Vonda Shepard - Walk Away Renee

[derfuhrer44]

The BEST of the covers of this classic!!!

[TheSkirmishes]

does this mean she is lesbian?

[MB4EVER11]

This song was on joyful noise loved that movie!

[TDSouledOut1]

Vonda invests so much emotion in her music. She is unquestionably one of the finest SOUL singers alive today. Her interpretation of this Four Tops classic is just superb.

[Puseye2]

@TDSouledOut1

The song was written by16-year-old keyboard player Michael Brown (real name Michael Lookofsky) and Tony Sansone of The Left Banke. The band recorded it in 1966 (single release July 1966) The song was also a chart hit for The Four Tops in 1968. Rolling Stone placed the song at number 220 in the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.

[robie0788]

I think she did this song beautifully. Very well done Vonda. Applause Applause!!!

[sag1965s]

The Left Banke's original was by far the best version but Rickie Lee Jones did have a hauntingly beautiful cover.

[awkwarddude]

@sag1965s Yep, I was in college in the 60s when Left Banke did their original. Simpler times, eh? Good memories.

[Desiree50able]

I dont like her version,she has a nice voice but this gem of a song dont fit her,sorry.

[prrolg]

This fits her voice so well. Great version

[jekiwe]

sorry Vonda...don't mess with an original classic like the Four Tops...some songs do sound better when re-done....but...not this one...sorry girl!

[rukeyser]

@jekiwe um. the four tops COVERED the original, remember? and no one ever really did it better than the that, altho i like Rickie Lee Jones'

[gearld73]

f---love it spidermike

[markmh835]

Has ANY television show since "Ally McBeal" used music so effectively, and made it an integral part of the show?  Any? Any? I think not. "Ally McBeal" was a masterpiece, due in a great part to Vonda Shepard.

[labrat84dot]

She has so much soul and feeling in her voice....Like she really feels it....soulful..yes

[randyw41]

I saw her in a small venue, I'm still in love...

[lebarosky]

@randyw41 Lucky you.

[keylago220]

hi vonda,great tribute to left banke.your voice give me goosebumps.your gorgeous,keep up the great work.when ya touring new england,say portland,me.?or boston?

[TheAlysheba]

Very nice and my favorite Left Banke cover... That's saying a lot!

[JayAdlerComment]

I have not seen Vonda in awhile but I am sure when I see her she will be the top shelf recording artist she always will be, she is a gem.

[TheNigelc8]

Great voice , great track , great arrangement, wonderful

[RestInTheMoment]

Love you Vonda....Your music has brought me so much peace.....

[1roxannity]

Excellent rendition of this song!

[pyoungss]

I have bought so many classic rock albums because of Vonda... you rock sugar!!! <3

[chitchitify]

love it...:)

[Chuckv57]

Loved listening to her sing on Ally McBeal. Is she still around?

[pbmax]

@Chuckv57 She's currently touring:

Coach House - CapistranoSan Juan Capistrano, CA

08:00 PM

[vondashepard]

@Chuckv57

Thanks chuck! Come visit the Official Vonda Shepard YouTube page!

[vondashepard]

@Chuckv57

Thanks Chuck! Come visit the Official Vonda Shepard YouTube page!

[reknujrm]

One of my favorite songs!!! Different covers...doesnt matter. Love the instinctive harmonies. I do love the earthiness of this version...great job....thanks!

[fred00111]

The original version is by the author's group "The Left Banke" and can be found on this website. It's good and perhaps the best ofr the boomer generation.

Enjoy!

[taxman9922]

Check out the versions by Frankie Valli and Rick Price.

[FranziskasWhip]

VONDA SHEPERD ROCKS :D

YAY FOR ALLY MCBEAL! OBJECTION!

[TheBbfan2010]

I knew a girl named Renee, smart, gorgeous, warm, and she loved me. But I pushed her away because I was insecure and the intensity of my feelings for her, scared me. So I shut her out and cut all communication. Took me a couple months to realize my mistake but I called her, begging for another chance. She said no. I hurt her so badly when I pulled away and shut her out, so much so that she stopped believing in us. So here I am, listening to this song, wondering how to fix this. If I can fix this

[DrakeGrad]

@TheBbfan2010 You need to move on..if it is goingto happen it will..never obsess about someone it only drags you down.

[lebarosky]

@TheBbfan2010 for whatever it's worth the theme here for you is control. you feared that her love would have power over you so you withdrew. now you miss the love she offered so you scheme to revive that love. if you realize that control has nothing to do with love; that it is inimical to love and the corruption of it, you might intuit how to behave in a loving way toward this woman who was once drawn to you. best of luck!

[guitpik]

@TheBbfan2010 Same thing happened to me over 35 years ago and I didn't do anything about it. It still bothers me to this day. Good luck!

[lastnameinthebook]

Best cover of a great oldie.

[KnoxTheArtist]

I love this song.

