Ronnie Spector: a life in pictures

]

Bruce Springsteen poses with Ronnie Spector on 13 August 1975. In 1976 she would duet with Southside Johnny on the Bruce Springsteen-penned You Mean So Much to Me.

Photograph: Richard E Aaron/Redferns

Ronnie Spector of The Ronettes has died at age 78

]

Updated January 12, 2022 at 7:16 PM ET

Singer Ronnie Spector, who founded the girl group The Ronettes in 1961, has died after a brief battle with cancer. She was 78.

“Our beloved earth angel, Ronnie, peacefully left this world today,” her family wrote on the singer’s website Wednesday. “She was with family and in the arms of her husband, Jonathan. Ronnie lived her life with a twinkle in her eye, a spunky attitude, a wicked sense of humor and a smile on her face. She was filled with love and gratitude. Her joyful sound, playful nature and magical presence will live on in all who knew, heard or saw her.”

Spector was born in Spanish Harlem. While still in her teens, she founded The Ronettes, which also featured her older sister Estelle Bennett and their cousin Nedra Talley. “Be My Baby,” “Walking In The Rain,” and “Do I Love You?” were among the string of pop hits the girl group recorded.

She was married to Phil Spector, the producer and writer of many of those hits. Spector abused her, and forbade her from performing; they divorced in the early 1970s; Ronnie Spector chronicled the abuse in her 1990 memoir, Be My Baby: How I Survived Mascara, Miniskirts, and Madness.

She recorded “Be My Baby” at age 20, although she remembered her age as 16 when she spoke to WHYY’s Fresh Air in 1987. “It was incredible because there I was in California, recording,” she recalled, “and I’d never left New York. I’d never been out of New York in my whole life. And there I am on a plane going to California by myself, without the other two Ronettes, just to do a lead part. And I mean, I remember being in the ladies’ room at the New York airport just singing in the bathroom, ‘cause I don’t read music or anything, and I don’t play any instruments. So it was like you had to just learn it over and over.”

The Ronettes headlined for major rock acts including The Rolling Stones and Eric Clapton. The Beatles hand-picked the group to join their U.S. tour in 1966.

In the aftermath of the abuse, Ronnie Spector found it difficult to reestablish her career. But she was encouraged by Bruce Springsteen, the E Street Band and Billy Joel.

Joel had written a song called “Say Goodbye to Hollywood” with the sound of The Ronettes in his ear, and Springsteen was in the midst of a legal battle with a former manager that prevented him from recording. Guitarist and producer Steven Van Zandt took the opportunity to coax Spector back into the studio with the E Street Band — to record a cover of Joel’s song.

After Spector’s death, Van Zandt wrote on Twitter: “It was an honor to produce her and encourage her to get back on stage where she remained for the next 45 years. Her record with the E Street Band helped sustain us at a very precarious time.”

In 1986, she had a memorable solo in Eddie Money’s 1986 hit “Take Me Home Tonight.” Money advises, “Listen, honey, it’s just like Ronnie sang…” before Spector swoops in to sing “be my little baby” — followed by her famous “oh, oh, oh.”

The Ronettes were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2007. Her last solo album, English Heart, was released by the 429 label in 2016.

The family writes that, in lieu of flowers, Spector requested donations be made “to your local women’s shelter or to the American Indian College Fund.”

A celebration of Spector’s life and music will be announced at a later date.

Ronnie Spector and David Bowie Bonded Over Their Mutual Dislike of ‘Rich Snobs’

]

There are many unexpected friendships within the music industry, including the friendship between The Ronettes’ Ronnie Spector and David Bowie. We might never get to hear new music from either artist again (Bowie died in 2016 of cancer and Spector recently died on Jan. 12), or even a collaboration between them, but we can look back on their relationship.

The pair met in the 1970s and bonded over a dislike of the “rich snobs” in their circle. It seems fitting considering Spector hated parties, and Bowie was such a nonconformist.

