I’m sorry to say that their songwriter, Michael Brown, passed away today at the age of 65.
I hadn’t thought of this group in years, but their songs “Pretty Ballerina” and “Walk Away, Renee” were among the first few 45s I purchased as a grade schooler.
They used a lot of harpsichord and other baroque instrumentation in the arrangements. Baroque Pop was a bit of a thing back then.
RIP, Mr. Brown, and thank you for the memories.
A New York institution.
Hmm. I certainly know “Just Walk Away Renee.” I had no idea whose song it was. For some strange reason I assumed it was by a Canadian band, possibly because the name Renee is French.
Article sayshe also wrote “Brother Louie” while with Stories in the mid-70’s.
I remember them. RIP Mr. Brown.
I have Walk Away Renee in my music playlist, but nothing else by them.
And I’ve always pronounced their name “banky”. The superfluous “e” is just too twee!
Of course! I love the haunting baroqueness of “Pretty Ballerina,” and it’s especially amazing to me that he wrote it as a teenager (so far as I remember.) Always loved the melody line in that, the way it just soars into that falsetto at “was I surprised, yeah/was I surprised, no not at all?” just gives me the chills every time I hear it.
“Walk Away Renee” is probably in my all-time top 50 songs!
RIP 
Same with me, at least in my non-Kesha division. 
Whenever I think of the Left Banke, I’m reminded of this story about “member” Steve Kaczorowski, the inventor of karaoke rock.
I’m fond of Rickie Lee Jones’s version, with the trembling voice and crashing piano. Here.But really I’ll take any version. A classic, written by a kid.
I’m a Pretty Ballerina lover. Rarely hear it, but always hear Walk Away Renee.
Well, that’s a shame about Michael Brown, may he rest in peace. I certainly loved the Left Banke, all my life.
Fun little bit I found on Youtube of Leonard Bernstein talking about “Pretty Ballerina” here. (If it doesn’t properly cue up, it starts at 7:55).
I understand that the song referenced in Boston’s “More Than a Feeling” was “Just Walk Away, Renee.”
“…got lost myself in a familiar song, I closed my eyes and I slipped away…”
I’ve got a greatest hits album of theirs.
Where did you get it? I only have the version by the Temptations, or somebody.
Michael McKean did some studio work for them years after their glorious b-list days.
They must have got on the ball, or resolved some rights issues, because currently it is available on iTunes and Amazon.
I’m guessing you’ve got the Four Tops version. I remember they did a cover of “Walk Away Renee” sometime in the late 1960s but it wasn’t anything special IMHO. I don’t think the Temptations covered it.
He also did some live gigs with them, in their dying days. That was PART of what inspired This Is Spinal Tap- McKean had seen up close what it’s like to be performing with a once-popular band that hasn’t quite figured out that it’s over!