The Left Banke was a band from New York City in the 1960s. They only had a couple of bona fide "hits" before sadly self-destructing, but their unique style, dubbed "baroque rock" by critics, is still admired and influential among pop musicians to this day. What amazes me is that among the many "few hit wonder" bands of the 60s, most showed little depth in their album tracks. This is not true of The Left Banke, whose output was always of high quality. I originally created this page because I couldn't find much devoted to The Left Banke on the WWW. It has grown with the help of many fans who've written and contributed. So check out the biography, the discography, the stuff that people have sent me, and obscure links to all the notable references to the group I could find on the WWW. Any suggestions or other feedback would be a great help, too. Enjoy!

ORIGINAL CONTENT:

• Anecdotes from Toni, who knew George and Steve. Received via e-mail.
• Recollections by Kathy, who also wrote to me about meeting the guys in the late 60s. Please, anyone else who knew these guys, write to me.
• Left Banke Member Profiles, directly from a 1968 fan club newsletter, a tremendous addition!
• A letter from Tom Finn to a fan in 1969.. [back as of 08/20/06]
• A letter from Rick Brand to a fan in 1972, transcribed. [added 08/13/2001]

Visit The Left Banke Discussion Group at YahooGroups.
There's also LeftBankism, sometimes called the "back-up Left Banke list."
What about this? A newsgroup tidbit from Tom Finn that suggests The Left Banke may reform. Stay tuned.

Left Banke references found on the WWW:

HISTORICAL / BIOGRAPHICAL:

• Another fantastic Left Banke site. [link verified 01/10/2008]
• An original contribution by engineer/producer Les Fradkin about his acquaintance with the guys in the 60s and 70s. Thanks, Les. [link verified 07/05/2001]
• Lycos Music's Left Banke Profile. [link verified 04/24/2005]
• A Michael Brown biography page with Left Banke (and career-beyond) album reviews. [link verified 04/24/2005]
• This page about Steven Tyler's non-Aerosmith recordings details his background-vocal duties on some Left Banke recordings, quoting him to some extent. But Phil Ritzenthaler wrote in to say he heard a Tyler interview in which he stated, "I was a 16 year old High School Student when I met Steve Martin. I watched several recording sessions of theirs, but didn't record anything with them." Another page that recounts Tyler's Left Banke association is "Rock on the Net" Aerosmith Timeline, which says The Left Banke was one of his "other bands." This page that details the LB's There's Gonna Be a Storm CD also mentions Tyler's contributions. Yet another page on Aerosmith history quotes Tom Finn. [links verified 05/09/2004]
• Fascinating article by Alan Merrill about auditioning for The Left Banke back in 1968. [link verified 09/25/2005]
• Find out how rock band manager and publicist Ken Schaffer is connected to Rick Brand and the rest of The Left Banke. [link verified 05/08/2004]

THE RECORDS / THE SONGS:

