Walk Away Renée

"Walk Away Renée" is a song made popular by the band The Left Banke in 1966 (single release: July 1966, Smash Records), composed by the group's keyboard player Michael Brown (real name Michael Lookofsky). The song was also a chart hit for The Four Tops in 1968.

The song features an oboe being played during the instrumental portion of the middle portion of the song, joining the string quartet.

The song is one of a number Brown wrote about Renee Fladen-Kamm, girlfriend of The Left Banke's bassist Tom Finn and object of Brown's affection. Other songs written about her include the band's second hit "Pretty Ballerina" and "She May Call You Up Tonight". After decades of obscurity, she was identified in 2001 as a noted singer, vocal teacher and artist on the West Coast.

The song immediately became a pop standard, and has an enduring emotional impact as a heartfelt, pure lament for lost love. It has been widely covered by artists in a wide range of genres and styles. A classic rendition is Southside Johnny's on At Least We Got Shoes (1986). Vonda Shepard sang it on the tv series, Ally McBeal, referring to one of the characters who was called Renee. Her version appeared on the album, Songs From Ally McBeal. Editors at Rolling Stone magazine named it number 220 on the list of 500 greatest Rock/Pop songs.

Linda Ronstadt's version (album Adieu False Heart) was also used as a closing song for NBC's Crossing Jordan in January 2007.

Trivia

• Elliott Smith recorded a little known cover of Walk Away Renée.

• Gwen Stefani's middle name, Renee, was inspired by this song.

• See also Linda Ronstadt's version on her 2006 album Adieu False Heart.

External links

• Tom Simon's Walk Away Renee page
• leftbanke.nu