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.

The King of Pop Passes On

This blog takes pause to honor the memory of a music legend, the great Michael Jackson, who was reported to have died from cardiac arrest earlier today.  In his honor, I’m posting a personal favorite.

“Rock With You” (Off The Wall, 1979)

I heard the news from the radio this evening while I was driving home from work.  As a kid of the 1970s, I practically grew up with the man and his music.  From the time when he was the boy lead singer of the Jackson 5 where he was joined by his brothers Tito, Marlon, Jermaine, and Jackie to the time he decided to go solo as a young man in the late 1970s, there was always a Michael Jackson song to be heard either on the radio or at a dance party that I attended.  As some disc jockeys love to say, his music was, at least to members of my generation, part of the “soundtrack of our lives”.

Although he increasingly grew eccentric as the years passed, my fondness for his music never waned.  And although the weird behavior that marked his later years made him an abundant source of jokes for late night tv comedians, we all knew that he was profoundly unhappy.

I had remarked to some friends years ago that it was hard for me to imagine how Michael Jackson, given all the stresses and pressures he constantly had to bear from a very unhappy and troubled life, could hold out for long.  Any person’s heart could only take so much.  Thus, even if I was saddened by the news of his death, I was hardly surprised by it.

A lot of tributes will be given Mr. Jackson in the days, months and years to come.  Many will come from friends who truly cared and looked out for him. But sadly, many will also come from people who took advantage of him, his talents, and his kindness for their personal gain.

Michael Jackson is in a much better place now.  Though we often reserve and utter such hopeful words for people who endured much pain, suffering and sadness during their days on earth, I sincerely hope, for his sake, that they’re true.

Rest in peace, Michael.

Classic Sesame Street Rock

It was the Beatles who first turned me on to rock music but I must also say that what turned into a lifelong interest in rock music as a musical form could also be attributed to a second and quite unlikely source:  Sesame Street.   Although the show helped build my basic knowledge about the alphabet, numbers, math and reading, it was the music, often cleverly written, beautifully arranged and humorously presented,  that helped ingrain some everyday words and concepts into kids’ heads.

Whenever I look back to my childhood, I can’t help but remember all those weekday afternoons when I would sit in front of the television to watch and learn my latest lesson from that great program.  A lot of such memories take me back to my early elementary school years, specifically the years 1974 and 1975 when I was a regular and avid Sesame Street viewer.

A few of my favorite tunes from that period have now become part of what is called “Classic Sesame Street”. (I’m an old geezer, I know.  Hehehe)  I still know those songs by heart for they remain seared in my memory and thanks to YouTube, they are once again available for younger generations to enjoy.  Thus, I would like to share with you some of those personal favorites.

The first video clip is called “Telephone Rock” which first aired in 1974.  The song was performed by a muppet quartet called Little Jerry and the Monotones, a backup trio.  I found this to be a very enjoyable clip to watch because you will see how the quartet’s funny, loud and wacky singing drove an old lady telephone operator nuts, forcing her to call for help in shutting the quartet down:

You can also see from the way the muppets were dressed and how they looked that they reflected the fashion trends of the time.  All four muppets were made up like 1970s hippies, all sported long hair wherein one had an afro, and one of them even had a thick, unruly beard.

The next video clip is another personal favorite.  The song introduces kids to the word “Danger” and again, features Little Jerry and the Monotones.  The video is funny because of its irony–the group sings about Danger while seemingly oblivious to the risks posed by their surroundings.

“Danger” holds some very happy and funny memories for yours truly because aside from myself, the song was also loved by a number of friends and classmates at the time.  In fact, there were many moments, especially on the jeepney ride home (the jeepney served as my school bus to and from school back in those days) when my classmates and I would sing this song.  One of us would play “Little Jerry” and be the lead singer while myself and the others would sing backup.    We even copied the choreography shown on the above video, specifically Little Jerry’s head-jerking and swinging side-to-side moves.

Like the two previous clips, the next one, “Exit”, was also aired for the first time back in 1974.  It featured another muppet singing group, a trio this time, called Little Chrissy and the Alphabeats.  The song and the video below turned myself and a lot of kids on at the time for it showed a rocking piano performance by Little Chrissy that was done before an increasingly lonely music hall.  Again, note the funny irony that marks the clip’s ending.

All the songs featured above and the one featured in the last video clip below were written for Sesame Street by a gifted composer and lyricist named Christopher Cerf (born 1941).  Although the show had other music writers, he was definitely one of their best.  A gifted piano player whose music was heavily influenced by doo wop music and the blues, he wrote funny rock songs when he was in college in Harvard.

He joined the Sesame Street crew during the show’s early years.  A music director for Sesame Street who went to Harvard with him knew that Mr. Cerf could write rock and roll and thus, asked him to start writing music for the show.  And the rest, as they say, is history.

Finally, the last video clip in this entry, “Letter B”, was performed by a quartet of insects called The Beetles.   Unlike the other three songs above, both the song and its performance were first aired in 1977.  Obviously based on the Beatles hit song, “Let It Be”, Mr. Cerf rearranged the song’s original chords and borrowed some of the original lyrics to come up with a rather original tune.   In addition, mindful of the show’s young audience, he gave the resulting song an upbeat tempo.

This year will mark 40 years since Sesame Street made its debut on American public television back in 1969.  To this day, millions of kids worldwide still tune in to the show to learn their alphabet and numbers, to know the meanings behind everyday words, and to develop an appreciation for people and things around them.  Lessons are always presented in a very intelligent, easy to understand, and enjoyable manner.

It’s been decades since I last saw and enjoyed the tunes I wrote about here.  But after seeing them again, they still managed to bring a smile to my face.  Such reaction I guess helps explain why Sesame Street has managed to endure through the years.  By making the Learning process a thoroughly positive experience for a young and impressionable audience, Sesame Street earned their lasting gratitude.

A Song For You

I am very sorry that I can’t be by your side on a very special day.  I’d love to be there but I can’t.  So for now and although I know you’re not really into old songs, all I can offer is this song as sung by a man who gave the world its best ever rendition:

Happy Valentine’s Day, Love.