The Left Banke – Walk Away Renee / Pretty Ballerina – Gold, Colored Vinyl, 2018

Vinyl LP pressing. The Left Banke’s 1967 album Walk Away Renee/Pretty Ballerina is widely regarded as one of the greatest debuts of the ’60s, thanks to frontman Steve Martin’s evocative lead vocals, the haunting harmonies of band members Tom Finn and George Cameron, the ambitious songwriting of keyboardist Michael Brown, and exquisite, classically-influenced arrangements that were unlike anything else in popular music at the time. “Walk Away Renee,” released the previous year as the band’s first single, remains one of the era’s most recognizable (and most-covered) standards. In addition to “Walk Away Renee” and it’s followup hit “Pretty Ballerina,” the album also features such memorable numbers as “She May Call You Up Tonight,” “Barterers and Their Wives” and “Shadows Breaking Over My Head.”