Walk Away Renée

"Walk Away Renée"
Single by The Left Banke
from the album Walk Away Renée/Pretty Ballerina
B-side	I Haven't Got the Nerve
Released	July 1966
Genre	Pop rock, baroque pop
Length	2:43
Label	Smash
Writer(s)	Michael Brown, Bob Calilli, Tony Sansone
Producer	Harry Lookofsky
The Left Banke singles chronology
"Walk Away Renée" (1966) "Pretty Ballerina" (1966)

"Walk Away Renée" is a song made popular by the band The Left Banke in 1966 (single release: July 1966, Smash Records, title printed as "Walk Away Renee"), composed by the group's then 16-year-old keyboard player Michael Brown (real name Michael Lookofsky) and Tony Sansone. Bob Calilli is also credited as a writer, though he didn't actually write any of the lyrics or music - he received credit in exchange for setting up the session in which the writing stage of the song was completed.^{[citation needed]} The song was also a chart hit for the Motown group The Four Tops^[1] in 1968.

The song features a flute solo played during the instrumental bridge of the middle portion of the song. Michael Brown got the idea for the flute solo from The Mamas & the Papas song "California Dreamin'" which had been recorded in November 1965 but wasn't a hit and in heavy rotation until early 1966.^[2] The song also includes a lush obbligato string orchestration, memorable harpsichord accompaniment, and a falling chromatic bass melody which led critics to refer to the group's sound as Baroque pop,^[3] "Bach-Rock" or Baroque n Roll.^[4]

Rolling Stone placed the song at number 220 in the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.^[5] After its initial release, it spent 13 weeks on the charts with a top spot at #5.^[6] It has been widely covered by artists in a wide range of genres and styles, often with great success. For example, Linda Ronstadt and Ann Savoy recently covered the song on their album Adieu False Heart. The New York Times' reviewer Jon Pareles stated of their cover version that:

“ Their spare reading of the Left Banke's 1965 hit "Walk Away Renee" brings the lyric's ache into full relief, and allows Ronstadt a brief return to the pop-rock milieu from which she emerged ”^[7]

The real Renée

The song is one of a number Brown wrote about Renee Fladen-Kamm, then-girlfriend of The Left Banke's bassist Tom Finn and object of Brown's affection. She was associated with the band for a few weeks, and described as a free-spirited and quite tall blonde. The song was written one month after Brown met her.^[8] "Walk Away Renée" was one of a series of love songs the infatuated Brown wrote after meeting his newfound muse.^[9] Other songs written about her include the band's second hit "Pretty Ballerina" and "She May Call You Up Tonight". After decades of obscurity, she was identified in 2001 as a noted singer, vocal teacher and artist on the West Coast.^[10]

Brown says of his unrequited love for Renée:

"I was just sort of mythologically in love, if you know what I mean, without having evidence in fact or in deed...But I was as close as anybody could be to the real thing"^[8]

Fladen-Kamm was looking on during the recording of the song, and her presence nearly prevented its completion. In an interview, Brown stated:

"My hands were shaking when I tried to play, because she was right there in the control room," he says. "There was no way I could do it with her around, so I came back and did it later.^[11] "

Session details

• Drums: Al Rogers
• Bass: John Abbott
• Guitar: George (Fluffer) Hirsh
• Harpsichord: Mike Brown
• Strings: Harry Lookofsky & Friends
• Flute: unknown session musician
• Arranger: John Abbott
• Lead Vocal: Steve Martin Caro
• Backing Vocals: George Cameron & Tom Finn
• Engineer: Steve Jerome
• Studio: World United NYC
• Date: early (1966)
• Produced By Harry Lookofsky, Steve Jerome, Bill Jerome^[12]

Cultural references

• Tom Scholz of the arena rock band Boston has credited the "heart-tugging mood" of "Walk Away Renee" as the main inspiration behind his band's signature hit "More Than a Feeling".^[13]
• The title of Storm Thorgerson's 1978 book "The Work of Hipgnosis 'Walk Away René'".
• The Belle and Sebastian song "Piazza New York Catcher" contains the line "You’d settle for an epitaph like 'Walk Away, Renee'."^[14] The opening of 'The Model' uses the same arrangement as the opening of 'Walk Away, Renee'.
• Gwen Stefani's middle name, Renee, was inspired by this song.^[15]
• Singer Rod Stewart named his daughter born in 1992 Renée because "Walk Away Renée" is one of his favorite songs.^[16] Her mother is model Rachel Hunter.
• Celebrity manicurist and Jazz recording artist, Deborah Lippman^[17] has a line of celebrity inspired nail colors which are frequently named after songs. One of her popular colors is a shade of burgundy co-created with Renée Zellweger and named after the song Walk Away Renée. ^[18][19][20]

