a powerful mystique amongst the group's legion of admirers. Thank you Steve for all the wonderful art you’ve brought into our lives. #stevemartincaro #leftbanke #baroquepop #walkawayrenee

RIP, such a great voice.

RIP Steve.

I'm going on a train journey tomorrow and was wondering what music to listen to, problem solved.

RIP. I listen to the 66-69 comp so often and treasure so much of it.

So many awesome versions of this tune

yup

I remember coming across this thread a long long time ago, way back when youtube.com was a brand new thing, in the olden times of 2007 before I'd ever heard this song. I looked it up because I was very interested in hearing what someone called the most beautiful song they'd ever heard. (I also did the same thing when someone here said the same thing about "Wichita Lineman." I'd never heard that before either, somehow.)

Anyway I remember hearing "Walk Away Renee" for the first time and liking it a lot not just because it's great but because it's a great thing brand new to me and therefore probably many others and therefore probably severely underrated. Upon reading the news in this thread today I listened to it again for the first time in a long time and still liked it a lot, and because I have free time to kill while I wait for my start date for my new job, I had a lot of the day today to sit around and listen to music. I listened to the whole Walk Away Renee/Pretty Ballerina album twice. It's great! And I've never heard it before. And being able to hear something great I've never heard before is exactly the sort of thing I've been using this board for for nearly the last twenty years.

"I've Got Something On My Mind" is my favorite

^^ that's a super good one
"Desiree" is my favorite I think

I just looked up the backstory of The Left Banke, and I'm amazed by how young they were. I would never in a million years have guessed that Walk Away Renee was written by an actual teenager, even though the lyrics are all about teenage love.

Also there were two, possibly, three incarnations of the band, in as many years, and all of them were good.

The Stories’ “Love Is In Motion” is a great track. They don’t have their own thread so posting that here.

Now have been listening to There’s Gonna Be a Storm and really digging the melancholy garagey orch-pop of all of it, particularly “Let Go of You Girl.”

“Pretty Ballerina” has a drony violin I never noticed before, played by Lookofsky père, I believe, vaguely reminiscent of “Venus in Furs.”

Other thing I am reminded of a bit is the Dutch group The Outsiders.

Here’s a factoid I never knew from the second album’s Wikipedia page:

A pre-Aerosmith Steven Tyler, then known as Steve Tallarico, contributed backing vocals to several songs on the album including ‘My Friend Today’ and ‘Dark is the Bark’.[3]

It's really obvious it's him too. He was quoted somewhere about he'd been hanging out with the band and was shocked at how unprepared to record they were (songs written immediately before stepping into the studio and/or written in the studio).

Those are pretty good songs, unprepared or not!

Just happened upon this Michael Brown chestnut from the 70s: https://youtu.be/wLeQXGcw5gM

The four tops version is the worst.

Jesus christ!

Bass player Tom Finn has died, meaning the entire original line-up of the band is now dead.

RIP :(

Is it just me, or does "Pedestal" have serious early 70s Bowie thing goin' on? The ache in the vocals, wounded romanticism in the lyrics, Ronson-esque axe heroics...

I was checking out the credits for this song, and noticed it was co-written (and produced) by Thomas Jefferson Kaye, and that he seems to have revived it the next year for an album he did with Jay and the Americans, interesting in that both groups were said to have ties to organized crime at the time:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jND2dj8fU9A

(Association w glam Bowie reminds me that xgau in the 70s heard some of Big Star's music as a blend of the Velvet Underground and Left Banke.)
Michael Brown's mid-70s group the Beckies made one (s/t) LP, with LB appeal in the melodies and arrangements. though a bit limited in words and singing, but (available again as legit download and) well worth checking out here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UCJXric_9UF

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iPYtsXNQGj4

That second link has all 11 tracks in a playlist on the right.

No this should be better:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UCJXric_9UF

Damn!

Havn't listened for a while: finding first couple tracks hard to take, esp. vocally. but then "Midnight and You" is where they start getting more Left Banke-ish, also("Song Called Love" starting to fit (getting faster) with the contemporaneous power-pop approach. "Cant Be Alone" and "River Song" could be more catnip for Tom Scholz and his fans, though "River"'s bridge takes turns that I like better.

Jeez--hadn't listened in many years, should have re-checked before posting, but, to my taste, ones w most LB-ish appeal are "Midnight and You," "Fran," maybe "Other Side of Town," "On The Morning That She Came," and "One of These Days," despite its pre-Boston tendencies