| Ronnie Spector | |
|---|---|
| Background information | |
| Birth name | Veronica Yvette Bennett |
| Born | August 10, 1943 |
| Origin | New York City, New York, United States |
| Genres | Rock, pop |
| Occupations | Singer |
| Instruments | Vocals |
| Years active | 1959–present |
| Labels | Colpix, Philles, Columbia |
| Associated acts | The Ronettes, Eddie Money, George Harrison |
| Website | Official website |
Veronica Yvette "Ronnie" Spector (née Bennett; born August 10, 1943) is an American rock and roll and popular music vocalist, and was the lead singer of the 1960s hit-making girl group, The Ronettes, who were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2007. She is known as the "original bad girl of rock and roll."[1][2]
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She was born Veronica Yvette Bennett in New York City on August 10, 1943. From an early age, Ronnie took to singing, encouraged by her large, close family. The other members of the Ronettes, her sister, Estelle Bennett (1941–2009), and cousin, Nedra Talley, were also encouraged to sing by their family. The Ronettes were a multiracial group. The Bennetts' mother was African-American and Cherokee, and their father was Irish; their cousin, Nedra Talley, is African-American and Puerto Rican.
Bennett was married to Phil Spector from 1968 to 1974, and took his name professionally; they adopted three children, including a set of twins, whom Phil adopted as a single parent after Ronnie and the youngest child left.
By her account, Phil kept Ronnie a near-prisoner and limited her opportunities to pursue her musical ambitions. In her autobiography, she said that he would force her to watch the film Citizen Kane to remind her she would be nothing without him. Spector's domineering attitude led to the dissolution of their marriage. Bennett was forbidden to speak to the Rolling Stones or tour with the Beatles, because Phil Spector feared that she would be unfaithful.
Bennett claims Spector showed her a gold coffin with a glass top in his basement, promising to kill and display her if she left him. During Spector's reclusive period in the late 1960s, he reportedly kept his wife locked inside their mansion[3]. She claimed he also hid her shoes to dissuade her from walking outside, and kept the house dark because he did not want anyone to see his balding head. Ronnie stated in her autobiography that she walked out of the house through the closed and locked rear sliding glass door, shoeless, shattering the glass as she left, and feet all cut up by the time she got to the gate. She never returned. Ronnie Spector filed for divorce in 1972. She wrote a book about her experiences, and said years later, "I can only say that when I left in the early 1970s, I knew that if I didn't leave at that time, I was going to die there".[4] She and Spector separated in 1973 and divorced one year later. In August 2011, Spector admitted that she went to rehab in order to escape living with Phil.[5]
Her autobiography, Be My Baby: How I Survived Mascara, Miniskirts, and Madness,[6] co-authored with Vince Waldron, was published in 1989. In 2004, Onyx Books republished the book in a revised and updated mass-market paperback edition in the United States. She lives in Connecticut with her second husband, Jonathan Greenfield, and their two sons, Austin Drew and Jason Charles. She has been performing Ronnie Spector's Christmas Party annually since the late 1980s around the United States and for the last ten years in New York City at B. B. King's Blues Club and Grill.
The Ronettes were produced by Phil Spector and managed by Val Irving of (GAC) General Artists Corporation in Manhattan. In the early 1960s, they had huge hits with "Be My Baby", "Baby, I Love You", "The Best Part of Breakin' Up, "Do I Love You?" and "Walking in the Rain". The group had two top 100 hits in 1965: "Born to Be Together" and "Is This What I Get for Loving You." The group broke up in early 1967, following a European concert tour that included their appearance at the Moonlight Lounge, in Gelnhausen, Germany, where they entertained American military personnel there. The group's last single, "I Can Hear Music," on the Philles Records label (# 133), was released in the fall of 1966. Ironically, that song was not produced by Phil Spector, who used to hire the "Wrecking Crew," Los Angeles area musicians, to provide Wall of Sound orchestral pop symphony backups for the group, at Gold Star Recording Studios in Hollywood. Instead, "I Can Hear Music" was produced by songwriter/producer Jeff Barry, who used only a small band when he recorded the trio in a New York City recording studio. For the group, the writing was on the wall. Spector simply stopped producing new Ronettes' records and kept many of the group's many unreleased songs in the vault, for years. The Ronettes were never to reunite until their 2007 induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame)The year of 1966 was also the time when Phil Spector went into a brief seclusion. He earlier that same year felt reputationally devastated by the high expectations and then disappointment of the Spector-produced Tina Turner recording "River Deep - Mountain High" {US #88; a UK #3}. Thereafter, a one-off single, "You Came, You Saw, You Conquered," sung by Ronnie but credited to "The Ronettes Featuring the Voice of Veronica," appeared in 1969 on Herb Alpert's A&M label, with "Oh I Love You," an old Ronettes B-side, as the flip. Only Ronnie voice was used for the lead and background vocals on "You Came, You Saw, You Conquered". Ronnie's recording and performing career had begun its long hiatus. Ironically, it all happened after Ronnie and Phil Spector married in 1968.
