My second post of information from articles on the Ronettes is found here:
https://samsarictravelling.blogspot.com/2019/06/more-ronettes-stuff.html
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
https://samsarictravelling.blogspot.com/2019/06/more-ronettes-stuff.html
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Wisdom and Knowledge Series, post #30. Things of the world, post #2 (30.5.1):
The Ronettes
Outside of her window, the mean streets of Spanish Harlem promised danger.
Safely tucked away inside her grandmother’s house, a young Veronica Yvette “Ronnie” Bennett, the future Ronnie Spector, had a birds-eye view of the tough-looking girls that loitered on the sidewalks smoking cigarettes.
The Ronettes would be made in their image.
“We couldn’t go outside, so we looked at the black girls and the Spanish girls — even some of the white girls you’d throw in there — but we looked at them and that’s how we got our look and stuff,” says Spector. “We wore slits up the side and we wore high hair. We got everything from the street, even though we weren’t allowed in the street (laughs).”
That didn’t matter. With their exotic looks, provocative clothes, and sugar-and-spice vocals, as sultry as they were sweet and full of sass, The Ronettes were the anti-girl group of the early 1960s. They were bad girls, made even badder by the mascara they wore, at a time when all the rest looked and sounded pure and innocent.
We've crossed over to the over side. Sitting in the lobby of a West London hotel, Ronnie Spector is explaining the moment The Ronettes recorded "Be My Baby," perhaps the most perfect distillation of pop music of the last 60 years. She pounds a fist on the sofa, mimicking the great Hal Blaine "boom-ba-boom-cha" of the opening and suddenly that familiar voice fills the room: "The night we met I knew I, needed you sooo."
It is one of the most distinctive sounds in the history of modern pop. Clean, high, direct, heavily accented with that thrilling New York twang. The backdrop to a thousand and one breakups and makeups, this is the song that caused John Lennon to almost faint when she sung it in his ear on The Ronettes' first visit to the UK in 1964; caused Bruce Springsteen to spend an entire six months trying to ape its "Wall of Sound" on Born to Run; caused the Beach Boys' Brian Wilson to listen a thousand times in an attempt to crack the formula (only to find out there isn't one).
Produced by her ex-husband, Phil Spector, The Ronettes' "Be My Baby" is as close to bottling actual, genuine magic as human beings have ever come. And now, Ronnie Spector, the group's leader and one of pop music's greatest conduits, is preparing to take to the stage at Glastonbury for the first time and singing with that voice you've heard a hundred times before. Wha-oh-oh-oh, indeed.
...
"The Ronettes were so different from most girl groups," says Ronnie today. "We had interracial parents, long hair. We wore slits up the side, like the Chinese dresses. I remember groups like The Shirelles and The Chiffons would come out with these flared skirts and we would come out in skin tight dresses. We didn't have a hit record at the time but the guys went nuts over us more than the groups that did! Girls too. And I loved that."
...
"The Ronettes were so different from most girl groups," says Ronnie today. "We had interracial parents, long hair. We wore slits up the side, like the Chinese dresses. I remember groups like The Shirelles and The Chiffons would come out with these flared skirts and we would come out in skin tight dresses. We didn't have a hit record at the time but the guys went nuts over us more than the groups that did! Girls too. And I loved that."
Ronnie Spector became famous in the 1960s as the lead singer of the Ronettes, whose hits include "Be My Baby" and "Walking in the Rain." She was born Veronica Bennett in New York City on August 10, 1943. She grew up in Spanish Harlem with her mother, father and younger sister, Estelle. The daughter of an Irish father and a mother of African-American and Cherokee descent, Spector struggled as a child to reconcile both sides of her mixed ethnic heritage, a rarity for the time period. Her father, Louis, left the family when Spector and her sister were still very young. Eventually, her exotic features, distinct voice and striking beauty would later prove to be a boon for her music career.
...
Spector has sung and collaborated with multiple artists. She is called the original "bad girl of Rock and Roll". In 2007, Ronnie and the Ronnettes were inducted in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
...