(L-R) Ronnie Spector and David Bowie | Paul Natkin/Michael Putland/Getty Images

In 2016, Spector released English Heart, a cover album featuring songs from British rock bands including The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, The Yardbirds, Bee Gees, and others. Rolling Stone asked Spector why she chose only to cover British artists.

Ronnie had a soft spot for British acts, stemming from The Ronettes’ days touring the U.K. However, in her reply, Spector also revealed that she dated Bowie “a few times.”

“When the Ronettes started out, our first big trip was to the U.K., where we met the Beatles before they even came to the States and the Rolling Stones were our opening act,” Spector said. “Everybody was so innocent. Everybody just loved the music and the fun we had backstage; if it was somebody’s birthday, we got a cake and soda.

“We didn’t have all the stuff that came later on with rock & roll. We got to know Eric Clapton and the Yardbirds, the Kinks, all these groups. Later, I knew and dated David Bowie a few times.”

Ultimately, the U.K. was where The Ronettes felt like superstars. So, Spector had a strong connection to it. “But when we got to the U.K., we felt like real stars for the first time [laughs],” Spector continued. “So I thought of the idea that I was over there in the Ronettes with the British Invasion when it was all happening for us.

“I was at the peak of my career when I was with the Kinks, the Beatles, and the Rolling Stones, and we were all so happy together. And then all of a sudden, I was taken away from it [because of Phil].”

RELATED: Gary Oldman Said David Bowie ‘Faced His Illness With Enormous Courage, Dignity, Grace and Customary Humor’

Spector and Bowie bonded over a dislike of ‘rich snobs’

Later on, in her 2016 interview with Rolling Stone, Spector elaborated on her relationship with Bowie. They met in the mid-1970s through John Lennon’s girlfriend, May Pang. This was likely around when John and Bowie had collaborated on Bowie’s “Fame.”

“I met him through May Pang, who was with John Lennon when he and Yoko broke up,” Spector explained. “She called me [one day in the mid-Seventies] and said, ‘David is having a concert and he wants you to come.’ And I was like, ‘David who?’ [Laughs].

“So I went and when he was done, I was asked to go to his dressing room. He couldn’t get enough of me [laughs]. We went out to dinner a few times; he came over to my apartment a few times. He was so nice.”

At a party, Spector and Bowie realized they had the same views on their peers. “I remember one time at the Plaza, he’d brought me to a party but then disappeared. There were all these people with big diamonds on, and they were standing around this glass coffee table doing cocaine,” Spector continued.

“They were looking at me like, ‘Who’s this piece of s*** David brought?’ So I walked away and tried to find him. I was so scared. So his friends brought me to a room, and there was David, and we kissed for a little while and then I took him to my house because he didn’t like those rich snobs either.

“It was amazing how they’re in his room yet he didn’t like them,” Spector concluded.

RELATED: George Harrison Helped Revive Ronnie Spector’s Career By Giving Her ‘Try Some Buy Some’

Spector thought partying was boring

Although The Ronettes and Spector were friends with some of the most notorious partiers in rock ‘n’ roll, Spector thought that whole scene was dull.

“Even in the Sixties, we didn’t party,” Spector explained. “I remember going to these clubs, and people would be slobbering all over me because of alcohol. It would make me sick.

“Everybody tells me I look so great for my age, and that’s because I didn’t do drugs. I drank beer and smoked cigarettes. But I looked after my voice. My voice makes me money. But even if that wasn’t the case, I still wouldn’t have gone to clubs. It was boring to me.”

So, Spector wasn’t in her element when she went to that party at the Plaza with Bowie. However, it’s a little harder to believe that it wasn’t Bowie’s element either. He was one of those notorious partiers in the 1970s.

Still, there is a chance that Spector knew her friend and love interest well enough to recognize that he didn’t actually like those parties or the people who attended them deep down. Spector also had to be special to make Bowie want to walk away from all that and make him realize he didn’t want to be there. Or maybe he was just trying to keep that nonconformist attitude going.

