The LEFT BANKE: Band History | #094

Baroque Rock, the latest pop style, was applied to the Left Banke after they hit with Walk Away Renee. Though they only recorded two albums and several singles, they Left Banke left behind a rich catalog of pop music from 1966-1969. Steve Martin, Michael Brown, George Cameron, Tom Finn, along with several other contributors make up this elusive band.

[margaretyerves]

I still stop and listen when Walk Away Renee comes on the radio. I’m 76 years old and this song takes me back in time ❤

[peterjohnson]

I’m one of the ones who requested The Left Banke …this was magnificent..

[lilajagears]

Pretty ballerina is one of the most beautiful songs ever written.

[richardhirsh]

Left Banke played my high school in 1968 with the Tokens and Lesley Gore when our school won the Clark’s Gum Wrapper contest :)

[BluesHawk.]

i attended a memorial for Michael Brown shortly after he passed. Alan Merril and George Cameron sang Walk Away Rene with Michael Brown's twin sons playing the violin parts ..beautiful

[LannieLord]

Somewhere, I have the original newspaper ad "Left Bank is looking for a new guitarist".... (I collect old newspapers)

[recordman]

I might be in a distinct majority, but I do believe the Left Banke should be in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

[rumblehat]

"She May Call You Up Tonight" is perfect power pop.

[stander-boff]

I met the original Left Banke through my girlfriend's sister. She was a kind of groupie but was close to the band members. They did shows in New Jersey outdoors and asked help to set up which i did several times. Thanks for this vid, . They had a hard time playing live versions of their songs and were quite pissed about that. Overall it was a great experience. My girfriend's sister moved on to the Hollies. All this happened in '67, I was 20. Thanks for the memories. PS the Banke liked to play pachinko in NYC.

[kennethosborne]

Wonderful. Thankyou so much. I was born in 1947, so grew up with all the great music of the 60's. The Left Bank grabbed me. "Pretty Ballerina" still brings me to tears. Such an undervalued group.

[paulb]

"Walk Away Renee" is one of the sounds of the 1960s. I was a teenager back then and loved the song plus bands like The Association, Mamas & Papas, Lovin' Spoonful, Beach Boys. Listening to the music of the time, on a small medium wave (AM) transistor radio, from a "Pirate Radio" ship anchored in the Irish sea (UK) was part of my history and always will be. Thanks for the series.

[marilynmelzian]

Ivy, Ivy was one of my favorite songs when I was 13. I was sad when it was taken off the radio. A few years ago I found it again and downloaded it. I still like it.

[starmanbrinley]

Hi there Matt! As a 20 year old Left Banke obsessive (and self-described music historian), I want to commend you wholeheartedly for your brilliant, well-crafted and insightful overview of this great band's career. It's funny that they're so well remembered, yet really on the strength of two tracks - despite a catalogue filled with so many gems (albeit complete commercial failure!) I really appreciate the time you must have taken to find all of these rare images as well (some I've never seen previously!). Their story is certainly a bittersweet one, like many of their songs. I agree totally with your thoughts on 'Left Banke Too' - which for some reason, even among their ardent fans, seems to be swept under the rug as subpar or unnecessary. I think that considering Michael Brown was the effective 'leader' and songwriting spearhead of the band, that Tom, Steve and George overwhelmingly exceeded expectations on their own with the quality of the songwriting and playing (and production from Paul Leka, who was riding high with 'Green Tambourine' and the like!). I also appreciate you mentioning Montage - I'm sure you were already aware of the track 'Men Are Building Sand' featuring on the 'Storm' CD as well in a Bert Sommer-led version pre-dating Montage's conception - to me this is a far superior arrangement, and while there will be ceaseless debate about whether that was really the 'Left Banke, ' his vocals are hauntingly out of this world and I think it's one of the best tracks recorded under the Left Banke title. I love 'Ivy Ivy', but perhaps it wasn't very commercial and certainly marked the beginning of the end for chart success! Also, just in case you didn't know, the complete first album's tracks on the 'There's Gonna Be A Storm' CD are all brand new remixes from the multitracks by Rhino's legendary Bill Inglot - great sound quality, highly improved on the originals to my ears, though some songs lose a bit of that 'bite' which the original dodgy mixes have - the originals being inferior perhaps, but very of their time - in an enjoyable way! The original mixes are used on the 2011 reissues from Sundazed however. Finally, in a funny twist besides my own self-discovered love of the Left Banke, my dad was actually lab partners in his high school chemistry class with 'Ricky Brand' (as he remembers him) - he always recalls that Rick could easily nab members of the opposite sex being an aspiring guitarist, and usually missed class to go out on dates. This left Dad in the awkward position of doing all of the work and giving Rick half the credit, which he obliged for quite some time - but at some point called it off, replacing Rick with a female friend of his own...! That was the last my dad heard of him until he was in college and heard from a mutual friend that Rick was now part of the Left Banke, who were then currently local one-off hitmakers...! From my own research, I found that Rick is now a practicing psychologist, still based in the New York metro area - and of course, sadly, the last living member of any iteration of the band. My apologies for leaving such a long comment, but I hope some of this info may be of interest to you, and my sincere thanks again for some fantastic wisdom and entertainment, Matt! Long live the Left Banke!!

[JA-jmbk]

Walk Away- a mesmerizing song & one of my top ten favorites.

[brucifer]

Can't get enough of Pretty Ballerina. What a great song!

[craigthomson]

I have Left Banke’s “There’s Gonna Be A Storm” CD, and it is one you can play all the way through with very few (if any) sub-standard tracks.

[alonzogarbanzo]

I don't know of a better record than Pretty Ballerina. Not saying it's "the best of all time" or anything. Just that it's perfect, and it's never ceased to move me when I hear it.

[errorsofmodernism]

I always loved the pathos this band could evoque with the baroque, 1966 was really an interesting time for avant garde music before rock got self aware and became formulized by marketing types

[stevenkaminsky]

Now that you've covered this favorite band of mine, perhaps you can tackle another of my favorite bands: the Beau Brummels. I love their "Triangle" and their "Bradley's Barn" albums, among others.

[billinglot]

A very nice piece. And thanks for the kind words about the "Storm" CD. Tom Finn was very involved with it and that he was pleased with it meant the world to us.