The Left Banke Too

The Left Banke Too
Studio album by The Left Banke
Released	November 1968
Recorded	1967-1968
Genre	Baroque Pop
Length	31:25
Label	Smash Records SRS 67113
Producer	Paul Leka, Michael Brown, Arthur Schroeck, and Gene Radice
The Left Banke chronology
Walk Away Renee/Pretty Ballerina (1967) The Left Banke Too (1968) Strangers on a Train (1986)

The Left Banke Too is the second studio album by the 1960s baroque rock band The Left Banke, released on Smash Records in 1968. It would be the final album of the band's initial lifespan, with their next album not appearing until 1986.

Background

In between the release of The Left Banke's debut album Walk Away Renee/Pretty Ballerina and the making of this album, the original five-piece band had been whittled down to a trio after the departures of songwriter and keyboardist Michael Brown and guitarist Rick Brand.^[1] To replace them, the band brought in guitarist Tom Feher, who had written songs with Brown for the group's first album.

Half of The Left Banke, Too consisted of tracks that had been issued as singles in the period since the release of the band's debut album in February 1967. "Desirée", released as a single in June 1967, barely scraped into the Billboard Hot 100 chart, peaking at number 98. The band's next two singles, "Dark is the Bark", released in the summer of 1968, and "Goodbye Holly" following in November 1968, both failed to chart. Following the release of the album in November 1968, a fourth and fifth single were issued, "Bryant Hotel" b/w "Give The Man A Hand" and "Nice To See You" b/w "There's Gonna Be A Storm" respectively, but they also failed to chart.

A pre-Aerosmith Steven Tyler, then known as Steve Tallarico, contributed backing vocals to several songs on the album including ‘My Friend Today’ and ‘Dark is the Bark’.^[2]

The entire album was at one time available on the 1992 compact disc There's Gonna Be a Storm: The Complete Recordings 1966–1969, but that compilation went out of print in the mid-1990s. On June 28, 2011, The Left Banke, Too was reissued on Sundazed Records, remastered by Bob Irwin.

Track listing

Side one

Side two

Personnel

• Steve Martin Caro — lead vocals; drums (on "Goodbye Holly"), tambourine (on "Nice To See You"), bass (on "Bryant Hotel")
• Tom Finn — bass, guitar, backing vocals; lead vocals (on "Nice to See You" & "There's Gonna Be A Storm")
• George Cameron — drums, percussion, backing vocals; lead vocals (on "Goodbye Holly" and "Bryant Hotel")
• Tom Feher — piano; guitar (on "Sing Little Bird" & "Bryant Hotel")
• Michael Brown — piano, organ (on "Desirée" & "In The Morning Light")

Additional personnel

• Steve Tallarico — backing vocals (on "Nice to See You", "Give the Man a Hand", "Dark is the Bark" & "My Friend Today"), tambourine ("Dark is the Bark")
• Paul Griffin — keyboards (on "Dark is the Bark")
• Paul Leka — string arrangements; piano (on "Bryant Hotel")
• Rick Brand — banjo (on "Bryant Hotel")
• Hugh McCracken — guitar (on "Desirée" & "Dark is the Bark")
• Ralph Casale — guitar (on "Dark is the Bark")
• Marvin Potocki — guitar (on "Give the Man a Hand")
• Chet Amsterdam — bass (on "Dark is the Bark")
• Joe Mack — bass (on "Desirée")
• Bobby Gregg — drums (on "Desirée")
• Artie Schroek — vibraphone, drums, string arrangements (on "Dark is the Bark")
• John Abbott — horn arrangements (on "In the Morning Light")
• Ray Alonge — french horn (on "Dark is the Bark")
• Ray Desio — trombone (on "Dark is the Bark")
• Marvin Stamm — trumpet (on "Dark is the Bark")
• George Young — woodwinds (on "Dark is the Bark")

Chart positions

Singles

References

External links

• LeftBanke.nu
• The Left Banke Fan Page