Spector has sung and collaborated with multiple artists. She is called the original "bad girl of Rock and Roll". In 2007, Ronnie and the Ronnettes were inducted in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
Source: https://www.vintag.es/2018/07/young-ronnie-spector.html
Paradoxically, one place you will not hear “Be My Baby,” is in “Beyond the Beehive,” Ms. Spector’s touring theatrical production of songs and stories. “I’m not allowed to sing ‘Be My Baby’ and ‘Baby I Love You'” — another Ronettes hit — “in my show because Phil said no,” Ms. Spector said in a telephone interview. “He owns the publishing.”
But she is allowed to sing the song in concert, she said, and often closes her club shows with it. (Mr. Spector is currently in prison, serving 19 years to life after his murder conviction in the 2003 death of the actress Lana Clarkson, yet his hold on the song is intact.)
Ms. Spector suggests that innocence is part of the song’s sustained power. She recounts being flown out to Los Angeles as a teenager from Spanish Harlem to record the song at Gold Star Studios. She was then known as Ronnie Bennett. She belted out her vocals in the sound booth while staring down a young but no less odd Mr. Spector.
“I was so much in love,” she said. “That energy comes back to me every time: when I’m singing ‘Be My Baby,’ I’m thinking of us in the studio.”
The soapy darkness now associated with their subsequent marriage (Ms. Spector’s 1990 memoir, also titled “Be My Baby,” recounts wild jealousy and feeling threatened by a gold coffin in the basement of a castle turned de facto prison) informs the song’s myth.
At its heart, “Be My Baby” is as much about power and control as it is about romance. Lyrically it also marks a bold moment in pop music, when a woman makes a play for a man while infantilizing him. Usually the reverse was the norm.
Paradoxically, one place you will not hear “Be My Baby,” is in “Beyond the Beehive,” Ms. Spector’s touring theatrical production of songs and stories. “I’m not allowed to sing ‘Be My Baby’ and ‘Baby I Love You'” — another Ronettes hit — “in my show because Phil said no,” Ms. Spector said in a telephone interview. “He owns the publishing.”
But she is allowed to sing the song in concert, she said, and often closes her club shows with it. (Mr. Spector is currently in prison, serving 19 years to life after his murder conviction in the 2003 death of the actress Lana Clarkson, yet his hold on the song is intact.)
Ms. Spector suggests that innocence is part of the song’s sustained power. She recounts being flown out to Los Angeles as a teenager from Spanish Harlem to record the song at Gold Star Studios. She was then known as Ronnie Bennett. She belted out her vocals in the sound booth while staring down a young but no less odd Mr. Spector.
“I was so much in love,” she said. “That energy comes back to me every time: when I’m singing ‘Be My Baby,’ I’m thinking of us in the studio.”
The soapy darkness now associated with their subsequent marriage (Ms. Spector’s 1990 memoir, also titled “Be My Baby,” recounts wild jealousy and feeling threatened by a gold coffin in the basement of a castle turned de facto prison) informs the song’s myth.
At its heart, “Be My Baby” is as much about power and control as it is about romance. Lyrically it also marks a bold moment in pop music, when a woman makes a play for a man while infantilizing him. Usually the reverse was the norm.
Source: https://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/18/movies/be-my-baby-a-hit-single-with-staying-power.html
By 1961, the trio had renamed themselves "The Ronettes" and signed with Colpix Records, releasing their first double-sided singles: "I Want a Boy"/"What's So Sweet About Sweet Sixteen" and "I'm Gonna Quit While I'm Ahead"/"My Guiding Angel." They found little success with Colpix, however, and continued to perform in clubs as dancers, eventually getting a steady gig dancing at the Peppermint Lounge on 46th Street. They were still underage and took to stuffing their bras and wearing heavy makeup in order to look older. There they were discovered by DJ Murray the K, who booked them to perform weekly at his Brooklyn Fox Theater's Rock 'n' Roll Revue.
By 1963, the girls had still not found much success with Colpix and made a bold move: They cold-called the legendary producer Phil Spector at Mirasound Studios; struck by their moxie, he agreed to audition them. Phil Spector was well known by that time for his "wall of sound" technique, an overdubbing vocal/orchestral effect that he used throughout the 1960s to produce some of the greatest rock hits of the decade for bands such as The Righteous Brothers, Tina Turner and The Beatles. As Ronnie Spector later recalled, her voice was perfect for this technique because of its distinct sound: "Phil won the lottery when he met me, because I had a perfect voice. It wasn't a black voice; it wasn't a white voice. It was just a great voice. His whole life has been me."
