The Left Banke

The Left Banke were a U.S. pop group made ​​in 1966 with their hit single sensation. Head of the band was Michael Brown, the son of New York composer Harold Lookofsky, the band 1965 - only 16 years old - was formed with school friends. Despite its age, the classically trained Brown had already proved adept songwriter and now sought for an opportunity to take his pieces. His father owned a recording studio in New York and gave the quartet a recording contract with Smash Records.

The very first single, Walk Away Renee, The Left Banke was for her greatest success: it reached in September 1966 # 5 on the U.S. charts. The piece came - as most of the material of the band - from Browns spring and was originally written for the girlfriend of his bandmates Tom Finn. Walk Away Renee was a strong classic -themed piece - dominated by string sections and piano Michael Brown - the new, albeit short-lived musical style Baroque Pop initiated. In the same style the band with re -composed by Brown Pretty ballerina could celebrate another, but lesser success. A first LP was followed by the beginning of 1967.

At this time, first factionalism within the band began to break out. Above all piled up the votes of the members, which now also wanted to bring self-written material. It was found that the success of Walk Away Renee had come too fast and early for The Left Banke: Your head Brown still left the group in 1967 and devoted himself to solo recordings. The rest of the band now tried, in constantly changing cast, even as a composer, but consistently unsuccessful. At times, only individual members were involved in recordings; the results were summarized in a second LP in 1968. After the show, the Left Banke chapter was completed in 1969.

1969 Michael Brown worked as a songwriter and instrumentalist with the self-titled album of the group "Assembly" with. Later he formed two other bands, the Stories (1972 to 1973) and the " Beckie " (1976), of which at least the former in the early 1970s came too few hits. Walk Away Renee was the only legacy of the Left Banke, and was later covered yet by artists such as the Four Tops, Willie Loco Alexander & the Boom Boom Band or Vonda Shepard. The piece was picked up by the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in the " list of 500 songs that have the most impact on rock and roll ".

Members

• Michael Brown (Michael Lookofsky, born April 25, 1949 in New York) - Keyboard
• Steve Martin ( Carmelo Esteban Martin Caro, born October 12, 1948 in New York) - Vocals
• Tom Finn - Bass
• George Cameron - drums
• Rick Brand - Guitar
• Jeff Winfield - Guitar
• David Warren - drums

History

1965 - 1967

Michael Brown got the 1965 technology wizard Steve Martin, the drummer George Cameron, and bassist Tom Finn in the studio of his father Harry Lookofsky, where he worked as a studio musician, know. The four musicians discovered their common love for popular music and decided to form a group similar to the Beatles. Finn, Martin and Cameron began vocal arrangements to then-known songs such as Good Day Sunshine ( Beatles ) and Under My Thumb ( Rolling Stones), as well as original compositions work things out while Brown accompanied her on the piano. This Lookofsky became aware of Martin's voice and choral singing and produced beginning in 1966 with the original compositions I Have not Got The Nerve and I've Got Something On My Mind, the first single of the band. The product was no response at record companies, then broke up the band and Brown, along with drummer Warren David, who had played on two tracks, went to California.

Before the dissolution of the group had been working on a new song: Walk Away Renee. Michael Brown wrote the song after Tom Finn had imagined the end of 1965 the band his girlfriend Renee Fladen. Brown fell in love with cake and spontaneously wrote three songs: She May Call You Up Tonight, Pretty Ballerina and Walk Away Renee. When he left for California, the backing track of Renee was just picked up and now had with George Cameron, who replaced Warren on bass and be completed with the vocals of Finn, Cameron and Martin. Lookofsky finally convinced the subsidiary label Smash the record company Mercury to release the song as a single. It reached unexpectedly Place 5 on the U.S. charts and made Left Banke famous overnight. With Martin's tenor voice and piano Browns in the foreground and the accompaniment by a string ensemble music from Left Banke from now on was referred to as baroque pop. The band was then back together, hired Jeff Winfield on guitar and set out on a tour.

