Michael Brown, the brilliant leader and keyboardist of the rock group, The Left Bank, passed away last year at the age of 65, according to the Los Angeles Times. Brown was the main songwriter for the group, though he left in 1967 after just one album. At the age of 16, he co-wrote and wrote, respectively, the band's best-known songs, "Walk Away Renee" and "Pretty Ballerina", both odes to unrequited love. The band's use of strings and harpsichord earned them the label "baroque-pop," while their sound echoes on in the work of acts such as Belle & Sebastian, Elliott Smith and Jens Lekman, whose "Black Cab" sampled the band's "I've Got Something On My Mind."
I was a big fan of Left Banke in freshman year at Michigan State University in 1969. They just seemed to hit a chord for a young man with a heavy background in high school chorus and pop music who was living away from all of his family and friends for the first time. Almost every evening had Association, Left Banke, Simon and Garfunkel, and CSNY songs filling the third floor of Fee Hall.
For your enjoyment, Walk Away Renee:
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