Ellie Greenwich
Eleanor Louise " Ellie " Greenwich ( born October 23, 1940 in Brooklyn, New York, † August 26 2009 in New York City, New York) was an American singer, songwriter and music producer, in particular in cooperation with her future spouse Jeff Barry was successful. Her compositions included, among other things, " Be My Baby ", " River Deep, Mountain High " and " Do Wah Diddy Diddy".
Life
Greenwich moved with her parents at the age of ten years from Brooklyn to Levittown, and learned to play the accordion and the piano. She first attended Queens College and later the Hofstra University. She published at the age of 17 years at RCA Records their first, self-composed single. In 1959 she met her future husband, Jeff Barry. This was already married at this time, however, the marriage had to cancel later.
In 1962, she was hired as a songwriter by the success of Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller authors. In the same year she married Jeff Barry. Together with Phil Spector, they wrote "Be My Baby" and "Baby, I Love You" for The Ronettes and "Then He Kissed Me" and " Da Doo Ron Ron " for The Crystals. Both participated under the name The Raindrops album and some singles, including its composition Hanky Panky, which should be a hit for Tommy James & the Shondells 1966.
" Do Wah Diddy Diddy" was a number -one hit on the Billboard Hot 100 for Manfred Mann. 1964 joined the couple to Red Bird Records. The first single of the label, " Chapel of Love " of the singing trio Dixie Cups, again reaching number one in the charts. This year, 17 of them composed songs in the Billboard charts were able to place. In October 1965, Barry and Greenwich were divorced, although they produced henceforth discovered by Greenwich singer and songwriter Neil Diamond. " River Deep, Mountain High ", a hit for Ike and Tina Turner, was the last collaboration with Phil Spector. In 1967, Greenwich a record label on which publications include Dusty Springfield. In addition, she also worked as a background singer for, among others, Bobby Darin, and Frank Sinatra.
Under the title "Leader of the Pack" a musical on Broadway in 1985 produced about her life, which came to 120 performances and was was nominated for a Tony Award and a Grammy.
1991 Greenwich and her ex-husband were incorporated into the Songwriters Hall of Fame. Overall, they received 25 gold and platinum records. She died of a heart attack after she had previously been admitted to the hospital for pneumonia.