The Left Banke - LeftBanke.nu

»Dawn Eden interviews Michael Brown

Because Michael Brown hasn't recorded since the Beckies LP in 1976, he has gained the reputation of being a recluse. Nonetheless, during this telephone interview, he was friendly & candid. Often he would laugh while answering a question, & his laugh hinted at self-mockery, as though he was laughing to keep from crying. Brown told me that "Walk Away Renee" was written about Renee Fladen, whom he met in the winter of 65. She had natural platinum blonde hair, which he described in "Pretty Ballerina" as "Hair so brilliant that it hurt my eyes" I asked him how he met her.

BROWN: I met her through the newly formed group the Left Banke. They would run around, so to speak, because they new a lot of people, & it was just one of those chance encounters, It was because I was hanging around with the group.

EDEN: He said that he only knew Renee a month before he wrote the song! I commented that a month was a short time to have known her, considering the emotions the song describes.

BROWN: Well, I never really said I knew her, I was just sort of mythologically in love with her, if you know what I mean?

EDEN: Without actually having a romantic relationship?

BROWN: Yes! Without having evidence in fact or in deed. (Laughs)

EDEN: Was she just a friend?

BROWN: Well, the thing that people forget is that what was happening with everyone I was hanging around with was a new era. That didn't last very long. Whether you fell in love or were in love, everybody sort of just…floated around. (Laughs)

EDEN: So in the song he was close with her yet not close because he didn't know her that well.

BROWN: Yea, but I was as close as anybody could be to the real thing. As a matter of fact, like in the twilight zone or something, if you cross over, you lose what you have. It was only because I was away from it that I could appreciate the beauty of it. Once you've become immersed in it, you can't see the sunlight coming through the window, because you are then in the light.

EDEN: How did she walk away?

BROWN: Well I wanted her to walk away because it made it easier. In other words, I was fired & then I quit. (Laughter)

EDEN: Was there really a lot & a one way sign that you would pass by every day?

BROWN: The sign was on Falmouth street in Brooklyn, & the lot was on the corner of Falmouth & Hampton Ave. We used to play in there when we were little children & have praying Mantises drop on our hands, they were the most beautiful creatures you could imagine. And there was a law against killing them, it was a $25 fine because they did good work ecologically.

EDEN: How was Renee, as the song states, "Not to blame?"

BROWN: Well, why should she be to blame? I mean it's not her fault. (Laughs) If anybody is going to do blaming it'll be me, & I've decided she's not to blame!

EDEN: Was the part about the names inside the heart upon a wall true?

BROWN: No, I fabricated that just to have a third verse starting.

EDEN: What was it like to record "Walk Away Renee"?

BROWN: My father (Harry Lookofsky) was responsible for having a recording studio & actually producing the record, & it was a very good production because he maintained that the group knew best. He was like George Martin, in his own way, except he didn't have the music business acumen that, let's say, George Martin or Brian Epstein would have had.

EDEN: How did things go with the band when they were in the studio?

BROWN: Well, it was very exiting. (laughs) I can't tell you. One of the biggest mistakes I made was to throw out the drummer, Warren David. He was a homosexual, or bisexual or something, & I didn't really… I didn't dislike him for that. I disliked the fact that he couldn't keep a beat, but after seeing what happened & how he was replaced with George (Cameron) & everything else, it was a major mistake. Warren was responsible for the drum beat that was eventually used on "Walk Away Renee". It was his idea.

EDEN: (Brown goes on to comment on record label's treatment of bands)

BROWN: The music business was different back then, it was like you had a friend at Friendly Bank or something. You had a friend in your local record company. You could talk to people there & give new records a listen, & the singles market was really a special time. There is no singles market anymore. They only use it to recompense themselves for money thats invested. There's no kids calling up to say what song they like the best out of 5 new ones that just got released, like they used to do.

EDEN: W"alk Away Renee" received an award from BMI for having been played over one million times on the radio, do you recall the day that song passed the one million mark?

BROWN: No, I think who ever was delivering that message to us walked into a revolving door & couldn't get out. (Laughs)

EDEN: What other rock bands influenced your writing during the Left Banke years?

BROWN: I liked the Beach Boys. I liked that record they did, "I Get Around."

EDEN: Did Steve Martin often have disagreements with you?

BROWN: Yeah, well, he had bigger problems then that. He had disagreements but he didn't know how to tell anyone about it. He was very easily agitated. I can't say too much bad about Steve because he did have a good voice. And he did sing for a while.

EDEN: What about the Left Banke live shows? Was it easy to duplicate the recorded sound live?

BROWN: (groan) Oh man, It wasn't able to be duplicated well at all. We only had one good show that I can remember. That was the very first one we did at a church thing, & there were just all of these screaming kids. It was incredible, our first record hadn't even come out yet.

EDEN: Do you recall the time Leonard Bernstein played "Pretty Ballerina" on his TV show?

BROWN: That was my 18th birthday, the evening of April 25th 1967. My song was the only one he sat down at the piano & played.

EDEN: What about your work with Bert Sommer (A singer who played Woodstock. Michael was shocked that I even knew about this collaboration)

BROWN: Wow, I feel like you got the goods on me & that I'm in a police station or something. (laughs) I'm distant from Bert now because he had a lot of problems. I'm not getting into any details. Well, the problem begins with a 'J' & ends with a 'K', you know what I mean? (Laughs)

EDEN: Why did you stop touring with the band & then eventually leave?

BROWN: There was no Left Banke when I left. The group had destroyed itself. With enough bed-hopping on the tour, getting drunk. I'd seen these horrible polyurethane human figures, you know the kind that comes with the clothes that are dry-cleaned overnight, getting up in the morning, feeling like crap. There was nothing left. I'm the only one who could play at that time, it was just like a nightmare.

EDEN: What about the Montage project in 68?

BROWN: They were my friends more than they were people who could really do an album. Some people like that Montage album, & I love a couple of cuts on it, but one swallow does not a summer make, right?

EDEN: What about the Stories project, you left that band right before the recording of "Brother Louie."

BROWN: I was thrown out of the Stories! Thank God! (laughs)

EDEN: Did you have anything to do with the "Brother Louie" song?

BROWN: NO! I am not guilty. I had nothing to do with it. I produced the first album & I produced the first single, which went to #27, & they didn't think I was good enough. The record company president thought that with a real producer on it, the record would have went Top 3, So I was removed from the controls. I had a manager who tried to tell me that it's either I step down as a producer or he can't save the group. So, like a fool, I trusted him, & they get this guy - I don't want to mention names, but he ruined all chance of the group naturally mobilizing itself. And also, if the lead singer (Ian Lloyd) hadn't become such an egomaniac. I never knew the true meaning of the expression "It went to his head" until after our first single was released. Now, you know, I was a veteran by then. I was disappointed that the single only went to #27, Ian was dumbstruck that it was 27!