"Walk Away Renée" is a song written by Michael Brown, Bob Calilli, and Tony Sansone for the band

the Left Banke The Left Banke was an American baroque pop band, formed in New York City in 1965. They are best remembered for their two U.S. hit singles, "Walk Away Renée" and "Pretty Ballerina". The band often used what the Music journalism, music press refer ...

, released as a single in July 1966.

Steve Martin Caro The Left Banke was an American baroque pop band, formed in New York City in 1965. They are best remembered for their two U.S. hit singles, " Walk Away Renée" and " Pretty Ballerina". The band often used what the music press referred to as "baro ...

is featured on lead vocals. It spent 13 weeks on the US charts, with a top spot of No. 5. The song has been widely considered a quintessence of the

baroque pop Baroque pop (sometimes called baroque rock) is a fusion genre that combines rock music with particular elements of classical music. It emerged in the mid-1960s as artists pursued a majestic, orchestral sound and is identifiable for its appropria ...

genre. As musician

Marshall Crenshaw Marshall Howard Crenshaw (born November 11, 1953) is an American musician, singer, songwriter, and guitarist best known for hit songs such as " Someday, Someway", a US top 40 hit in 1982, " Cynical Girl", and " Whenever You're on My Mind". He is ...

explained, "There's something about 'Walk Away Renee' that's one of the most powerful songs I've ever heard, just in terms of provoking an emotional reaction." In 2005, ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. The magazine was first known fo ...

'' placed it at No. 220 in the

500 Greatest Songs of All Time "The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time" is a recurring song ranking compiled by the American magazine ''Rolling Stone''. It is based on weighted votes from selected musicians, critics, and industry figures. The first list was published in December 2 ...

. The track returned to nationwide charts with

cover version In popular music, a cover version, cover song, remake, revival, or simply cover is a new performance or recording by a musician other than the original performer or composer of the song. Originally, it referred to a version of a song release ...

s by

The Four Tops ''The'' is a grammatical article in English, denoting nouns that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The ...

(1967), Southside Johnny and the Jukes (1986) and

Rick Price Roderick Allan Joseph Stewart (born 6 July 1961) known as Rick Price, is an Australian singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and record producer. His debut album, '' Heaven Knows'', was released in July 1992, and peaked at No. 3 on the ...

(1993).

Background

Michael Brown has stated that the song is one of a number he wrote about Renée Fladen (later Fladen-Kamm), the 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 was described as a free-spirited and tall blonde. Brown wrote it one month after he met her.Walk Away Renee
from leftbanke.nu "Walk Away Renée" was one of a series of love songs the infatuated Brown wrote for his muse. Other works about her include the band's second hit "

Pretty Ballerina "Pretty Ballerina" is a song written by pianist Michael Brown that was released as a single by his band The Left Banke in December 1966. It peaked at number 15 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart and number 4 on the Canadian '' RPM'' chart. Co ...

" 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. According to band member Tom Finn: Brown says of his unrequited love for Renée: Renée was looking on during the recording of the song, and her presence nearly prevented its completion. In an interview, Brown stated: However, co-writer Tony Sansone has given a different version of the origin of the song and contends that he is the primary writer. Sansone has stated in interviews that he wrote the lyrics, and he randomly chose the name Renée because

the Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band formed in Liverpool in 1960. The core lineup of the band comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are widely regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatle ...

used the name "Michelle" in their hit song of the same name; he likewise chose a French name, Renée.

Composition

The song features an

alto flute The alto flute is an instrument in the Western concert flute family, pitched below the standard C flute and the uncommon flûte d'amour. It is the third most common member of its family after the standard C flute and the piccolo. It is chara ...

solo played during the instrumental bridge of the middle portion of the song. Brown was inspired to add it by

the Mamas & the Papas The Mamas & the Papas were an American folk rock vocal group that recorded and performed from 1965 to 1968, with a brief reunion in 1971. The group was a defining force in the music scene of the counterculture of the 1960s. Formed in New York C ...

song "

California Dreamin' "California Dreamin" is a song written by John and Michelle Phillips in 1963 and first recorded by Barry McGuire. The best-known version is by the Mamas & the Papas, who sang backup on the original version and released it as a single in Dec ...

