R.I.P. Ronnie Spector (10 Aug 1943 - 12 Jan 2022)

Ronnie Spector (Veronica Yvette Greenfield (nee Bennett)) has died after a short battle with cancer on 12 Jan 2022 aged 78. She formed The Darling Sisters with her sister Estelle Bennett and cousin Nedra Talley in the late 50s. 

Unbelievably this will be the tenth obituary I've posted in the last month (since 14 Dec) and there's quite a few more that I haven't done! Ralph Tavares (Tavares), Joe Simon, Wanda Young (Marvelettes), Paul Mitchell (The Floaters), R. Dean Taylor, James Mtume, Sonny Turner (The Platters), Fred Parris (Five Satins) and Marvin Holmes. Please let that be an end to it!

I'm not going to do an in depth feature on Ronnie as much of The Ronettes material was early/mid 60s and veered towards the pop end of the 'Spectorum'. 

The Darling Sisters later renamed themselves Ronnie & The Relatives and then The Ronettes and after a few unsuccessful singles (two on Colpix and three on May between 1961-63) were signed by Phil Spector to his Philles label in 1963. Their first single on the label proved to be their biggest hit "Be My Baby" which peaked at #2 Hot 100 and #4 UK pop chart yet 'only' #4 R&B. They went on to have only four further entries in the US R&B chart between 1963-65 without another top 10 R&B hit but achieved a total of 9 Hot 100 entries i.e. later recordings were pop hits but not R&B hits.

Ronnie married Phil Spector in 1968 and he put a stop to her performing until they separated in 1972 when she began recording and performing again as Ronnie Spector & the Ronettes before going solo in 1980 releasing her debut solo album "Siren". She recorded a further three albums with the latest released in 2016 but chart success eluded her.

Curiously, probably one of their more interesting singles to rare soulies is "You Baby" which wasn't released as a single in the US but saw release in Europe (UK, France and Belgium). It was on one of only two albums released "...Presenting The Fabulous Ronettes Featuring Veronica" in 1964. 

The song would later become a Wigan Casino 'monster' by Len Barry and was also played by Mrs. Tony Hatch i.e. Jackie Trent. The first to cover it was another blue-eyed singer Linda Scott. Other blue-eyed renditions appeared from The Loving Spoonful, Sonny & Cher, Bev Harrell, Salt Water Taffy and Monday Blues and there was even a reggae version recorded by John Holt in 1973 which of course all no self-respecting soul collectors must have in their collections. NB mentioned only out of interest and not soulful/musical merit!