Source: https://www.biography.com/musician/ronnie-spector
This is the US TV show Shindig! version of 'Be My Baby' by the Ronettes, aired August 11, 1965:
I did some searching and found you can buy it on a Shindig! DVD set (the set is called 'Volumes 21 & 22') found at The Video Beat website:
https://www.thevideobeat.com/rock-roll-tv/shindig-1965-vol-21-22.html
(It is in the section Season 1, Show 48, Aired: Aug-11-65, of that set.)
NOTE: Before I purchased it, I checked if it was really a legitimate website, without phishing, by doing a google search of this search phrase, or something like it:
is the website safe?
( https://www.google.com/search?client=firefox-b-e&ei=sH4JXbS4CfnA0PEPqZGfsA8&q=is+the+website+safe%3F&oq=is+the+website+safe%3F&gs_l=psy-ab.3..0j0i22i30l9.6450.6913..7747...0.0..0.50.98.2......0....1..gws-wiz.......0i71j0i67.W-WWHisu1V8 )
And getting some review sites where I could enter the The Video Beat's URL ( https://www.thevideobeat.com ) and seeing what it says about that URL.
I found that The Video Beat website URL is legitimate at all the review sites I checked it with.
From,
samsarictravelling
By 1961, the trio had renamed themselves "The Ronettes" and signed with Colpix Records, releasing their first double-sided singles: "I Want a Boy"/"What's So Sweet About Sweet Sixteen" and "I'm Gonna Quit While I'm Ahead"/"My Guiding Angel." They found little success with Colpix, however, and continued to perform in clubs as dancers, eventually getting a steady gig dancing at the Peppermint Lounge on 46th Street. They were still underage and took to stuffing their bras and wearing heavy makeup in order to look older. There they were discovered by DJ Murray the K, who booked them to perform weekly at his Brooklyn Fox Theater's Rock 'n' Roll Revue.
By 1963, the girls had still not found much success with Colpix and made a bold move: They cold-called the legendary producer Phil Spector at Mirasound Studios; struck by their moxie, he agreed to audition them. Phil Spector was well known by that time for his "wall of sound" technique, an overdubbing vocal/orchestral effect that he used throughout the 1960s to produce some of the greatest rock hits of the decade for bands such as The Righteous Brothers, Tina Turner and The Beatles. As Ronnie Spector later recalled, her voice was perfect for this technique because of its distinct sound: "Phil won the lottery when he met me, because I had a perfect voice. It wasn't a black voice; it wasn't a white voice. It was just a great voice. His whole life has been me."
Source: https://www.biography.com/musician/ronnie-spector
This is the US TV show Shindig! version of 'Be My Baby' by the Ronettes, aired August 11, 1965:
I did some searching and found you can buy it on a Shindig! DVD set (the set is called 'Volumes 21 & 22') found at The Video Beat website:
https://www.thevideobeat.com/rock-roll-tv/shindig-1965-vol-21-22.html
(It is in the section Season 1, Show 48, Aired: Aug-11-65, of that set.)
NOTE: Before I purchased it, I checked if it was really a legitimate website, without phishing, by doing a google search of this search phrase, or something like it:
is the website safe?
( https://www.google.com/search?client=firefox-b-e&ei=sH4JXbS4CfnA0PEPqZGfsA8&q=is+the+website+safe%3F&oq=is+the+website+safe%3F&gs_l=psy-ab.3..0j0i22i30l9.6450.6913..7747...0.0..0.50.98.2......0....1..gws-wiz.......0i71j0i67.W-WWHisu1V8 )
And getting some review sites where I could enter the The Video Beat's URL ( https://www.thevideobeat.com ) and seeing what it says about that URL.
I found that The Video Beat website URL is legitimate at all the review sites I checked it with.
From,
samsarictravelling
No comments:
Post a Comment