Notable cover versions

• Four Tops' recording of the song was featured on their 1967 album Reach Out and is arguably the most famous cover of the song,^[21] having reached #14 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #3 on the UK Singles Chart in 1968.^[22][23]

They also recorded an Italian language version, L'arcobaleno (The rainbow).

• The Cowsills performed the song on their 1969 live album The Cowsills In Concert.
• Frankie Valli recorded and released a disco version on his 1975 album Our Day Will Come^[24].
• The female Japanese pop duo Pink Lady included a version of "Walk Away Renee" on their Kiss in the Dark album in 1979.
• John O'Banion covered the song on his 1st EP John O'Banion 1981.
• Bon Jovi covered the song in their tours between 1983 and 1997 as a prelude to "Runaway".
• Rickie Lee Jones covered the song on her 1985 EP Girl at Her Volcano^[25].
• Southside Johnny covered the song on his 1986 album At Least We Got Shoes^[26]. As a single, it reached #98 on the Billboard Hot 100.
• Herbs covered the song on their 1990 Joe Walsh-produced Homegrown album.
• Jimmy LaFave includes a live version on his 1993 album Austin Skyline.
• Marshall Crenshaw included a cover version with slightly altered lyrics on his 2001 album I've Suffered For My Art...Now It's Your Turn^[27].
• Billy Bragg has covered the song, but with different lyrics.^[28]
• Lotion covered the song for their 1995 release The Agnew Funeral E.P.
• Vonda Shepard sang it on the television series, Ally McBeal, referring to one of the characters who was called Renee. Her version appeared on the album, Songs From Ally McBeal.
• T'Pau performed the song at their concerts, and used a recording from one such performance as one of the 'B' tracks for the CD single of their hit, "I Will Be With You."
• Tori Amos performed the song in honor of Schapelle Corby at her May 10, 2005 show in Brisbane, Australia.^[29]
• Les Fradkin has a version on his 2006 release- Goin' Back.
• David Cassidy covered the song on his 2003 album Touch of Blue^[30].
• The Ronstadt/Savoy cover was used as a closing song for NBC's Crossing Jordan in January 2007.
• GJORGI covered the song on his 2nd EP Now And Forever in 2008.^[31] This version was produced by Eran Phillips and one of the song's co-writers, Tony Sansone, including an extra verse which was written by Sansone in 1975 for Frankie Valli.^[32]
• Eric Carmen included a cover version of the song on his 2000 album I Was Born to Love You.
• Rick Price covered "Walk Away Renée" on his 1992 album Heaven Knows. His version of the song was also released as a single and in Australia it peaked at #21. The song was also included on his 2008 album Revisited.
• Alan Merrill covered the song on his Left Banke tribute EP "Rive Gauche" in 2007.
• Jonah Matranga covered the song on his self-released cassette album Songs I Hope My Mom Will Like in 1994.
• The song is best known in Iceland under the title Þó liði ár og öld ('Though years and ages pass'), originally recorded by Björgvin Halldórsson in 1969, with a slightly different premise, and no mention of anyone with the name Renée.^{[citation needed]}

Rickie Lee Jones recorded a version (with "Letter From the 9th Ward") on her 1983 release, "Girl at Her Volcano."

