#presenting the fabulous ronettes featuring veronica

[bitter69uk]

“In the aching grit and woah-oh-ohs of Ronnie Spector’s voice was a woman from Spanish Harlem harnessing her dreams and pushing them inside out. Drama, wonder, devastation, and confidence all coalesced in her perfect pop storm. Ronnie’s colossal vocals tore out a space in the universe in the name of love, which is to say desire: for the object of her affection as much as for her awe-inducing music itself. In every note, from her early days as a fabulous, beehived Ronette alongside her sister Estelle and cousin Nedra to her self-possessed solo work, Spector tenaciously held onto her dreams … The Ronettes proceeded to seek out Phil Spector: picking up the phone, locating the number for his Philles Records, and calling directly to mastermind the hit song they desperately craved. The partnership of Phil Spector and the Ronettes started with two hungry teenage sisters in their Harlem bedroom, laser-focused on a rock’n’roll fantasy that would change music forever … They released one album, 1964’s dazzling Presenting the Fabulous Ronettes Featuring Veronica, a girl-group masterpiece … The baroque pop perfection of the Fabulous Ronettes was pushed into the stratosphere of greatness by Ronnie’s overflowing mix of innocence and rebellion …”

/ From Pitchfork’s obituary for Ronnie Spector by Jenn Pelly, January 2022 /

Grab the Maybelline Velvet Black eyeliner pencil and can of Aqua Net and start ratting-up that beehive like a teenage Jezebel … Presenting the Fabulous Ronettes featuring Veronica, the sole studio album by the iconic American girl group, was released this month (November 1964) sixty years ago! The album compiles the Ronettes’ triumphant statements like “Be My Baby”, “Baby I Love You”, “Walking in the Rain” and “(The Best Part of) Breakin’ Up”, songs that express the yearning soul of every tough but tender teenage bad girl ever born against Phil Spector’s Wall of Sound!

[orpheusdrinkinga40inadeathbasket]

The Ronettes, Presenting the Fabulous Ronettes Featuring Veronica (1964)

[reckonslepoisson]

Presenting The Fabulous Ronettes Featuring Veronica, The Ronettes (1964)

Some claim today’s pop music is too clinical, that it cynically and precisely pinpoints what a brain wants and shamelessly unleashes comfort. Listen to the Ronettes and it’s quickly apparent that our pop overlords have been doing such things for half a century (at least); sounds, voices and songs that envelope and cradle.

Pick: ‘Be My Baby’

[doyoulikethissong-poll]

The Ronettes - Be My Baby 1963

"Be My Baby" is a song by American girl group the Ronettes that was released as a single in August 1963. Written by Jeff Barry, Ellie Greenwich, and Phil Spector, the song was the Ronettes' biggest hit, reaching number 2 in the US and number 4 in the UK. It is often ranked as among the best songs of the 1960s, and has been regarded by various publications as one of the greatest songs of all time. Ronnie Spector (then known as Veronica Bennett) is the only Ronette that appears on the track. In 1964, it appeared on the album Presenting the Fabulous Ronettes; the only studio album by the Ronettes (credited to "the Ronettes featuring Veronica"). Produced by Phil Spector and released in November 1964 through his label, Philles Records, the album collects the group's singles from 1963–1964. In 2004, it was ranked number 422 on Rolling Stone's list of "The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time".

"Be My Baby" has influenced many artists, most notably the Beach Boys' Brian Wilson, who wrote the 1964 hit "Don't Worry Baby" as a response to "Be My Baby". Many others have replicated or recreated the drum phrase—one of the most recognizable in pop music. As for the opening drum beat, drummer Hal Blaine stated, "That famous drum intro was an accident. I was supposed to play the snare on the second beat as well as the fourth, but I dropped a stick. Being the faker I was in those days, I left the mistake in and it became: 'Bum-ba-bum-BOOM!' And soon everyone wanted that beat." Sonny Bono and Cher were among the backing vocalists. Cher stated in a television interview, "I was just hanging out with Son [Bono], and one night Darlene [Love] didn't show up, and Philip looked at me and he was getting really cranky, y'know. Philip was not one to be kept waiting. And he said, 'Sonny said you can sing?' And so, as I was trying to qualify what I felt my … 'expertise' was, he said, 'Look I just need noise – get out there!' I started as noise, and that was 'Be My Baby'."

The song appears in the opening sequence of Martin Scorsese's film Mean Streets (1973), and the 1987 film Dirty Dancing. The song appears in a fantasy sequence involving Kamala Khan in the Marvel series Ms. Marvel, in the second episode "Crushed". In 1999, it was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame. In 2006, the Library of Congress inducted the Ronettes' recording into the United States National Recording Registry. In 2004, it was ranked number 22 on Rolling Stone's list of the "500 Greatest Songs of All Time", where it was described as a "Rosetta stone for studio pioneers such as the Beatles and Brian Wilson." In 2017, the song topped Billboard's list of the "100 Greatest Girl Group Songs of All Time".

"Be My Baby" received a total of 86,9% yes votes!

[thefabulousronettes]

The Ronettes’ WALKING IN THE RAIN (from "Presenting the Fabulous Ronettes featuring Veronica") was their third single of 1964, not counting the "Veronica" release earlier that year, this ballad by Barry Mann, Cynthia Weil, and Phil Spector became a slightly larger hit for The Ronettes than their last two top 40 entries. Peaking in the upper reaches of the Billboard top 30 at #23, and in the Cash Box Top 20 at #20, this song actually featured the sound effects of a summer storm, along with Phil Spector's signature "Wall of Sound." "Walking In The Rain" was climbing up the charts that Fall when the trio's album, "Presenting The Fabulous Ronettes featuring Veronica" was released. The song, along with its B-side "How Does It Feel," was included on the album, along with all of the group's past top 40 hits.

