Walk Away Renée
| "Walk Away Renée" | |
|---|---|
| Song |
"Walk Away Renée" is a song made popular by the band The Left Banke in 1966 (single release: July 1966, Smash Records), composed by the group's then 16 year-old keyboard player Michael Brown (real name Michael Lookofsky). The song was also a chart hit for The Four Tops in 1968 and was covered by José Hoebee, a Dutch pop singer and member of the girl group Luv', in 2004 under the pseudonym Stuff.
The song features a flute being played during the instrumental portion of the middle portion of the song. Michael Brown got the idea for the flute solo from The Mamas & the Papas song "California Dreamin'".
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 but quiet tall blonde. The song was written one month after Brown met her.[1] 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.[2]
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"[3]
The song immediately became a pop standard. It has been widely covered by artists in a wide range of genres and styles. 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. Editors at Rolling Stone magazine named it number 220 on the list of 500 greatest Rock/Pop songs.
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"
- [4].
The Ronstadt/Savoy cover was used as a closing song for NBC's Crossing Jordan in January 2007.
Interestingly, "Walk Away Renee" was also covered by the Japanese female pop duo Pink Lady on their American debut album in 1979. ([1])
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[5]
Cultural references
- Tom Scholz of the arena rock band Boston claims that "Walk Away Renee" was the inspiration behind his band's most famous song, "More Than A Feeling".[citation needed]
- Billy Bragg has covered the song, but with different spoken words.
- The Belle and Sebastian song "Piazza New York Catcher" contains the line "You’d settle for an epitaph like 'Walk Away, Renee'."[6]
- Elliott Smith, T'Pau and Angel (band) recorded covers of "Walk Away Renée".
- Gwen Stefani's middle name, Renee, was inspired by this song.[7]
Notes
- ^ Walk Away Reneefrom leftbanke.nu
- ^ Renee’s Still Walking Away, 40 Years On by John Stodder
- ^ Walk Away Reneefrom leftbanke.nu
- ^ NEW YORK TIMES Review by Jon Pareles posted on Ann Savoy's Official Website
- ^ Session Notes For Walk Away Renee/Pretty Ballerina LP From Leftbanke.nu
- ^ Belle and Sebastianfrom Dear Catastrophe Waitress lyrics to "Piazza New York Catcher". Accessed July 1 2007
- ^ Entertainment Weekly #910, December 8, 2006, p. 94, sidebar