Deathblog:
Ellie Greenwich, 1940 - 2009

I seem to be a few days late with the news of Ellie Greenwich’s passing, but I was sad to read about it this morning on Everett True’s blog.

As is often the way with songwriters, I guess I’ve gotten to know Greenwich’s name just through reading it hundreds of times in brackets after song titles on record sleeves, and I don’t really know that much re: what she was all about beyond the realm of writing great songs. Her life, personality etc largely remain a mystery to me, so I will leave thoughts on that for other, more informed writers.

I did read a little bit about her last month though, in “Out of his Head”, Richard Williams’ book about Phil Spector. From that, I learned about her pivotal contribution to Spector’s oeuvre, not only through writing the lion’s share of the most iconic songs (usually in collaboration with her husband Jeff Barry and/or Spector), but also through co-producing sessions, vocal coaching and goodness knows what else, credited or otherwise.

In addition to the Spector records, Greenwich and Barry also wrote some of the best ever Shangri-las songs for Shadow Morton, and provided material for The Dixie Cups, The Shirelles and The Four Pennies, surely earning them a preeminent place amongst the architects of the girl group sound/aesthetic.

Ellie Greenwich also wrote hits for Manfred Mann, The Monkees and Tommy James & The Shondells, and pre-empted fellow Brill Building writer Carole King by cutting several albums of her own songs in the late ‘60s. She is also often credited with ‘discovering’ Neil Diamond, and provided Elkie Brooks with her biggest hit, but let’s not hold that against her.

Obituaries for songwriters are often a depressing business, framed as “hey, looks like the guy who wrote HIT SONG X just died”, with the implied tragedy being that they probably spent their whole life writing thousands of other songs that nobody much cared about, grinding their teeth as people walked past whistling HIT SONG X at them.

No such problems for Ms. Greenwich. Looking at her catalog of songs on the Songwriters Hall of Fame website, I put together the following list of songs I know/like that she gets a writing credit for (plus I few others that I just thought had cool titles). And I’m sure you’ll agree, the pile of capital letters below makes a stronger case for her legacy than any amount of supercilious blather:

(AND) THEN HE KISSED ME
ALL GROWN UP
ANOTHER BOY LIKE MINE
BABY I LOVE YOU
BE MY BABY
CHAPEL OF LOVE
CHRISTMAS (BABY PLEASE COME HOME)
DA DOO RON RON
DO WAH DIDDY
GIRLS CAN TELL
GIVE US YOUR BLESSING
HANKY PANKY
HE AIN’T NO ANGEL
HE TELLS ME WITH HIS EYES
HEAVEN ONLY KNOWS
I CAN HEAR MUSIC
I DIDN’T MEAN TO HURT YOU
I WISH I NEVER SAW THE SUN SHINING
I WISH IT WOULD RAIN ALL SUMMER
LEADER OF THE PACK
MARVIN
MAYBE I KNOW
MY MAMA DON’T LIKE HIM
OUT IN THE STREETS
RIGHT TRACK, WRONG TRAIN
RIVER DEEP, MOUNTAIN HIGH
RUN RUN RUNAWAY
SHE HANGS OUT
SUNSHINE AFTER THE RAIN
THAT BOY IS MESSIN’ UP MY MIND
THINGS THAT YOU SAY
TODAY I MET (THE BOY I’M GONNA MARRY)
TRAIN FROM KANSAS CITY, THE
VALLEY OF DESPAIR, THE
WAIT TILL MY BOBBY GETS HOME
WALKING IN THE RAIN
WHAT'S A GIRL SUPPOSED TO DO
WHY DO LOVERS BREAK EACH OTHER’S HEARTS
WHY DON’T THEY LET US FALL IN LOVE

Goddamn, that woman could write a tune.

Mp3s:

The Crystals – Da Doo Run Run
Bob B. Sox & The Bluejeans – Why Do Lovers Break Each Others Hearts?
The Ronettes – Be My Baby
The Shangri-Las – Out in the Streets
The Shop Assistants – Train From Kansas City
The 5678s – Hanky Panky
Maureen Tucker – (And) Then He Kissed Me
The Ronettes – Walking in the Rain
The Ramones – Baby I Love You

Labels: 1960s, deathblog, Ellie Greenwich, girl groups, Phil Spector, pop, songwriters, The Shangri-Las