In early 1971, during Phil Spector's tenure as head of A&R at Apple Records, Ronnie recorded the single "Try Some, Buy Some"/"Tandoori Chicken"; released as Apple 33 in the UK, Apple 1832 in the U.S. The A-side of the single was written by George Harrison, and produced by both Harrison and Spector. Although the single was not a big hit, it had one lasting influence: when John Lennon recorded "Happy Xmas (War Is Over)" later the same year, he asked Spector to reproduce the same mandolin-laden 'Wall of Sound' that he had created for "Try Some, Buy Some". Lennon liked the rockabilly B-side too; he sang it at his birthday party in New York in October 1971 (a recording of which appeared in bootlegs). Other Ronnie Spector songs were produced by Phil Spector during those London recording sessions, but none were ever released.
In the early to mid 1970s, Ronnie briefly reformed the Ronettes (as Ronnie Spector and the Ronettes) with two new members (Chip Fields Hurd, the mother of actress Kim Fields, and Diane Linton). In her book, she recounted several abortive attempts to recapture mainstream success throughout the 1970s and early 1980s, during which time she was widely perceived as an oldies act.
Billy Joel's 1976 hit Say Goodbye to Hollywood was inspired by Ronnie. Ronnie herself covered it in 1977 backed by Bruce Springsteen's E Street Band. Ronnie recorded her first solo album in 1980 produced by Genya Ravan, which was a prelude to her work with Joey Ramone in the late 1990s. In 1986, Ronnie enjoyed a resurgence to popular radio airplay as the featured vocalist on Eddie Money's Top 5 hit "Take Me Home Tonight", (where she is introduced by Money singing "just like Ronnie sang (Money)... OH, OH, OH, OH-OH (Ronnie Spector)"). The video to the hit recording was one of the top videos of the year and in power rotation on MTV. During this period, she also recorded the song "Tonight You're Mine, Baby" (from the film Just One of the Guys) and sang a duet with Southside Johnny on the recording "You Mean So Much To Me", which was penned by Southside's longtime friend Bruce Springsteen and produced by Steven Van Zandt of the E Street Band.
In 1999, she released the critically acclaimed album, She Talks to Rainbows, which featured a few covers of older songs. Joey Ramone acted as producer, and appeared on stage with her to promote the record. In 2003, she provided backing vocals for The Misfits' album, Project 1950.
In 2003, Ronnie Spector and the other Ronettes sued Phil Spector for non-payment of royalties, winning a $3 million judgment; upholding the terms of the group's 1963 contract as binding.
Ronnie along with her group were inducted into the Vocal Group Hall of Fame in 2004.
The Ronettes were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2007.
Ronnie's recent album Last of the Rock Stars (Bad Girl Sounds) was released domestically in 2009 featuring contributions from members of the Raconteurs, Nick Zinner of the 'Yeah Yeah Yeahs', the Raveonettes, Patti Smith and Keith Richards. Ronnie herself has co-produced two of the songs.
A new Christmas EP, "Ronnie Spector's Best Christmas Ever" was released on Bad Girl Sounds in November 2010 featuring five new Christmas songs.
In 2011, after the death of Amy Winehouse, Ronnie Spector released her version of Amy's hit 'Back to Black' as a tribute and for the benefit of the Daytop Village addiction treatment centers.