Gone to the chapel: R.I.P. Ellie Greenwich
Ellie Greenwhich in 1967
The astute observer of popular culture may have noticed that 2009 has been a pretty bad year for celebrity deaths. But none gave me a cold shiver upon learning of somebody’s passing (well, MJ’s was a bit of a surprise), until I learnt of Ellie Greewich’s death today.
For those who need reminding, she co-wrote with ex-husband Jeff Barry or Phil Spector classics such as Be My Baby, Da Doo Ron Ron, River Deep Mountain High, Going To The Chapel, Leader Of The Pack, Doo Wah Diddy (The Exciters’ original can be found here), Hanky Panky, Baby I Love You, And Then He Kissed Me and more.
She recorded some of these in 1973. Be My Baby, Wait ‘Til My Bobby Gets Home (Darlene Love) and I Can Hear Music (the Ronettes and the Beach Boys)Â sound like Carpenters songs. Maybe I Know was a hit for Lesley Gore. (Thanks to the Hep Kat for giving me those tracks a while ago) .
Ellie Greenwich – Be My Baby.mp3
Ellie Greenwich – River Deep Mountain High.mp3
Ellie Greenwich – I Can Hear Music.mp3
Ellie Greenwich – Wait ‘Til My Bobby Gets Home.mp3
Ellie Greenwich – Da Doo Ron Ron.mp3
Ellie Greenwich – Maybe I Know.mp3
Greenwich also discovered Neil Diamond, whom she went on to co-produce (she did backing vocals on songs such as Cherry Cherry and Kentucky Woman). Read more about Greenwich on her wikipedia page.
A legend and by all accounts a great human being. R.I.P.
A greater loss than Ted Kennedy. It’s been a rough year for pop music (Jackson, Paul, Greenwich).
Oh, so sad! :( Thanks for posting the songs, btw, because I’m not sure I’d heard her sing before.
Nice tribute!
Wow, she does a great job of ‘I can hear the music’!
Thanks
Wasn’t her group The Raindrops?
Yes Andy,
she was in the group “the Raindrops” and there is a nice CD available ( title: the complete Raindrops) with a great version of diddy wah diddy!
A revelation to me, thanks. She made it onto the Radio 4 Today programme this morning. Nice to have some news from the real world for once.
Ellie Greenwich hit song list with samples, chart info, and links to songs
http://tunecaster.com/special/writer/greenwich-ellie.html