[cookingnotes]

Great voice , just love her so much.

[lympia3]

cant sit on fence with this,myself and its an opinion Allan merrill version has got more continuity with the chords.and bass notes make song flow better.this is too a good version.

[inmijneendje]

Great singer.......love her !!!!

[badbob1946]

Well, I'm not young, but I was when this song came out. I knew then that it was a special tune, and I'm glad to se that talented artists like Ms. Shepard are keeping it new.

[lebarosky]

@kellipunk52: don't agree: it is still a song of unrequited love.

[JOHNNIEL1]

Almost.........Almost as good as the Rick Price version. That one is by far the best remake. Check it out.....excellent video too!!

[badbob1946]

This a very good song for singers who have a certain sound. The rest of them should stay away. Its a very special song.

[precious01111]

great vocals... for lonely people...........

[inspmike]

Excellent version! Steel guitar solo is awesome and I don't even like steel guitars!

[Guitarwizard55]

This is just Ok !! I've heard much better verions

[JulieB1023]

@Guitarwizard55 - Agreed. Rickie Lee Jones does an amazing, distinctive cover of this song. Makes it truly her own.

[lebarosky]

Far far better than original for two reasons: her vocal interpretation is stronger. Silly strings have been replaced with a proper steel guitar.

[kellipunk52]

@lebarosky The soul of the original is lost in this song, although, I do like it.

[lebarosky]

Class.

[johnnyinlaunie]

Rick price version as good as all the rest.

[Kyrie77777]

I love this version of Walk Away Renee. It's beautiful, and magic. I also like the original by the Left Banke.  They're just two different songs.

[unclebuckthemonastic]

I like this better than any other arrangement, a whole dimension apart from the fake-Baroque version from my teenage years.

[ajsbx]

Hey Vonda,

I wanted to tell you thanks for recording this. I hope you see this Tony Sansone

[ponyboy314]

No one did a better version of this song than The Four Tops.

[MyAxolotl]

Southside J,, IS THE TOPS.. this is nice though..

[YoseVale]

Vonda! i love </3

[babewilson66]

southside johnny sings it much better

[joninpgh]

Excellent! It's hard to find but Southside Johnny does a cover of this also.

[itsareligionofpeace]

that was outstanding!

[meanwiddlekid]

Bland and canned.

[szilvia43]

én nagyon szeretem

[LTF6161]

Covers work about 10% of the time...This isn't one of those time.

[MissNaeNae16]

omg i got named after this song

s2

[itsareligionofpeace]

Wow.

That was really good.

Where can I listen to new music like this?

[DarthLoki182]

@itsareligionofpeace

Try the original by "the left banke"

it's far better.

[daveyfrank10]

It was great on the last episode to see ren'ee again.

[jiveturkey0913]

Now as the rain beats down upon my weary eyes,

For me it cries.

[MrMyhumps]

thank you i got caught up in a song by charlene, you make it sound simply beautiful again. love renee. 1967

[brandon10787]

Maybe I'm remembering this wrong, but when she sang this song on the show, wasn't Ally having a fight or something with her roommate/friend Renee? For some reason, I keep remembering seeing Renee walking out of the bar/lounge while Vonda was singing this on stage...

[69spicylady]

I love this song and have such brill memories of the show

[jamesriker66]

great old song and a very good singer!!

[teedammit]

Very nice treatment of the song.

[badbob1946]

I really don't know who she is but this is one of my favorite songs and she nailed it.

[AmericanEvita]

And it's also interesting to note how Ally Mcbeal and the oldies sung by Vonda Sheperd in the lat 1990's introduced young people like me (I'm in my 20's right now) to the oldies. If it hadnt been for Vonda I would have never discovered these touching, emotional songs. These songs tear me to pieces!! They go straight to my heart...and especially because of the heartbreak i went thru

[sianlovescats]

Hey Varsity, we always become our parents! It creeps up on us.....ARRRRGH!

[oldrumer]

i just found this version, wow did i get blind sided. I've hit the replay 3 times , wow. Hey timetravel21217 , I'm 51 do you remember MOTT the HOOPLE? By the way our son is 22 ,plays in band as a lead singer and drummer, he loves "BOSTON" "ZEPPLIN" and the song "COCAINE" from Clapton

[timetravel21217]

Yes I do remember Mott the Hoople lol....That is terrific that your son loves those groups - sounds like a very 70s boy...but even now, I get excited over "discovering" new, genuine talent such as Adam Lambert - and I still love Santana and the work he does with other singers, such as the one he did with the guy from Nickelback...

[hulabalu58]

hey, oldrumer I'm also 51 as of 9/9/09 - how's that for a kick in the head? I introduced my kid to Kansas at one of their live concerts when he was about 22, and he had never heard of them, and I can tell you he was instantly hooked after that! And of course I remember MOTT "All the way from Memphis" - LOL - Well, from one boomer to another, keep on rockin', and passing it on to the next generation!

