Ellie Greenwich 1940-2009

They say "it comes in three's", and the summer of 2009 has proven that cliche true as we've lost three of our greatest legends in pop music. First was Michael Jackson, and we thought no other loss could eclipse his in importance. Then came the news that one of the greatest pioneers of rock music, maybe the most important, Les Paul, was gone. Les Paul developed the "solid body electric guitar" which made the sound of rock and roll possible, and he also invented and/or improved recording techniques which defined the way music is produced to this day, including "overdubbing" and "multi-track recording". (If you think Paul's contributions aren't important, try to imagine a Britney Spears song without voice modulation. Eee-yow!) Paul was also a popular performer, who along with his wife, Mary Ford, scored several Top Ten hits.


And finally, on August 26, we lost our third legendary star, singer/songwriter Ellie Greenwich. Greenwich is not a household name to anyone under the age of 40, but everyone knows her work. Discovered in New York's famous Brill Building by none other than Lieber and Stoller, ("Jailhouse Rock", "Hound Dog"), Greenwich later was given her own office and became one of the most successful of the famous Brill Building superstar songwriters, co-writing some of the 1960's biggest hits, including "Be My Baby" and "Baby, I Love You" (The Ronettes), "Then He Kissed Me" and "Da Doo Ron Ron" (The Crytals), "Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)" (Darlene Love), "Chapel of Love" (The Dixie Cups), "Leader of the Pack" (The Shangri-Las), "Hanky Panky" (Tommy James & the Shondells), "Doo Wah Diddy Diddy" (Manfred Mann), and "River Deep, Mountain High" (Ike and Tina Turner). Many of these songs were listed in Rolling Stone Magazine's 500 Greatest Songs of All Time, and over the years, when asked to name "the most perfect pop song of all time", many music critics have chosen "Be My Baby".

(l. to r. - The Ronettes and The Crystals)

Greenwich's main songwriting partner was husband, Jeff Barry, with whom she also recorded singles and an album under the name The Raindrops, with Greenwich providing all the female vocals through overdubbing, (thank you, Les Paul!), and Barry singing backgrounds.

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The couple also discovered Neil Diamond and produced many of his biggest hits. Greenwich and Barry were inducted into The Songwriters' Hall of Fame in 1991, but shockingly, they are not yet members of The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Something tells us that status will probably soon change.

(Ellie Greenwich and Jeff Barry)

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(The Raindrops: Greenwich, Barry and Laura Greenwich)

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Interestingly enough, the combined careers of Ellie Greenwich, Les Paul and Michael Jackson cover all aspects of the music industry: performing, writing, producing and technical innovation. Can you imagine what would have happened if the three of them had ever teamed up? Also, the three cover the span of the modern rock era, Paul earning his greatest fame in the 1940's and '50's, Greenwich in the 1960's, and Jackson in the 1970's, '80's and 90's. These three titans of the music world will be sorely missed, and you can count on the fact that very few others with their breadth of talents will ever emerge again.