• Left Banke videos at YouTube.com -- two of 'em [as 08/21/2006].
• Is there a bootleg 2-CD set of unreleased Left Banke rarities and Left Banke-related material?
• Here are reviews of There's Gonna Be A Storm by Amazon.com contributors. [link added 08/14/01]
• Left Banke artist entry at 45s.com. [link verified 05/09/2004]
• The Left Banke Lyrics Archive. [link verified 05/09/2004]
• A Left Banke web page focusing on the albums and Michael Brown's post-LB records, too. [link verified 01/14/2007]
• A Left Banke tribute album is out on Brobdingnagian Records. [link verified 01/14/2007]
• An image of a label from a 10" studio acetate by the Left Banke, of an unknown song called Be With You Sometime, courtesy of Kevin Walsh, who reports that it was a random find, label discolored and not dated, among miscellaneous 10" 78-RPM discs in a Berkeley CA salvage shop. [link added 11/28/2000, improved image from Kevin uploaded 01/14/2007]
• Walk Away Renee is on the WABC All American Survey for Week of 11 October 1966. [link verified 01/14/2007]
• And the song is also on the WMCA Fabulous 57 Survey for October 12, 1966. [link verified 01/14/2007]
• A Walk Away Renee article from Rolling Stone's Top Singles issue. [link verified 01/14/2007]
• A MIDI rendition of Walk Away Renee ready for immediate download. [link verified 05/09/2004]
• Another MIDI version of Walk Away Renee thanks to Johnny Johnson. [link verified 05/09/2004]
• Walk Away Renee guitar tablaturedone by Andrew Rogers by way of Mike Edelman. [link verified 05/09/2004]
• Pretty Ballerina guitar tablature, courtesy of Andrew Rogers. [link verified 05/09/2004]
• Direct links to some lyrics (thanks to Martin Venator):
  • Give the Man a Hand [link verified 05/09/2004]
  • Goodbye Holly [link verified 05/09/2004]
  • I've Got Something On My Mind [link verified 05/09/2004]
  • Lazy Day [link verified 05/09/2004]
  • Let Go of You Girl [link verified 05/09/2004]
  • What Do You Know [link verified 05/09/2004]
• Walk Away Renee is on The Musicradio WABC Top 100 of 1966. [link verified 05/09/2004]
• Here's a discussion group post about The Cherry People, who had a hit with The Left Banke's And Suddenly in the late 1960s. It also claims that a guy named Ed Gold was an early member of The Left Banke. One member of The Cherry People, Punky Meadows, went on to form Angel in the 70s, who recorded an unreleased version of Walk Away Renee. [links verified 05/29/2005]
• The Left Banke did one of those Coca-Cola rock band commercials in the 60s, and it is included on the Things Go Better With Coke compilation CD, available from Trash Palace. [link verified 05/09/2004]
• Lou Barlow reveals, as Left Banke fans have known all along, that Folk Implosion's Natural One (from the Kids Soundtrack) was built on a sample of The Left Banke song I Haven't Got the Nerve. [link is gone] Just to prove how many people don't know this, here's a page of musical comments (from one guy) that references both Natural One and The Left Banke in different entries (see the one for the Ladybug Transistor) but doesn't make the connection. [link verified 05/09/2004]
• The Rolling Stone 100 Best Singles from 1964-1989 list contains Walk Away Renee. [link is gone]
• Walk Away Renee made it onto the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame's list of 500 Songs That Shaped Rock & Roll. [link verified 05/09/2004]
• A review of the Montage LP by Kurt Sampsel. [link verified 05/29/2005]
• Another review of the Montage LP from UZine. [link added 05/29/2005]
• The band is listed in Top 40 Hits of 1967. [link verified 05/29/2005]
• The Left Banke is featured in an issue of the zine, The Big Takeover, Issue No. 52 2003. [link verified 05/29/2005]
• They're also featured in Issue 28 of The Bob. [link verified 05/29/2005]
• You can look for original Left Banke vinyl LPs and 7" singles at these sites: California Albums | Hot Platters | Krohn's Boulevard Records | Midnight Records | The Other One | Record Finder | Roozer's Records | Sound Exchange | Stardust Classic | Time Warp Record Store | Tunnel Records | Vinyl Vendors | Vinyl Vinyl and more Vinyl | Wax | Whirlin' Disc | World Wide Wax, and of course at GEMM.com.

MISCELLANEOUS:

• An interview with Tom Scholz of Boston, who reveals that his song More Than A Feeling was inspired both lyrically and musically by Walk Away Renee. [link verified 05/09/2004]
• What else happened on the day Pretty Ballerina peaked in the charts? [link verified 05/09/2004]
• Apparently, The LB is associated with something called The Purple Mustard Sound according to this page. [link verified 05/09/2004]
• The Four Tops, Billy Bragg, Marshall Crenshaw, Willie Alexander, Southside Johnny, and Rick Price are just some of the other artists who've recorded covers of Walk Away Renee. [links verified 07/05/01]
• Here's a fun tidbit from a musician who wrote, "In 1980, I was playing guitar for Ian Matthews (an English folk/rock guy) and we were doing an album in London. We started to cut "She May Call You Up Tonight" but couldn't make out some of the lyrics. So through various management/publishers a phone call was arranged between Ian and one of the Left Banke guys (I think Michael Brown) who called Ian at his manager's office in London from a phone box in NYC at his lunch break from his day job. He read Ian the lyrics over the phone. The track appears on Spot Of Intereference and it's a rockin' number! Originally released on Rockburgh Records (Rockburgh 2383 582-A) in the U.K. and RSO Records (RS-1-3092) in North America, Spot of Interference was recorded at Chipping Norton Studios in Oxfordshire, England Spring 1980. I believe this is the last record released by RSO Records before their untimely demise in 1980." (name withheld by request) [link added 07/05/01]
• A Richard Thompson interview in which he says The Left Banke deserve a tribute album. Little did he know that they'd eventually get one.

Drawing by Len Small. Thanks!

To get a hold of the music from The Left Banke's 1967 and 1968 albums, seek out Polygram's 1992 compilation CD called There's Gonna Be A Storm. Last time I saw it in the store, the full price had already been reduced - definitely a bargain - but getting hard to find. If you have stuff to add, or if you find expired links, please let me know.

Other fan pages: Chad & Jeremy, The Zombies, Freddie and the Dreamers, Herman's Hermits, Chris Montez, Astrud Gilberto.