Walk Away Renee

Haven’t done one in quite a while but it’s time again for a rock music oldie.

I’m not sure how much airplay this song got in the Philippines when it became a Top 40 hit in the US back in the mid-1960s, well, 1966 to be exact.  The song I’m referring to is called “Walk Away Renee” by a band called The Left Banke.  I don’t recall ever hearing it played on the radio in Manila, especially by the stations DWRK and DZRJ where I used to get my oldies fix, but I may be wrong.

“Walk Away Renee” is a sad song about unrequited love.   It was written by the band’s keyboardist, Michael Brown and Tony Sansone.  Mr. Brown was 16 years old when he wrote the song and the  “Renee” he wrote about was a girl named Renee Fladen who at that time was the girlfriend of the band’s bassist, Tom Finn.  Released in July 1966, this song peaked at #5 on the Billboard charts.

I got to hear and admire this song back in the mid-1990s when I was a regular listener of a couple of oldies radio stations in the New York city area.  The lush strings and the flute solo in its interlude made the song a pleasure to listen to.  Plus, many a man (myself included) who had dealt with unrequited love at some point in life could certainly relate to the song’s lyrics. 

The use of a flute on what is essentially a rock song was part of a growing trend during the middle part of the 1960s when a number of rock groups started venturing beyond the basic three guitars-and-drum setup to include other types of instruments such as flutes, horns and violins.  Songs such as California Dreamin’ by the Mamas and the Papas (1966), For No One (1966) and Penny Lane (1967) by the Beatles, and Nights in White Satin (1967) by The Moody Blues, to name just a few, all featured wind instruments in their interludes.

But back to the Left Banke.  It is unfortunate that not too many videos of the band can be found on the internet. And the few that are available suffer from rather poor audio and video quality as you will get to see later in this post.  Thus, in order for you to appreciate Walk Away Renee, let me first share with you a video with good audio quality courtesy of YouTube that allows you to give the song a good listen.

The next video is one of the very few that are out there that show the band performing the song.  This video, in particular, dates back from October 1966 and shows the band perform on a short-lived American television show called Where The Action Is.

One immediately notices that the video hasn’t aged well because the quality of both audio and video leave much to be desired.  In fact, the only value it provides, as far as I’m concerned, is that it shows us the band behind the song.  It shows Michael Brown, the song’s co-writer, on keyboards;  Steve Martin Caro is the lead singer; the late Jeff Winfield (who passed away from a lingering illness about a week or so ago) is shown on lead guitar; Tom Finn (now a popular New York social DJ) is shown playing bass guitar; and George Cameron is seen on drums.

It is to be noted, however, that the band, as a performing unit, didn’t last long.  In early 1967, months after the above tv performance aired, the band was wracked by internal squabbles and ego clashes which resulted in its breakup shortly thereafter.

But in spite of their brief existence, they managed to produce a hit song that remains quite popular in the US to this day.  As testament to Walk Away Renee’s continuing popularity, artists such as Linda Ronstadt, Bon Jovi, Rick Price, and David Cassidy, to name a few, have produced cover versions of the song.

Let me end this post then by sharing with you the song’s lyrics.

And when I see the sign that
Points one way,
The lot we used to pass by
Every day.

Just walk away Renee,
You won’t see me follow you back home.
The empty sidewalks on my block
Are not the same.
You’re not to blame.

From deep inside the tears that
I’m forced to cry;
From deep inside the pain that
I chose to hide.

Just walk away Renee,
You won’t see me follow you back home.
Now, as the rain beats down
Upon my weary eyes,
For me it cries.

(Flute solo)

Just walk away Renee,
You won’t see me follow you back home.
Now, as the rain beats down
Upon my weary eyes,
For me it cries.

Your name and mine inside a heart
Upon a wall,
Still finds a way to haunt me
Though they’re so small.

Just walk away Renee,
You won’t see me follow you back home.
The empty sidewalks on my block
Are not the same.
You’re not to blame.