Customer Reviews

Best of The Ronettes

5 star:		(32)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

High school days in those wondrous musical sixties, standout memorable anthem is Ronnie Spector's incredible voice in the classic "Be My Baby", great song that blew everyone away with exotic hypnotic brilliance and helped defined a great musical era. Waiting then for each and every release after, Ronnie never disappointed being never less than brilliant. "Baby I Love You" is another winner as is "The Best Part Of Breaking Up", then along with the exotic hypnotic stunner "Do I Love You?", these classics stand as the best of the best from the great musical sixties. Ronnie with that mesmerizing passionate voice so brilliantly showcased in "Walking In The Rain", should have gone to #1 as it jumped out at you whenever on the radio unlike anything else, complete with that amazing arrangement, vividly simulating thunder & rain so realisticly that you can feel it. Ronnie & the Ronettes releases continued at this same high level of quality, hauntingly gorgeous "Born To Be Together" is the ultimate teen anthem while the other side of romance is the passionately stunning "Is This What I Get For Loving You?", sadly by this time many have reported those in control of playlists decided that Mr. Spector was too big for his britches, therefore his records would no longer receive airplay...many felt the same jealous nonsense killed Tina Turner's brilliant "River Deep-Mountain High", going to #1 in Europe but silently banned from American radio looked to be the result. As this time as a big fan of this classic music, personally called radio stations and pleaded for them to play "River Deep" and Ronnie & the Ronettes later great releases, but was told over & over these records were not on the playlist, then was each and every time coldly disconnected. Forward to late sixties the same fate happened to the great "You Came, You Saw, You Conquered", sounding like another huge hit...great music should never be mixed with this type of politics, sadly it is and music suffers, audiences are cheated then artists are the ultimate victims. Anyone interested in enjoying one of the best voices on the planet, do not miss this classic collection. Greatness like this is once in a lifetime so enjoy...Bravo Ronnie Spector, you are amazing!!! Update 2007; Ronnie and the Ronettes, finally where they belong, inducted into The Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame! Bravo Ronnie, knock em' dead with that gorgeous voice!

Many customers have complained in their reviews about the lack of STEREO transfers on this record. While it is true that Phil Spector never intended these songs to be presented in stereo, they lose some of their heart in MONO [they were first heard in stereo when released, especially on radio promos].
The MONO transfer on this album is respectable, but not of demonstration quality, which is surprising, considering Phil Spector remastered these tracks. But this is the only widely-available Ronettes compilation, and should therefore be cherished. The music sounds incredible, as it did then, as it always will. Timeless material. Highlights include:

01. Be My Baby -- With a classic drum beat opening the proceedings, this is what Brian Wilson called "the best pop record ever made." Hard to argue against that. Probably the most famous record never to hit #1 (#2 US, #4 UK)

03. I Wonder -- The lyrics are dated, the production is dazzling.

04. Baby, I Love You -- This is true Wall Of Sound, and it will never be surpassed. The orchestration is absolutely rapturous (#24 US, #11 UK)

08. Do I Love You? -- Again, a classic Wall Of Sound piece, with sexy vocals by Ronnie and memorable background mixing to create a dreamy piece of pop. (Sadly, this only reached #34 in the US, #35 in the UK)

11. Walking In The Rain -- Phil Spector got a Grammy for this cut's production. It shows. A true classic. (#23 US)

13. Is This What I Get For Loving You? -- Ronnie is all baby-doll sensuality and repressed longing in this masterpiece. The sweeping production is just sensual but not overwrought.

15. Here I Sit -- This track, sadly left out of the Phil Spector Back To Mono box set, makes its first appearance on CD here. It's a forgotten gem.

I must say that the tracks DO sound richer, more zesty, and more pure in stereo, because the individual elements of the production receive equal aural representation. The mono versions tend to crash together in a symphonic Wall Of Sound. If you are interested in the stereo versions, try to obtain a copy of Greatest Hits, an import from Italy, which, sadly, is extremely rare. ...

Of all the incredibly gorgeous and powerful work that Phil Spector did, his work with the Ronettes was his finest accomplishment.Phil's Wall of Sound production style is in full effect here. And for the people who have issues with the sound, I've had many of these songs on 45 in mint or near mint condition, and this is the way they were SUPPOSED to sound.The distortion is intentional and is a huge part of the "Wall of Sound" style that Spector is so renowned for. Also, these songs WERE issued in rechanneled stereo back in the 60's, but Spector mastered these songs in MONO, and that's how he wanted them to be heard. Stereo just breaks up the wall of sound into two mini-walls of sound, and the music loses its impact(to me, anyway).It's worth it just for Be My Baby, I Wish I Never Saw the Sunshine, and Born to be Together, but ALL of these songs touch me like nothing else does.Ronnie Spector was the sexiest thing on record in her day, and her voice on all these tracks just takes them to the next level.Ronnie was/is not the most technical singer around, but there is a sultriness and soulfulness in her voice that just cannot be matched. There's a reason why so many male musicians like John Lennon, Bruce Springsteen, and Joey Ramone were so moved by her voice.The Celine Dions of the world could learn a thing or two from Ronnie Spector. Why the Ronettes never saw higher chart positions in their day I will never know. I read a comment somewhere that these songs aren't just ABOUT falling in love for the first time, they FEEL like falling in love for the first time.So true. Get this cd.

