THE LEFT BANKE

The Left Banke story with video clips

I met the guys in The Left Banke in the spring of 1967. The original members, Steve Martin Caro [vocals] – Tom Finn [bass guitar] – Michael Brown [keyboards/songwriter] – George Cameron [drums] – Jeff Winfield [guitar], were topping the American pop music charts back then with their big debut hit record, "Walk Away Renee".

My ears were glued to top 40 radio in those years so when it was announced that the band was going to be performing in my home town and also appearing at a promotional meet & greet at a local record store, I was determined to meet them and take some photos. 

Unable to attend the band’s concert at our small town university’s spring carnival event, I figured there would be a crowd of kids like me at the record store meet & greet the day of the show. Surprisingly however, only a few kids other than myself had actually showed up. The Left Banke guys were gathered around an empty display case counter ready to sign autographs and meet their fans and seemed disappointed that that so few came out to meet them. The band was not well known at that point however, despite their big hit record. 

The other few indifferent kids, their curiosity satisfied, got bored and left. I was far from bored and thrilled that I was indeed the last fan standing and could now talk with these guys exclusively. So, for the next hour, it was just me and The Left Banke guys hanging out with me taking dozens of pictures of them and asking them many questions about their music and their fashionable New York duds. 

Their individual personalities and modish style clothes made a huge impression on me and my sincere interest in everything about them opened them up to me as we joked around laughing and making their lonely meet & greet a bit more fun at least. I sensed they were quite appreciative that a kid like me was interested in communicating with them all personally on the level of being drawn to their world and so inquisitive of the substance of their music and songs. My photos were taken with an old Polaroid instant camera that spat out a hard copy of each picture taken after a few seconds of processing each new image. The guys dug their pictures. I dug The Left Banke. 

Memories of that special day remain undimmed especially now that all 5 original members of The Left Banke have passed. Tom Finn, the last original member to pass, died in June of 2020. Steve Martin Caro died in January of 2020. George Cameron died in 2018. Michael Brown died in 2015 and Jeff Winfield died in 2009. 

I kept my treasured polaroid photos of The Left Banke in a shoebox in our attic for years. Unfortunately, instant polaroid pics of the era deteriorated with oxidization eventually. So, my pics soon faded and completely decomposed over time. Not so my memories of hanging out with The Left Banke. Those guys and their baroque/pop classic Walk Away Renee, are indelibly imprinted in me until the day I die.