[oldrumer4u]

Hey "hulabalu58" here's a "kick in the the teeth" for ya, my son comes home , all excited, his eyes "wide" open, it seems he found a "CD" that according to him is over the top, the mix of vocals, guitar, keyboards, back-up vocals, drums....... I asked him who are you so excited about ? My son said it some band called "BOSTON"... I then remined my son that this is what we listened to back when I was in high school, and to think he was on to something new

[TheIkkap]

@oldrumer4u  I blew my nephew and his friends mind when I played them Zeppelin and Kansas. They wanted to know if I could take them to see them in concert. I told them that it was not likely. I've seen Kansas probably 12 times and the Dregs probably the same but not even I had seen Zeppelin.! They thought my music and their parents music was all Frankie Valley and Jazz. They get these notions from TV.

[badbob1946]

Very very nice. Thank you.

[friendofmouse]

djfisher3 and KoshmarUK--your comments are absolute pure truth. We got to see the birth of something that changed the face of music forever. One "garage band" with a simple hook influenced an entire generation of musicians. Blues giants inspired the likes of Beck, Clapton and Page.

Even before Woodstock, there was the Monterey Jazz Festival in 1967. It was a wonderful, beautiful time the likes of which will not be seen again soon.

[Jaumetma]

It's not the original, but it's nice, very nice, the voice and the sound. I'm enjoy with Vonda ant this song

[problem49]

Nice one Vonda.

[7855waldo]

A fantastic example of something that could not possibly be any better - and which gets zero publicity while the rap dogs are howling.

[hornetsnest001]

I would say that this cover sounds better than the original. However, It might be because I have listened to the original so many times because it is such a great song, that this version gives it a refreshing appeal.

[discotimelord]

I like this song more than the original.

[jworpington]

so underrated! best cover version of this song possibly better than the original

[KoshmarUK]

Oh come on! This is over-produced for starters! The original was recorded by the Left Banke in 1966 - the guy who wrote it (Michael Brown) was only 17(!) years old and even better is their song Pretty Ballerina. Vonda is benefitting from being able to have an army of producers and musicians to bring up an overpolished result. Give credit to the man who wrote it and the band who performed it originally. Cover versions always take something away from the original IMHO...

[djfisher3]

I'm in accord with you Koshmar. I was born in 1950 and grew up with Rock and Roll and all it's changes and here will never, ever be another era as was between 1965 and 1975. The music was alive and it flowed through us. It was the lawyers and accountants that ruined the music business after they saw the earning potential in the Woodstock Music and Art Festival. And for every group that got a chance at the brass ring there were 20 left in the dust. Who knows what great music was dashed by greed?

[KoshmarUK]

That's what so sad about the rubbish that is NSync, Boyzone, Spice Girls and all that followed. None can play instruments, write music or compose lyrics. The number of talented musicians and performers for every one of these wasters numbers into the hundreds I would think. When I see the numbers of gullible people buying Girls Aloud or Lady Gaga trash, it just makes the lack of talent profitable for the wrong reasons....

[djfisher3]

Unfortunately we not only have to fight for control over our governments, but we have to fight for control over our very culture Any generation that sleeps makes it worse for those following The boom of culture came from individuals having the freedom to produce what was in their hearts and minds What I see in the future is like a combination of all the futuristic Sci Fi movies where everything is centrally controlled in order to make us easier to manage Music is my heaven and it has been stolen

[timetravel21217]

I agree with you to a degree - i am 53; my daugher is 24; son is 16 - and they will never know the thrill of listening to the music of the sixties and seventies when it first came out like I did. It was original, inspiring - there were a few "put together" groups of studio musicians and such, like Steam (na na na hey hey good bye) and the grassroots, but most were fresh and real. No lyp synching at concerts. Lady Gaga? sounds like an eating disorder..

[timetravel21217]

I did want to say, though, I think Vonda Shepard is a class act - she reminds me of someone from another era. Even if her ally mcbeal stuff was all covers.

[varsityredheads]

I know that we're starting to sound like our parents - but we're right! This amazing song was written by a 16 year old kid and performed by a glorified garage band, not some studio musicians. As an aside, I am, however, very impressed with Taylor Swift, who is but 19 and wrote "Tim McGraw" when she was about 16.

[IvanGTerrace]

The geezers when you were young were saying the same thing about the music you liked back then too.

[2zwaantjes]

Kudo's to Ms. Shepard.

Fabulous voice, classic song, Absolutely LOVE this lady.

[sansli11]

Ally mcbeal is soo cool

=)

[recaredo55]

lovely voice

[newshoesshine]

ally mc beal...

[cybervisionstar]

I'm a Vonda Shepard FAn. I really like her arrangements and voice

[macychick]

me too!

[KoshmarUK]

How much of her catalogue is original material and how much is cover versions? Seriously - I don't know! Yes she has a good voice but I feel uneasy about someone who has to produce so much unoriginal material