#3 U.S. Cash Box R&B

#20 U.S. Cash Box Top 100

#23 U.S. Billboard Hot 100

#28 U.S. Billboard R&B Singles (1965)

"Walking In The Rain" is Ronnie Spector's favorite song that she recorded, right next to "Be My Baby." This same song also earned Phil Spector his only Grammy Award, for 'Best Sound Effects.'

Jay & The Americans released a cover version of this song in 1970, on their album "Wax Museum Vol. 1" Their version peaked even higher on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 at #19. Other artists to record the song include "The Walker Brothers," Cheryl Ladd, The Partridge Family, and "Reparata & The Delrons." [October 1964]

[famousinuniverse]

The Ronettes

Girl group

The Ronettes were an American girl group from Washington Heights, Manhattan, New York City. The group consisted of lead singer Veronica Bennett, her older sister Estelle Bennett, and their cousin Nedra Talley. They had sung together since they were teenagers, then known as "The Darling Sisters". 

Active from: 1957

Origin: Washington Heights, New York, United States

Albums: Presenting the Fabulous Ronettes, MORE

Genre: Pop

Also known as: The Darling Sisters; Ronnie and the Ronettes

The Ronettes - Wikipedia

American Bandstand

American Bandstand, abbreviated AB, is an American music-performance and dance television program that aired regularly in various versions from 1952 to 1989, and was hosted from 1956 until its final season by Dick Clark, who also served as the program's producer. It featured teenagers dancing to Top 40 music introduced by Clark; at least one popular musical act—over the decades, running the gamut from Jerry Lee Lewis to Run–D.M.C.—usually appeared in person to lip-sync one of their latest singles. Artists would sing naturally to the studio audience over a background of their own disc, while viewers at home would hear only the original recording. Freddy Cannon holds the record for most appearances, at 110.

American Bandstand - Wikipedia

The Ronettes first appearance on American Bandstand (1963).

[top500]

#494 The Ronettes - Presenting The Fabulous Ronettes Featuring Veronica (1964)

Today’s album is one of the essential 1960′s pop and girl group albums that transports you back to the 60′s instantly with the catchy vocals and jazzy poppy (if that’s a word) backing instrumentals that’ll make you tap your feet without even realizing it. The three Ronettes that make up the group are Veronica Bennett (later known as Ronnie Spector), her sister Estelle Bennett, and their cousin Nedra Talley, however the album has tracks featuring Cher and Sonny Bono, and the production was done by Phil Spector. This family group formed when they were all kids, they would get together on Saturdays with the whole family and these three would perform songs to keep everyone entertained. Veronica even claims that she was planning out full numbers by the time she was eight. 

If you’ve never listened to the 60′s style girl group pop that’s featured on Presenting The Fabulous Ronettes (Featuring Veronica), you’ll be quick to hear how infectious each track is. With a front vocal that’s innocent and pointed, combined with a stretched out and supportive back vocal tied in with a jazzy beat the catchieness can’t be escaped. Most of the songs have the same structure, and you would think that it might get old or distracting to have two sets of vocals going for every song, but they fit together like a puzzle, one never feels in the way of the other, but rather they always compliment. 

The songs do follow a similar formula, where the lead is singing about a star-crossed teenage love interest and the relationship is either going well, not going well, or hasn’t started yet. Be My Baby is the most successful song on the album, having reached #2 on the US charts, with Walking In The Rain, Baby, I love you, Do I Love You?, and (The Best Part of) Breakin’ Up also reaching a spot in the top 40, very impressive for one album. It doesn’t matter if you’re going through a break up, a new love, or just need something to put on while you walk to work, there’s a track on this album right for the occasion.

Give it a listen, see what you think.

[agoodsongeveryday]

Day Five Hundred and Ninety Seven

Come on baby Come on baby Don't say maybe Well it makes no difference who was wrong Just as long as I'll be with you

[tfc2211]

The Ronettes – ...Presenting The Fabulous Ronettes Featuring Veronica

[crashdiet]

🌙 please!

let it be - the beatles

breakfast in america - supertramp

presenting the fabulous ronettes featuring veronica - the ronettes

send me a 🌙 and i’ll assign you 3 albums that match your vibe!

[rosaliaolenyeva]

📛 20) ロネッツのすべて。

大きな夕陽が沈むころ、文房具店に寄って 手頃なノートブックを買おうとあれこれ眺めていたのですけれど、これといって "響く" ものが無くって今日は諦めました。そんな帰り道、こちらも目当ての物は無かったのですけれど、何となく レコード店の棚に並んでいました The Ronettes のレコード 「...Presenting The Fabulous Ronettes Featuring Veronica」 に目が止まり、ついつい胸キュン衝動買いをしてしまいました (でも本当は The Crystals のレコードが欲しかったのです)。

[musicalhabits]

Presenting the Fabulous Ronettes Featuring Veronica - The Ronettes

[yrmonster]

Artist: The Ronettes

Album: Presenting the Fabulous Ronettes Featuring Veronica

Songwriters: Jeff Barry / Ellie Greenwich / Philip Spector

Released: November 1964

A lesser known track of Barry/Greenwich/Spector (who together wrote Be My Baby, Da Doo Ron Ron, Chapel of Love and River Deep - Mountain High), I Wonder fits perfectly with the descriptor of Spector’s 60’s work of being “teenage symphonies.” For mine, this is the closest Ronnie gets to sounding as impassioned as she does on Be My Baby, which makes it close to perfect.