References

1. ^ Gilliland, John (1969). "Show 37 - The Rubberization of Soul: The great pop music renaissance. [Part 3] : UNT Digital Library" (audio). Pop Chronicles. Digital.library.unt.edu. http://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc19796/m1/. Retrieved 2011-04-29. 
2. ^ "California Dreamin', Present at the Creation". NPR. http://www.npr.org/programs/morning/features/patc/californiadreamin/index.html. Retrieved 2011-04-29. 
3. ^ The Left Banke: Walk Away Renee by Roger Bourland July 15th, 2006. Accessed May 6, 2008
4. ^ I'VE GOT SOMETHING ON MY MIND: LEFT BANKE by GUEST WRITER: ZACH MALM for GBOAT : THE GREATEST BAND OF ALL TIME FROM: JUNE 06, 2004. Accessed may 6, 2008
5. ^ The RS 500 Greatest Songs of All Time : Rolling Stone
6. ^ Walk Away Renee : Rolling Stone^{[dead link]}
7. ^ NEW YORK TIMES Review by Jon Pareles posted on Ann Savoy's Official Website
8. ^ ^{a b} Walk Away Renee from leftbanke.nu
9. ^ Dave Simons Studio Stories: How The Great New York Records Were Made : From Miles To Madonna, Sinatra To The Ramones Page 168 Backbeat Books, 2004 ISBN 0-87930-817-6
10. ^ Renee’s Still Walking Away, 40 Years On by John Stodder Sunday, July 30, 2006 from the Blog From the Desert to the Sea… Accessed August 28 2008
11. ^ The Left Banke from ClassicBands.Com Biographies of your favourite classic rock bands. Accessed May 6, 2008
12. ^ Session Notes For Walk Away Renee/Pretty Ballerina LP From Leftbanke.nu
13. ^ More Than a Feeling : Rolling Stone^{[dead link]}
14. ^ Belle and Sebastian from Dear Catastrophe Waitress lyrics to "Piazza New York Catcher". Accessed July 1 2007
15. ^ Entertainment Weekly #910, December 8, 2006, p. 94, sidebar
16. ^ Tim Ewbank, Stafford Hildred Rod Stewart: The New Biography Page 287, Citadel Press, 2005 ISBN 0-8065-2644-0 Accessed via Google Books September 2, 2008
17. ^ What's New at Shapiro Bernstein"Jazz vocalist, Deborah Lippmann recorded an incredibly lush recording of A Nightingale Sang In Berkeley Square..." from shapirobernstein.com Accessed December 15, 2007
18. ^ New from the Lippman Collection By Erin - Thursday, September 27th, 2007 at 12:12pm. Make her Up Beauty Blog Accessed December 15, 2007
19. ^ Just Walk Away Renee Nail Colour from Beauty & Main blog Accessed December 15, 2007
20. ^ The Lippman Collection index
21. ^ Studwell, William E.; Lonergan, David (1999). The Classic Rock and Roll Reader: Rock Music from Its Beginnings to the Mid-1970s. Routledge. p. 148. ISBN 0-7890-0151-9. 
22. ^ Whitburn, Joel. (2008). Top Pop Singles 1955-2006. Record Research Inc. p. 317. ISBN 0-89820-172-1. 
23. ^ Brown, Tony.; Warwick, Neil (2004). The Complete Book of the British Charts. Omnibus Press. p. 426. ISBN 1-84449-058-0. 
24. ^ [1] http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/discography/index.jsp?pid=5942&aid=1138494
25. ^ Nathan Brackett, Christian Hoard The New Rolling Stone Album Guide: Completely Revised and Updated 4th Edition Page 440, Simon and Schuster, 2004 ISBN 0-7432-0169-8 Accessed via Google Books September 2, 2008
26. ^ [2] http://www.answers.com/topic/at-least-we-got-shoes
27. ^ Crenshaw, Marshall. ""I've Suffered For My Art...Now It's Your Turn"". The Marshall Crenshaw Page. http://www.marshallcrenshaw.com/albumsuffered.html#10. Retrieved 2008-11-25. ^{[dead link]}
28. ^ Everything about Billy Bragg^{[dead link]}
29. ^ Little Blue World News: Tori dedicates Australian concert to Schapelle Corby Page 5 2005 Accessed via Google Cache October 4, 2008
30. ^ [3] http://www.amazon.com/Touch-Blue-David-Cassidy/dp/B0000DG5N5
31. ^ [4] http://www.rhapsody.com/gjorgi/nowandforever
32. ^ [5] http://mog.com/themaltesebippy/blog_post/144132

External links

• Walk Away Renee - Left Banke Machinima Video
• leftbanke.nu
• Information on Billy Bragg's cover version (Includes possible picture of Renee Fladen?)