the ronettes wah watusi

[jennifersenn]

If they were taking turns, which song does Estelle sing lead on?

[soulfultony]

Its Nedra

[soulfultony]

Thats Nedra singing lead.This track appeared on The Crystals Sing the Greatest Hits LP.

[DLfanatic01]

Its Nedra singing lead on the verses I asked Ronnie Spector in 1995 she comfirmed these were auditions for Phil Spector who wanted to hear each Ronette sing solo ,all three Ronettes sing the chourus listen and you can hear Ronnie very clear.

Ronnie did all the lead vocals on the other three songs "Mash Potato" "The Twist" and "Hot pasturi".

[promerops]

Nice one, Nedra!

[nitenday12]

Exudes a lot of happy innocence, alas, not heard anymore. Thanks for the post. 

[OVtigerstripe]

The only song of their's where a man's vocals is actually heard.

[OVtigerstripe]

Yes, ScriptWorker, this is Nedra Talley singing lead. She sang lead on one or two songs I believe.

[helenlloydmusicuk]

I like this version :)

[elamite66]

I liked this Spector treatment of the song but I got to say while I like it It was not the best vehicle for the Ronettes and I like the Orlons better this was right up the Philly Cameo-Parkway alley so to speak but thanks for posting it it's always interesting to hear a different treatment of an early teenage classic. It always impresses me that so many can pick out who's singing what I could tell very often as a kid but I knew the sounds not the names

[yandrsupreme]

This is Nedra signing lead on this. 

[desert3347]

Must be Nedra...............Love her!!.

[desert3347]

I think this is Estelle singing........simular vocal genetics to Ronnie!

[Vincent50]

Sounds cute. Ronnie was the voice of the group however its nice to hear Nedra or Estelle sing lead.

[excelsior544]

Sounds like mud. Sorry, Phil.

[mgc2125]

Its not as good as the original arangement

[excelsior544]

@mgc2125  For sure!!!!

[axcrewe]

Darlene Love?

[TreblaYevrah]

There is no way this is Ronnie, but I couldn't say for certain who it is exactly. I haven't heard Nedra or Estelle doing their solo work, so it could be either one of those from my perspective.

[arnyarny77]

yes the beautifull nedra

[macdelight]

is nedra the one that died in 2009 in englewood, nj?

they were all so beautiful. fun times.

[ronetteloverz]

No, it was Estelle that passed away.

[SandySummers]

I have never heard this version either. As good as The Orlons. Cute pic of the Ronettes too. Thanks for sharing.

[LesbianVampireLover]

Great pic of the luscious Nedra, too. I never knew that the Ronettes covered this one until seeing the comment at the Orlons' song posting! And Nedra singing lead is a new one on me, too.

[ScriptWorker]

Another point about the voice here is that Ronnie's range is really big and the singer on this track can't quite get the top note. So it is more likely Nedra here but Mash is a Ronnie sound.

[soulfultony]

Nedra also sang lead on Mashed Potato Time issued on the same "Crystals Sing the Greatest Hits" issued in 1963

[ScriptWorker]

Really? That's Nedra?? I have listened many times and, though the sound is recorded hard, the voice has the tonality and verbrato of Ronnie. Ronnie sings with accent to the "a" letters in words which I haven't found with Nedra!! Interesting if it is her. Pretty rare stuff if thats the case.

[peterandreasen]

I really can´t remember but I think I read it somewhere. Also I have later records with Nedra singing live (yes se did Be my baby live at least twice) and you can tell it´s her. Estelle sounded very much as Ronnie on her own recordings from the late 60s. I hear 100% Ronnie on mashed potato time.

[ScriptWorker]

Yar I reckon its Ronnie.

[Sadakogirl]

You have records with Nedra singing?! Which ones? I wish I had them...

[ronetteloverz]

I like this version way better than the Orlons recording of it. Much cleaner and crisp.

[don56texas]

@ronetteloverz the unmistakeable touch of PS

[ostrich67]

Three cute kids singing a cute song. I have to admit it's kind of infectious! Makes me smile.

[ronetteloverz]

Too bad they didn't use her lead more often.

[peterandreasen]

It´s Nedra on lead - the only song she ever got to record as a lead with The Ronettes

[ScriptWorker]

Hi Peter

I can tell the vocals are different than the Ronnie sound, but could you let me know out of interest how you can know its Nedra. Very interesting.

[PaulDePace]

Ronnie changed her vocal style near the end of her affiliation with Colpix records... If you listen to other early Ronettes' singles, you will note a major difference between Ronnie's voice then (59 - 62) and the later "Frankie Lyman" inspired voice that she auditioned for Phil Spector in mid-1963. Ronnie openly admits taking the voice and style from Lyman ("Why Do Fools Fall in Love" and other late 50's hits).

[poconoboy61]

Who's singing lead on this? Estelle? It doesn't sound like Ronnie to me.

[johnreynolds71]

i agree with ya the voice doesnt sound like ronnies normal voice

[PaulDePace]

@johnreynolds71 .....it is Nedra on the lead. Paul / Texas

[PaulDePace]

@poconoboy61 

Actually...the lead was Nedra (Talley) confirmed.

[ronetteloverz]

@poconoboy61 It's Nedra. Check out the YouTube postings for Nedra's "Full Circle" album and you can hear

her voice alone, as it is here. There are about seven postings of songs from that album.

[PaulDePace]

@poconoboy61 ....."Wah Wahtusi"....that is actually Nedra on the lead. Confirmed. ...Paul / Texas

[MissyMagical]

@poconoboy61 It's Nedra.