left banke - walk away renee

it's kind of brilliant.

This comment made me want to listen and count. The verses are 8 bars long, which seems relatively normal (and is the same as e.g. "About a Girl" by Nirvana). But there is a sense of everything being there to set up the chorus. So maybe it's something in the way the melody and changes lead to the chorus that gives this impression?

And I'll also add, since this has become a more generalized Left Banke thread, that Susanna Hoffs and Matthew Sweet did a GREAT job with their cover of "She May Call You Up Tonight." If anything, even more convincing than the original, and I love that it works with either gender.

No, no, no.

that comp isn't worth $60. as joseph mccombs says, it does kinda trail off a bit toward the end. but shit, I quite like it all except maybe "myrah" and a couple-three others. "give the man a hand" is good.

as for the foreshortened "walk away." well, how long is the track itself? 2:42.

xp

The verses may not be wildly short but they're not long either. The chorus is a little long, with a defined ending. Perhaps most importantly, there's never a double verse.

i go back and forth on preferring the left banke and montage renditions of desiree - right now i'd pick montage, for the focus and propulsion. it's an incredible song. the instrumental version that montage did is also wonderful - it's piano, bass, drums, and sitar, leaving only the verse melody intact. the chorus is just piano emphasizing the original bass line, which makes the entire song.

the montage album is really great - the song grand pianist rivals the best of the left banke, for me, and tinsel and ivy, i shall call her mary, and the piano-and-wah-wah heavy instrumental thor and or are all solid.

you can get Pretty Ballerina on a 45 for 3 bucks.

The butler opened the parlor door
I took my coat and approached the floor
A door opened at the top of the stairs
A sexy lady she was a-standing there
I stumbled and turned around to see
Her Evening Gown
Said yeah, Alright!

She said Forward your love was there
The light was on the jewels in her hair
The only sign gettin' down on my chest
I start to mumble on the way to address
I made the way up and down upon
Her Evening Gown
Said yeah, Alright!

(solo)
Oh...
Mmm-hmm, alright...

The door was on the touch of her feet
Her eyes were wide and her hands petite
I knew I didn't stand a breath of a chance
With all her will she gave me a glance
She won't throw me out, I turned around to meet
Her Evening Gown
Said Yeah, Wowwwwwww!

The butler opened the parlor door
I took my coat and approached the floor
A door opened at the top of the stairs
A sexy lady she was a-standing there
I stumbled in and turned around to see
Her Evening Gown

http://www.lyrics007.com/Left%20Banke%20Lyrics/Evening%20Gown%20Lyrics.html
--

I don't get it.

walk away renee is one of my fave songs ever

yes, it's terrific, but lauren was right, way upthread, to put the extraordinary 'pretty ballerina' alongside it - in fact I think the latter wins, and is the greatest LB song I've heard.

Well we'll agree to differ there then. Interestingly, The Stories wrote one really great song ("Love Is In Motion") and didn't come close to writing another one as good - well, not as near to doing so as the Left Banke did in following their 'great song'.

Picked up the first lp (on vinyl natch) over the weekend. Even the lesser stuff on it is charming. It's a real crime that this and the other Left Banke material is so hard to get. I wonder why, when it seems like everyone and their dog is redoing 60s music, there hasn't been new reissue or at least an audiophile pressing of the debut. Rights holders: get yer ass in gear!

BTW, did that Michael Brown/Steve Martin reunion stuff that harveyw posted about upthread ever come out?

Pretty Ballerina and Walk Away Renee are near-perfect pop songs. Is the rest of this group's output worth investigating?

Those are the peaks, but there is much to love on the first album. Haven't heard the stray singles or the second album.

There's Gonna Be A Storm cd has practically everything and there is a lot to love imo.

"She May Call You Up Tonight" f'rinstance.

Actually, thanks to youtube, here's a couple of the strays:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TeYzV74Il-8

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wpB3LXxyXlw&feature=related

Man, "Desiree" is awesome.

totally

<3 tweethan threads :)

Oh my goodness... "there's Gonna Be a Storm" is possibly one of the GREATEST compilations ever. A least at this moment. On headphones. God, I love this band...

Nah. Guggit. It is one of the GREATEST compilations ever without a doubt. Godhead.

Er..."Fuggit".

Anybody heard this import? It's both albums in correct track order plus the stray tracks and a song not on There's Gonna Be A Storm. Never heard of the label but the reviews are uniformly positive and the it's a good deal cheaper on cd than Storm.

um
i will probably be banned

but I'm not sure I get the love for this song

the singing sounds kind of strained & off key or something

i'll listen some more tho

the slight straining in the vocals helps convey the tune. Please listen some more

Found that import I linked to a few posts up on Ebay for a lower price and got it in the mail today. Surprise surprise it's a bootleg with no liner notes or credits outside of the bare minimum. Sounds ok, no needledrops--I assume it was ripped from There's Gonna Be A Storm. Some of the stuff from the second lp sounds kinda muffled and some of the first album stuff is in mono instead of stereo with no explanation why.

Is it just me, or does "Pedestal" have serious early 70s Bowie thing goin' on? The ache in the vocals, wounded romanticism in the lyrics, Ronson-esque axe heroics...

this fuckin' song guys

Sundazed just revealed on Facebook today that they're doing a reissue of at least the first lp.

UPDATE: First AND Second lps, on hd vinyl & cd, possibly in May, no bonus tracks.

http://www.wpclipart.com/small_icons/misc_7/.cache/thumbs_up.png

And they're doing a reunion:

http://www.rockedition.com/news/the-left-banke-to-reunite/

:)