This month on Rabid In The Kennel: '60s stars The Left Banke!

Check out the ’60s baroque pop living legends The Left Banke’s live in the studio session from Brooklyn’s fabulous Kennel Studio, as well as a pleasant, historic, and highly fascinating, 30-minute interview with me, Big Takeover editor Jack Rabid with original members, bassist/vocalist Tom Finn and drummer/vocalist George Cameron. You won’t regret it! This was a particularly special session for us and they had nearly a dozen musicians crowding into the Kennel’s recording rooms to fully realize the orchestral, original baroque-pop grandness (with keyboards and strings) of their original 1966 blockbuster hits, “Walk Away Renee” and “Pretty Ballerina” and a few other tracks. You’ll be amazed!

Want to know more about The Left Banke, and the story of their reunion leading to this session?

In March of 2011, the legendary 1960’s pop group reunited for two shows at Joe’s Pub in New York City. This historic reunion marked the first time that founding members Finn and Cameron performed together in almost 40 years.

The New York City-based band’s use of lush orchestral arrangements led them to be dubbed “Baroque pop.” They also made use of vocal harmonies to great effect, in a fashion similar to contemporaries The Zombies. The Left Banke’s first single, “Walk Away Renée,” reached #5 on the Billboard charts, and it was covered by many other artists including The Four Tops, Frankie Valli and David Cassidy. Rolling Stone ranked “Walk Away Renée” number 220 on their list of the 500 greatest songs of all time.

The group was formed in 1965 and consisted of keyboardist/songwriter Michael Brown, guitarist Cameron, bassist Finn, drummer Warren David and singer Steve Martin. Brown’s father, Harry Lookofsky, a well-known session violinist, ran a studio in New York and took an interest in the band’s music, and acted as producer, manager, and publisher. After some initial sessions, David was ousted, with Cameron switching to drums and Jeff Winfield eventually being brought in on guitar. Meanwhile, Brown’s song, “Walk Away Renee”, was sold to Smash Records, a subsidiary of Mercury Records, and became a hit in late 1966. “Pretty Ballerina,” also written by Brown, charted in early 1967, and the Left Banke released an LP entitled, Walk Away Renee/Pretty Ballerina, by which time, Rick Brand had replaced Winfield on guitar.

At this point, tension between Brown and the rest of the group began to surface, as Brown recorded a single, “And Suddenly”/“Ivy Ivy,” under the Left Banke name, using session musicians (including future member of Spinal Tap Michael McKean) and Bert Sommer on lead vocals. The remaining Left Banke members used their fan club to boycott the record, which led to confusion among radio stations over which “Left Banke” to support. Radio and Smash Records ultimately pulled their support from the single, which subsequently failed to even crack the Hot 100. (“And Suddenly” was eventually recorded by a group called the Cherry People and was a minor hit.)

In late 1967, the group reunited and recorded more material, including the single “Desiree,” which just slipped into the Hot 100. However, radio was still reluctant to plug the Left Banke after the controversy surrounding the previous single. Brown left the group for good soon afterwards, replaced for touring purposes by Emmett Lake. Cameron, Finn and Martin continued to record and tour, with Tom Feher replacing Lake on keyboard and writing half the band’s new material. The songs cut by the various incarnations of the group in 1967-68 were assembled into a second LP, The Left Banke Too, which appeared in November of 1968. The band tottered on as a live entity into 1969 (apparently now without Martin), but soon fell apart due to lack of success and money frustrations. Later that year, Brown and Martin reunited in the studio to cut yet another flop single as The Left Banke, “Myrah” b/w “Pedestal”, which would be their final single on Smash.

In 1992, Mercury Records released a compilation CD of The Left Banke’s complete recorded output, titled There’s Gonna Be A Storm: The Complete Recordings 1966-1969.

(for a longer bio, go here).

Or if you want to know about the band’s recent reissues on the Sundazed label of both the band’s two original albums, in my own words, here’s my own review, my #2 pick from Big Takeover_ issue 69 due out on the stands any day now, to give you an idea of what you will be in for:

the left banke
walk away renee/pretty ballerina
too (Sundazed/UNI)
Reissued at long last, the two classic Left Banke albums! When we say “baroque pop pioneers,” both are as much the bible as anything (inspirations) The Beatles did. In fact, when you think of this group’s greatest song, their smash debut #5 “Walk Away Renee” (setting templates, with strings, harpsichord, Bach-like chromatic bass melody, and haunting flute solo a la Mamas and the Papas “California Dreaming”), it appeared in July, 1966—a month before Liverpool’s finest issued Revolver. Correct; it even predated “Eleanor Rigby” or “For No One,” predicting the more colorful, orchestral, complexly beautiful direction that rock ‘n’ roll would head. Not bad for four New York teenagers! (In 1968, “Renee” was covered for another #14 smash by Motown soul superstars The Four Tops, and it/they’ve never stopped influencing the landscape since, including Belle & Sebastian’s 15-year acknowledgment.) Moreover, since Mercury’s 1992 compendium There’s Gonna Be a Storm; The Complete Recordings 1966-1969 (adding five related tracks to what’s here) went out of print, these incredible recordings became scarce again. With Sundazed maestro Bob Irwin rendering another incredible remaster, these reissues are indispensable. February, 1967’s Walk Away is the bomb, with “Renee,” the fantastic follow-up five months later, 1966 #16 “Pretty Ballerina” (thus Smash Records’ unimaginative LP title!), and nine other songs as inspired and artfully arranged (don’t miss the timeless “She May Call You Up Tonight”). November 1968’s Too should have proved a disappointment, since songwriter and supposed mastermind, 16-year-old wunderkind Michael Brown proved untenable and departed. Yet remaining frontman Steve Martin, and impeccable harmony partners Tom Finn and George Cameron, plus keyboardist Tom Feher showed they could write, conceive, and achieve their own grandscale, immortal works without him. (“There’s Gonna Be a Storm” and “Dark is the Bark” are more giants of the field.) Commercial success eluded the young men after “Ballerina,” when the Brown/band dissention—typical for young stars—confused the public and sabotaged promotion. It matters not; they left behind luxurious riches. (sundazed.com)

Plus, I play songs by a few other artists during the show to give it some extra flavor, namely, the hugely-Left Banke-influenced Belle and Sebastian (a song that namechecks “WWalk Away Renee,” even), Left Banke-offshoot Montage, similar contemporaries from the other side of the ocean, TThe Zombies as well as a track from the Left Banke tribute album a while back. Listen in for sure!

And don’t forget to tune in again soon, on November 16, when we will be hosting Sex Pistols Rich Kids and Specters legend Glen Matlock and on December 14 when we present a best-of show looking back at the greatest tracks from the show’s broadcasts these last three years. Only on breakthruradio.com!