Early 1967 the band went back into the studio to record a similar sounding song by Brown with Pretty Ballerina. This reached number 15 on the charts and Left Banke was asked by the record company, according to the former marketing practice to be followed by an album. Unfortunately, Brown only had a musical training as a pianist, so that were employed in the recordings for the LP Walk Away Renee / Pretty Ballerina mainly session musicians like guitarist Hugh McCracken and drummer Al Rogers.

With the success and the praise of critics and inconsistencies stopped at the band. The first victim was Winfield, who was replaced by Rick Brand, because Brown and Martin doubted his skills as a guitarist. The album reached, despite the two published thereon hit singles, only number 67 on the charts, prompting Brown, frustrated with his performances at live performances and unwilling to continue to go on tour, left the group.

Left Banke now disintegrated into two fractions. Brown envisioned a similar career like Brian Wilson of the Beach Boys, but he also intended to lay claim to the name Left Banke for themselves. He recruited Bert Sommer, a songwriter who had contributed a few songs for the first Left Banke album as a singer and took with him on new material, including published as single tracks and Ivy Ivy And Suddenly. When the other Left Banke members threatened with a lawsuit because of the naming rights to the radio stations refused to send the single because they feared in the disputes with being dragged.

The band rose from the management contract with Lookofsky and reconciled with Brown. The result of the reunion were the recordings Desiree and In The Morning Light. Desiree was the last chart success of the group, but could only reach number 98 on the charts, prompting fire and Brown again went their own ways. The latter group, the assembly followed.

1968 - 1978

Cameron, Finn and Martin returned in 1968 returned to the studio to use the keyboard player Emmit Lake, guitarist Tom Feher and singer Steve Talarico ( Steven Tyler, and later with Aerosmith ) Album Left Banke Too ( original title: Dress Rehearsal) to complete. The material consisted of new posts written by Finn and Feher and from the previously recorded songs and Desiree In The Morning Light. The record company still coupled multiple tracks as singles, the band announced the end of 1968 but had significant sales from the contract, as neither album nor singles.

In the following two years, the group tried in several Reunions. So Brown and Martin 1969 recorded the single Myrah and 1971, the entire original cast another with Love Songs In The Night, which officially appeared as a solo single by Steve Martin. After none of the efforts led to success, Brown Left Banke finally came back and turned to his new projects The Stories and The Beckies to.

1969 also completed the remaining members officially announced their cooperation. Tom Finn explained the step in an interview with Mojo magazine in 2002: " We met Donovan in 1969 in the World Record Studios and he told Steve that George Harrison Walk Away Renee had so liked and the Beatles were just at breakup. It was like an omen for us. We said, Let us make final. We have given the best that we could. We simply had no desire to continue in a Beatle - less world. Later we have recorded a few records, but it was no longer the same. "

Finn, Martin and Cameron were together again in 1978 and recorded the album Strangers On A Train (known in Europe as Voices Calling appeared ) on. After this, as well as the single from the Queen Of Paradise, was rarely sold, it disappeared in the camps until it was published in 1986 by Relix Records again.

Discography

• I Have not Got The Nerve / I've Got Something On My Mind (Single, 1966)
• Walk Away Renee / I Have not Got The Nerve (Single, 1966)
• Pretty Ballerina / Lazy Day (Single, 1966)
• Walk Away Renee / Pretty Ballerina ( album, 1967)
• Ivy Ivy / And Suddenly (Single, 1967)
• She May Call You Up Tonight / Barterers And Their Wives ( Single, 1967)
• Dark Is The Bark / My Friend Today (Single, 1968)
• Goodbye Holly / Sing Little Bird Sing ( Single, 1968)
• Give The Man A Hand / Bryant Hotel (Single, 1968)
• Nice To See You / There's Gonna Be A Storm (Single, 1969)
• Myrah / Pedestal (Single, 1969)
• Love Songs In The Night / Two By Two (Single, 1971)
• Strangers On A Train (Voices Calling) ( album, 1978)
• Queen Of Paradise / And One Day (Single, 1978)
• And One Day / I Can Fly (Single, 1986)
• There's Gonna Be A Storm ( compilation album, 1992)