Ronnie Bennett was an exotic-looking mixed-race tough chick. Phil Spector was Le Enfant Terrible of the music business. Together with Ronnie's sister and cousin, they made musical history with The Ronettes. (Ronnie, of course, married Phil Spector and "Walking in the Rain" wasn't exactly the theme song of their marriage; see Ronnie Spector's well-written autobiography, appropriately entitled "Be My Baby," for the whole sordid story. The book ends happily, though, with Ronnie away from Phil, clean and sober and still performing.) Crazy as he was, Phil Spector created a unique sound -- the Wall of Sound -- and The Ronettes and Darlene Love (in various groups) were its best interpreters. If you can resist the beat of The Ronette's signature song, "Be My Baby" or their other hits, especially "The Best Part of Breaking Up" ("makes no difference who is wrong/just as long as I am/with you") you need to have an EKG, because you just might be dead!

Anyone who is a Phil Spector fan of the "wall of sound" will really enjoy this CD. Wisely, Spector chose not to go digital with these classic recordings, as not to alter the original sound. It's just too bad the Stereo versions of nearly all the original Philles "Presenting" cuts of the album by the Ronettes were not made in Stereo for this CD. I have the original Stereo Ronettes album, and the songs "Baby, I Love You" and "I Wonder" sound really spectacular in stereo, all that orchestration is very detailed, while somewhat muted in the mono version. Hal Blaine's opening drum solo on "I Wonder" is absent on the mono version. In any event, I love playing this CD in the car, it brings back a lot of memories. Someday, maybe the Stereo masters (if they are not lost) will be re-issued.

I love these songs. I love the Ronnettes. When you really enjoy something then you can also be honest with it. These songs need to and should be sonically enhanced.

The wall of sound vibe however has not transfered well with new technology. Ironically, on cd, the music sounds tinny.

With the essence of "Be My Baby" being the defining drum intro, I wish these songs were re-mastered. The drums, guitar chords, singing, harmonizing should leap out more. Mono is very antiquated. Perhaps if Phil Spector was not a wack job, the old masters could have been used to spruce up the songs?

When you listen to re-mastered Motown or Stax/Volt, it sounds great and real raw. This sounds like a transister radio even on cd.

I would like Ronnie to cut a live album playing many of these songs with her current young and gritty band. An organic treatment of these songs would do them justice.

They are beautiful songs but they are also true slices of rock and roll. I think that is why this music still get attention from people that were not around when they played. This stuff is timeless.

The Ronettes never achieved the fame of some other r&b/60's pop groups did...but they sure are a hell of a lot better than most of those other groups anyway.

I don't consider myself a big fan of this style of music...I mostly go for punk/alt. country. But this group was amazing, and what is captured here, a collection of "hits", is absolutely bad ass. Sounds like sex in musical form.

THis is one of the most fiery albums I've ever heard. The burning passion of the ronettes is brightest on most of the earlier tracks, since this is in chronological order. Be my baby was a big hit, and Baby I love you, Breakin' up, DO I love you?, walking in the rain, Born to be together, IS ithis what I get fro loving you and YOu came,saw and conquered all made the chart somewhere outside the top ten.
Ronnies cute, passionate voice backed up by the famous spector backing creates a sound that is I guess hard to explain. Basically the singing is often the only clear thing, the rest all seems to blend into the background. I don't think that description does justice to it. I guess someof the tracks the backing vocalists are so quiet they're negligent, which was swaying from the sound on be my baby. Then, around track 13 [IS this what I get for loving you?], thigns seem to darken, there's these broken hearted songs and it's not the same ronnie spector on the earlier tracks btu this is rectified on the last track which is as just as fiery as anything here. It's a pity it only made position 100. It's my personal favourite after be my baby. Some tracks are arranged by Jack Nitske and some by Spector. And it's not just the teen symphonies. There are some strong ballads too and even some more rock sounding songs. All in all, one of my favourite albums in my colleciton and I think music hasn't reached such a climax since. With professional arrangers, THE producer, excelletn singing, wonderful musicians, including many strings, trumpeters, xylophones, pianos, guitarists, etc... and of-course top-class songwriters, it's teriffic. SOrry for spelling mistakes

For a great overview of the important work of the Ronettes, this is the set to own. The important hits, like "Be my Baby" and "Walking in the Rain," are there, but the lesser known tunes are also worth a listen. "How Does it Feel" demonstrates the group's ability to venture into jazz-type sounds. And "You Came, You Saw, You Conquered" should have been a huge hit. Too bad the timing wasn't right.

The Spector Years are some of the best records ever made! the Ronettes shinning moments are collected here in this fantastic cd, with that great 'Wall of Sound' arrangements with a mixture of doo-wop, this is when Ronnie develop her trademark 'whoa, whoa, whoa'... I love Ronnie's voice and Phil knew what to do with it, hopefully one day all of those unreleased recordings will get released! If you're just discovering the Ronettes or wondering why the 'Girl Group' period is so loved? and why Ronnie, Estelle, Nedra were inducted in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame last night? start here!