" which had been recorded in November 1965, but was not an immediate hit until early 1966. The arrangement for "Walk Away Renée " also includes a lush string orchestration, a jangling harpsichord part, and a descending

chromatic Diatonic and chromatic are terms in music theory that are used to characterize scales. The terms are also applied to musical instruments, intervals, chords, notes, musical styles, and kinds of harmony. They are very often used as a pair, es ...

bass melody. Its production was credited to World United Productions, Inc., but the session was produced by brothers Bill and Steve Jerome, along with Brown's father, jazz and classical violinist

Harry Lookofsky Harry William Lookofsky (1 October 1913 – 8 June 1998) was an American jazz violinist. He was also the father of keyboardist-songwriter Michael Brown, who most notably was a founding member of the Left Banke and Stories. Early life and fa ...

, who also led the string players.Session Notes For Walk Away Renee/Pretty Ballerina LP
The session took place in March 1966.

Personnel

Musicians * Al Rogers – drums * John Abbott – bass * George (Fluffer) Hirsh – guitar * Michael Brown – harpsichord * Friends – strings *

Jackie Kelso John Joseph Kelson Jr. (February 27, 1922 – April 28, 2012), known professionally as Jackie Kelso, was an American jazz saxophonist, flautist, and clarinetist. Biography Born in Los Angeles, California, Kelson was the eldest child of John Jose ...

ncredited– flute * John Abbott – arranger *

– lead vocal * George Cameron & Tom Finn – backing vocals Technical * Steve Jerome – producer, engineer * Harry Lookofsky – producer, strings * Bill Jerome – producer

Chart performance

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Four Tops cover

The

Four Tops The Four Tops are an American vocal group formed in Detroit, Michigan in 1953 as the Four Aims. They were one of the most commercially successful American pop music groups of the 1960s and helped propel Motown Records to international fame. The ...

' recording was featured on their 1967 album '' Reach Out'' and is the second most successful cover version, having reached #15 on the soul singles chart, #14 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, and charting higher than The Left Banke in Canada at #2 on the RPM Magazine charts. Overseas, it peaked at #3 on the UK Singles Chart and #5 in the

Irish Singles Chart The Irish Singles Chart is the Republic of Ireland's music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by the Irish Recorded Music Association (IRMA) and compiled on their behalf by the Official Charts Company. Chart rankings are ...

in January 1968,

The Andantes The Andantes were an American female session group for the Motown record label during the 1960s. Composed of Jackie Hicks, Marlene Barrow, and Louvain Demps, the group sang background vocals on numerous Motown recordings, including songs by M ...

provided backing vocals on this Motown release in unison with the other Tops. ''

Record World ''Record World'' magazine was one of three major weekly music industry trade magazines in the United States, with ''Billboard'' and '' Cashbox''. It was founded in 1946 as ''Music Vendor''. In 1964, it was changed to ''Record World'' under the ...

'' called it a "pretty version" of the song. ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

'' called it "an exciting rock ballad" and said that the "driving vocal workout and exciting production will hit hard and fast."

Personnel

* Lead vocals by

Levi Stubbs Levi Stubbs (born Levi Stubbles, June 6, 1936 – October 17, 2008) was an American baritone singer, widely known as the lead vocalist of the R&B group the Four Tops, that released a variety of Motown hit records during the 1960s and 1970s. He ...

* Background vocals by Obie Benson, Duke Fakir, Lawrence Payton, and

* Instrumentation by

The Funk Brothers The Funk Brothers were a group of Detroit-based session musicians who performed the backing to most Motown recordings from 1959 until the company moved to Los Angeles in 1972. Its members are considered among the most successful groups of stud ...

Chart performance

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Rick Price version

In May 1993, "Walk Away Renée" was released by Australian singer-songwriter

as the fifth single from his debut studio album '' Heaven Knows''. The song peaked at #21 in Australia.

Weekly charts

References

External links

Walk Away Renee – Left Banke Machinima Video

leftbanke.nu
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Walk Away Renee 1966 debut singles 1968 singles 1993 singles 1966 songs Baroque pop songs Four Tops songs The Left Banke songs Rick Price songs Smash Records singles Songs about heartache Songs about loneliness Songs about musicians Cultural depictions of pop musicians Songs written by Michael Brown (rock musician) Song recordings produced by Brian Holland Song recordings produced by Lamont Dozier Motown singles Columbia Records singles