The Left Banke: Walk Away Renee/ Pretty Ballerina LP

The Left Banke – Walk Away Renee/ Pretty Ballerina
"Thoughts that raised my mind, just pushed aside
All the chances there, that we once had"
The Left Banke's first LP, 1967's Walk Away Renee/ Pretty Ballerina has the dubious honor of being one of the most haunting, well orchestrated and melodious albums of the 60's; while being consistently overlooked as the compelling and rewarding listening experience the album offers as a whole.
The Left Banke are best remembered for the lush, ornate sound of their first two singles, which their debut LP is named for. Yet Walk Away Renee/ Pretty Ballerina is rarely celebrated as a whole listening experience, with most sixties music fans being at a loss when asked to recall non-title tracks from the album. Today, albums such as The Beach Boy's Pet Sounds and Love's Forever Changes are critically hailed as required listening from beginning to end. Both Brian Wilson and Arthur Lee have enjoyed recent successes with their Pet Sounds and Forever Changes tours, respectively, yet the Left Banke are confined to the remembrances of obscure blog pages and back issues of pop magazines. Yet comparisons to both Love and the Beach Boys are also unavoidable.
The Left Banke's principal songwriter and arranger, Michael Brown (née Michael Lookofsky), was a driven young prodigy who created perfect pop arrangements, employing the use of instruments and concepts unique to pop music; including harpsichord, a string quartet and minor keyed melodies coupled with traditional rock music instrumentation to create a singular new sound. Vocalist Steve Martin Caro's vibrant, unpretentious and soaring approach to singing was also an unmistakably vital contribution to what makes the Left Banke sound so special. One of the most remarkable things about the maturity and depth of the songs on the Walk Away Renee/ Pretty Ballerina album is the youth of the Left Banke's members, Michael Brown was merely 15 years old when he wrote both the Walk Away Renee and Pretty Ballerina singles.
Yet the potential of the group to fully reap the success of their melancholy, pocket symphony pop sound was hampered by internal struggles within the ranks; caused by disagreements with other band members over the merits of touring and the presence of Michael Brown's father, Harry Lookofsky, as their manager (Brian Wilson anyone?) Toward the end of the group's existence, there were two different incarnations of the group calling themselves the Left Banke, the Michael Brown camp and those disgruntled with Lookofsky having relegated them to sidemen rather than members of an equal partnership.
The Left Banke developed their sound during an uncommon period in the music industry, where pop music was still open to musical experimentation and risks could still be taken. A sort of mini-movement coincided with their short stint on the upper end of the pop chart, labeled "baroque pop." Other practitioners/ peers in this new field of pop included such canonized acts as the Zombies, The Turtles, The Association, the Byrds and even the Beatles.
Walk Away Renee/ Pretty Ballerina LP's influence on other musical groups is undeniable, and their many fans include R.E.M., Jans Leckman, Air and The Flaming Lips. The Left Banke's Walk Away Renee/ Pretty Ballerina deserves to be recognized as on of the truly great albums of the late 60's, alongside with other such celebrated albums as Pet sounds, Forever Changes, The Notorious Byrd Brothers, Revolver and the like.

Les Sinners- Vox Populi

Vox Populi translates as "Voice of the People," but most of the people aren't hip to Les Sinners...which is unfortunate. It isn't the most psyched out, the most out there, or the coolest 60's record....but there is something about it. Imagine The Who's Sell Out LP, francophone style. It is very pop, but there are plenty of fuzzed out guitars and hypnotic pulses that take it out of the realm of, say Herman's Hermits. The majority of the Vox Populi LP is sung in French,but is pretty far above most French music at the time, exceptions being Michel Polnareff, Jacques Dutronc and early Serge Gainsbourg. What's really interesting is that Les Sinners aren't even French, but are from Quebec. How many Quebecois psych pop bands do you know of? (The Haunted and The Ugly Ducklings are actually two more amazing Quebecois psych groups.)

The first track, C'est L'Espoire D'une Vox Populi (It's the Hope of the People) seems to actually be a section from what can best be described as French "raga rock," kind of a trancey, repetitive song commenting on the everyday and how different types of people react to their surroundings (I know, deep!). The song is cut into segments and is peppered in between the songs on the album. These interstitial tracks are probably the most "psychedelic" part of the record.

One standout track is Le Fou De Roi (The King's Fool). which is just amazing. It is the best parts of the early Who, Kinks, great drum fills, amazing vocals, really upbeat, sounds good, right?

The other killer track is Devoir Partir (Don't You Run Away); killer fuzz guitar, great arrangements, almost sounds like Clinic or (again) early tracks by The Who like "I Can See For Miles" or "Jaguar." There's an underlying melancholy, but it is totally upbeat and driving. Other similar bands that come to mind include Q65, The Outsiders or The Yardbirds.

What is really great about the Vox Populi album is that almost every song is really solid, which was rare at this point in the sixties, where the majority of albums wee driven by singles, with filler to fill up the rest of the LP. This album was part of a trend to change that, with albums like Pet Sounds and Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band obviously at the forefront of this change in the way albums were conceived. There are some more ballad-esque songs like Depuis Longtemps Deja (The Days Are Gone), which are great, similar to more mellow tracks from The Outsiders or an early Dylan goes electric type of sound. Then there are songs like "Monsieur Ding Ding," a real bouncy, humorous song about some really cool fellow named Mr. Ding Ding, who everybody apparently needs to meet. Their main songwriter/singer Francois Guy has a really cool voice and a really unique outlook on the subject matter of his songs. Guy totally projects this almost adolescent innocence to his singing and lyrics while at the same time being very clever and satirical.

Anyway, do yourself a favor and listen to Vox Populi by Les Sinners. There are vinyl copies on ebay, but they can be kinda pricey (mine costs a little more than I'd like to admit ;))

There are a couple of sites online with download links, like these:

http://mza-garage.blogspot.com/2008/09/les-sinners-vox-populi-can-1968.html

or

http://chocoreve.blogspot.com/2008/01/les-sinners-les-sinners.html


I am NOT condoning using these sites for a download, I'm just sayin..

Until next time, Allons y Alonzo!

Lieutenant E.