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Walk Away Renée

"Walk Away Renée"
Walk Away Renée - Left Banke.jpeg
Single by The Left Banke
from the album Walk Away Renee/Pretty Ballerina
B-side "I Haven't Got the Nerve"
Released July 1966
Genre Baroque pop
Length 2:43
Label Smash
Writer(s) Michael Brown, Bob Calilli, Tony Sansone
Producer(s) World United Productions, Inc.
The Left Banke singles chronology
"Walk Away Renee"
(1966)
"Pretty Ballerina"
(1966)
"Walk Away Renée"
Walk Away Renée - The Four Tops.jpg
Single by The Four Tops
B-side "Your Love is Wonderful"
Released January 1968
Label Motown
Writer(s) Michael Brown, Bob Calilli, Tony Sansone
The Four Tops singles chronology
"You Keep Running Away"
(1967)
"Walk Away Renee"
(1968)
"If I Were a Carpenter"
(1968)
"Walk Away Renée"
Walk Away Renee by Rick Price.jpg
Single by Rick Price
from the album Heaven Knows
B-side "We've Got Each Other"
Released May 1993
Format CD single
Genre Pop, soft rock
Length 4:26
Label Columbia Records
Writer(s) Michael Brown, Bob Calilli, Tony Sansone
Producer(s) Chris Lord-Alge
Rick Price singles chronology
"A House Divided"
(1993)
"Walk Away Renée"
(1993)
"Where Is The Love
(1993)

"Walk Away Renée" is a song written by Michael Brown, Bob Calilli, and Tony Sansone for the band the Left Banke, released as a single in July 1966. Steve Martin Caro is featured on lead vocals. After its initial release, it spent 13 weeks on the US charts, with a top spot of number 5.

The song features a flute solo played during the instrumental bridge of the middle portion of the song. Brown got the idea for the flute solo from the Mamas & the Papas song "California Dreamin'" which had been recorded in November 1965 but wasn't a hit and in heavy rotation until early 1966. The arrangement also includes a lush string orchestration, a jangling harpsichord part, and a descending chromatic bass melody. Its production was credited to World United Productions, Inc., but the session was produced by Brown's father, jazz and classical violinist Harry Lookofsky, who also led the string players.

Rolling Stone placed "Walk Away Renée" at number 220 in the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time. The song returned to nationwide charts with cover versions by The Four Tops (1967) and Rick Price (1993).

The song is one of a number Brown wrote about Renée Fladen-Kamm, the then-girlfriend of The Left Banke's bassist Tom Finn and object of Brown's affection. She was associated with the band for a few weeks, and was described as a free-spirited and tall blonde. The song was written one month after Brown met her. "Walk Away Renee" was one of a series of love songs the infatuated Brown wrote after meeting his newfound muse. 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.


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