The Left Banke; World Cafe Live Philadephia 8/8/12

[jimmy19029]

The casual music fan has probably never heard of the Left Banke and even the more astute fan probably only remembers them as the authors of the 1966 hit "Walk Away Renee".

The group only existed for about four years (1965-1969) and managed one more hit, "Pretty Ballerina" in 1967, before collapsing amid bad feelings between various members and a lawsuit that came about when founder/songwriter/arranger/keyboardist Michael Brown left to form his own version of the group.

Indeed, much of the group's ethereal sound (deemed baroque pop back then and inspired, no doubt, by what groups like the Beatles and the Beach Boys' Brian Wilson were doing at the same time) was down to Brown. But the others (Tom Finn-vocals, guitars, bass; George Cameron-vocals, guitars, drums and Steve Martin Caro-lead vocals) contributed much to the pot as well, particularly singer Steve Martin Caro with his breathy choir boy tenor.

There were a few attempts to reunite the band in the 1970s. They regrouped in 1971 to contribute two songs to a little known movie, "Hot Parts", and recorded a brand new album (sans Brown), "Strangers on a Train", in 1978...which was not released until 1986(!) but the group pretty much faded away after that, other than the occasional airing of "Renee" on oldies radio.

So no one was more surprised than moi to see a regrouping. Back in the 70s and 80s, I always dreamed of a day when groups like the Strawberry Alarm Clock, Zombies, Left Banke, Electric Prunes, Love, etc. would return to dazzle us with their great music played on stage the way it was meant to be played back when. But I never thought that day would ever come to pass. For that matter, I never ever thought I could ever hope to see Brian Wilson and the Beach Boys back doing stuff like "Pet Sounds" or "Smile" either.

Original players Tom Finn and George Cameron reunited the Left Banke last year to do a handful of shows in the Northeast and are doing a bunch more this year with a great new lineup that includes: Paul Alves (lead guitar, backing vocals), Charly Cazalet (bass), Mickey Finn (keyboards), Rick Reil (drums, percussion, backing vocals) and second keyboardist/synth player John Spurney....and joined on most dates by 2 violinists and a cello to reproduce the full effect of tunes like "Renee" and "Pretty Ballerina".

The show drew mostly a 50-plus age crowd. But I was very thrilled to see a few younger (25-30 age) girls who were huge 60s music fans.

The last time I was at this venue (for an 80s music night in 2005), it was open dance floor, no chairs. I was glad this time there were chairs and tables for us slightly older folks.

And the band did a fine job reproducing the songs off of their three albums to a tee. New singer Michael Fornatale had a very versatile voice that could croon delicately when appropriate or wail, like he did on one of the group's new songs, "City Life". And keyboardist Mickey Finn provided harpsichord, clavinet and electric piano sounds while John Spurney brought forth bells, oboe and more orchestral swirlings. I also loved the lead and fuzz tone soundings of Paul Alves' guitar.

Tom Finn sang and played acoustic guitar while also providing the evening's commentary. He talked about being in competition with "bubble gum" groups that sang stupid songs like "Chewy Chewy" or "1-2-3 Red Light" in the late 60s, the awful experience of he and the others being fired from their own band by the keyboardist and his "evil father", plus the fact that they were all only 16-17 years of age when they wrote all these songs...another lifetime ago.....

After the show, George and Tom were out pretty quickly for autographs and I asked him what he had moved on to do after the Left Banke broke up. He told me he was still in music behind the scenes (writing, engineering, etc.) but not as a performer. He and George also told me they were still in touch with Steve, the original lead singer, and were hoping that he might come out too, eventually.

She May Call You Up Tonight
I’ve Got Something On My Mind
Pretty Ballerina
Dark Is The Bark
Barterers And Their Wives
Goodbye Holly
Let Go Of You Girl
Heartbreaker
Sing Little Bird Sing
Nice To See You
My Friend Today
Shadows Breaking Over My Head
I Can Fly
Love Songs In The Night
Lazy Day
Bryant Hotel
Two By Two
Evening Gown
I Haven’t Got The Nerve
There’s Gonna Be A Storm
Desiree
Walk Away Renee

Encore: City Life

[No Surprize]

Great post. My dad loved this type of music. Bought a smile to my face.