Walk Away Renée/Pretty Ballerina

Walk Away Renée/Pretty Ballerina is the debut studio album by the American baroque pop band the Left Banke, released in January 1967. Named after its two hit singles, "Walk Away Renée" and "Pretty Ballerina", it peaked at number 67 on the Billboard Albums chart.[3] Although the album was not widely popular upon its initial release, and fell into relative obscurity for a time,[4][5] it is now viewed as a definitive example of baroque pop music.[6]

Walk Away Renée / Pretty Ballerina
Studio album by
the Left Banke
ReleasedJanuary 1967 (1967-01)[1]
RecordedDecember 1965 – January 1967[2]
StudioWorld United and Mercury, New York City
GenreBaroque pop
Length27:59
LabelSmash
ProducerHarry Lookofsky
The Left Banke chronology
Walk Away Renée / Pretty Ballerina
(1967)		 The Left Banke Too
(1968)
Singles from Walk Away Renée / Pretty Ballerina
  1. "Walk Away Renée" / "I Haven't Got the Nerve"
    Released: July 1966
  2. "Pretty Ballerina" / "Lazy Day"
    Released: December 1966
  3. "She May Call You Up Tonight" / "Barterers and Their Wives"
    Released: May 1967

The album spent eleven weeks on the Billboard 200, peaking at number 67. After its initial release, the album remained out of print for decades. It was, however, available in its entirety on the 1992 compilation There's Gonna Be a Storm: The Complete Recordings 1966–1969. On June 28, 2011, Walk Away Renée/Pretty Ballerina was reissued on Sundazed Records, remastered by Bob Irwin.

Background

During 1966, the Left Banke released the singles "Walk Away Renée" and "Pretty Ballerina", which peaked at number 5 and number 15 respectively on the Billboard Hot 100. Written by keyboardist Michael Brown, the son of producer and jazz violinist Harry Lookofsky, both singles and their B-sides were incorporated into the album.[7]

Early recording sessions for Walk Away Renée/Pretty Ballerina started in December 1965 in the small World United Studio at 48th and Broadway in Manhattan, with sessions for the singles taking place in March and then November 1966. The remaining album sessions took place in January 1967 at Mercury Studios in New York.[2] During the course of 1966, Michael Brown's father and the band's manager/producer, Harry Lookofsky, fired both original drummer Warren David-Schierhorst and guitarist Jeff Winfield, replacing them with George Cameron and Rick Brand.[8]

Most tracks on the album featured lead singer Steve Martin Caro, with harmony vocals by bassist Tom Finn and drummer Cameron; most tracks are also augmented by session musicians, with keyboardist Brown being the only band instrumentalist to appear on every song.[8] However, the band itself does play on the tracks "Let Go of You Girl" and "Lazy Day".[8] "What Do You Know", featuring lead vocals by Brown, is an early example of country rock, contemporary to similar efforts by the Byrds, the International Submarine Band, and Buffalo Springfield.[9]

Critical reception
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[9]

Mark Deming of AllMusic rated Walk Away Renée/Pretty Ballerina four-and-a-half stars out of five. He praised the album's diverse sound and noted that the record had marked the Left Banke for some time as "one of the best and most innovative American bands in rock & roll."[9]

Track listing
Side one
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Pretty Ballerina" (Smash single 2074)Michael Brown2:32
2."She May Call You Up Tonight" (Smash single 2097)Michael Brown, Steve Martin Caro2:18
3."Barterers and Their Wives" (Smash single 2097b)Michael Brown, Tom Feher2:56
4."I've Got Something on My Mind" (Smash single 2119b)Brown, Martin-Caro, Cameron2:46
5."Let Go of You Girl"Brown, Martin-Caro, Cameron2:53
6."Evening Gown"Michael Brown, Tom Feher1:46
Side two
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Walk Away Renée" (Smash single 2041)Brown, Tony Sansone, Bob Calilli2:40
2."What Do You Know"Michael Brown, Tom Feher2:57
3."Shadows Breaking Over My Head"Michael Brown, Steve Martin-Caro2:34
4."I Haven't Got the Nerve" (Smash single 2041b)George Cameron, Steve Martin-Caro2:13
5."Lazy Day" (Smash single 2074b)Michael Brown, Steve Martin-Caro2:24

Personnel

The Left Banke

  • Steve Martin Caro — lead vocals
  • Michael Brown — piano, harpsichord, clavinet; lead vocals (on "What Do You Know")
  • Tom Finn — bass guitar, backing vocals
  • George Cameron — drums, percussion, backing vocals; co-lead vocals on "I Haven't Got The Nerve"
  • Warren David-Schierhorst — drums
  • Jeff Winfield — electric guitar
  • Rick Brand — electric guitar

Additional personnel

Chart positions

Album

Year Chart Peak Position
1967 Billboard 200 67[3]
1967 Cashbox 59

Singles

Year Single Chart Peak Position
1966 "Walk Away Renée" Billboard Hot 100 5[10]
Cashbox 2[11]
RPM magazine 3
"Pretty Ballerina" Billboard Hot 100 15[10]
Cashbox 12
RPM magazine 4
1967 "She May Call You Up Tonight" Billboard Hot 100 120

References
  1. Billboard. January 28, 1967.
  2. Hyde, Bob (1985). History of The Left Banke (1985 LP liner notes - discography and sessionography).
  3. "The Left Banke - Billboard Albums". AllMusic. Retrieved September 7, 2011.
  4. Logan, Nick (1977). The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Rock. New York: Harmony Books. The album, and indeed the band, does not even rate a mention in two early rock music encyclopedias.
  5. Miller, James (1980). The Rolling Stone Illustrated History of Rock & Roll. New York: Random House. ISBN 0-394-73938-8.
  6. "Steve Smith: Wyman and Taylor join the Rolling Stones onstage; Coldplay takes a break". Pasadena Star-News. November 29, 2012. Archived from the original on December 3, 2012. Retrieved May 7, 2016.
  7. "Michael Brown, Songwriter and Keyboardist for the Left Banke, Dies at 65". The New York Times. Associated Press. March 20, 2015. p. B8.
  8. Schinder, Scott (2011). Walk Away Renée/Pretty Ballerina (CD booklet). The Left Banke. Sundazed Records.
  9. Deming, Mark. "Walk Away Renée/Pretty Ballerina – Review". AllMusic. Retrieved January 18, 2020.
  10. Whitburn, Joel. Joel Whitburn's Top Pop Singles 1955-2002.
  11. "Cash Box Top 100 Singles, November 5, 1966". Archived from the original on May 30, 2015. Retrieved January 8, 2018.
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