One thing’s for sure; they’ll both be missed.

RELATED: Stevie Nicks Regrets Not Meeting David Bowie: ‘Why Didn’t I Get on an Airplane and Go See David Bowie?’

Local music historians say Ronnie Spector changed music with her hits

]

Local music historians say Ronnie Spector changed music with her hits

Local music historians say 60s rock ’n’ roll icon and Danbury resident Ronnie Spector changed the face of pop music forever.

Spector died Wednesday after a brief battle with cancer, her family said.

Spector’s first big hit came with The Ronette’s “Be My Baby” in 1963.

In the last five years, the Danbury resident was still playing shows from Mohegan Sun to the Ridgefield Playhouse.

Merle’s Record Rack owner Mike Papa says “Be My Baby” changed the industry forever.

“That Wall of Sound was the new standard for us to aspire to, to have that full fidelity of high-fi sound,” said Papa.

The recording experts at Factory Underground Studios say the techniques Spector’s ex-husband Phil Spector pioneered throughout the 1960s changed pop music forever and he couldn’t have done it without Ronnie.

The Wall of Sound technique took advantage of new studio equipment to make “bigger” records that sounded better on jukeboxes at the time.

Co-owner Kenny Cash says students at Factory Underground’s production classes are still learning the techniques Spector helped pioneer.

“She deserves that respect of being the notoriety, of being up in front of these early records that still hold weight today,” said Cash.

Spector was a survivor of domestic violence during her marriage to producer Phil Spector from 1968 to 1972.

She is survived by her second husband and two sons.

George Harrison Helped Revive Ronnie Spector’s Career By Giving Her ‘Try Some Buy Some’

]

In 1970, George Harrison had so many songs stockpiled; he didn’t know what to do with them all. Most of them had flowed out of him endlessly while he was still in The Beatles. He saved them for later because he knew getting one of his tunes on a Beatles album was like pulling teeth.

So, when George left The Beatles, he had more songs than he knew what to do with. Eventually, he just started giving them away to fellow rock stars who he knew would serve them well. That included Ronnie Spector, whose career was on a downturn at the time.

Ronnie Spector | Michael Putland/Getty Images

George Harrison gave Ronnie Spector ‘Try Some Buy Some’

After leaving The Beatles, what do you do? For George, there was only one option; make an album. He had a stockpile of songs, and he knew he wanted to do something as a reaction to leaving one of the biggest bands in the world. So, he made a triple album called All Things Must Pass.

However, even after making a triple album, George still had songs leftover, including “Try Some Buy Some.” When work on All Things Must Pass ended, George and Phil Spector, the album’s producer, decided to focus on reviving the career of Spector’s wife, Ronnie.

For Ronnie’s comeback album, which was to be produced by The Beatles record label, Apple, George gave her “Try Some Buy Some.” Ronnie recorded it in London, although it wasn’t exactly a song she would have sung with The Ronettes.

RELATED: George Harrison Said His Initial Inspiration for a Lyric Usually ‘Metamorphosed’ by the End of the Song

George wrote ‘Try Some Buy Some’ about God

In his 1980 memoir, I Me Mine, George said he wrote the tune on the organ. Since he didn’t understand the instrument that well, he got into “complications.”

“With keyboards you can do changes which you can’t really do well or at all on the guitar; you can move the bass line down and keep changing your right hand forward, changing the different notes, and this tune was based on these weird chords that I got,” George wrote.

“I couldn’t play both parts (left and right hand) at the same time and I had a friend write it down for me-as I don’t write notation.”

Like most songs on All Things Must Pass, “Try Some Buy Some” is about God. However, Ronnie was lost on George’s spirituality. The Ronettes sang about love and relationships with partners, not God.

“Even though the words are mundane if the attitude is directed back towards the source, then it becomes more spiritual for me and has more meaning, even though it can still be regarded as a simple tune,” George continued in I Me Mine.

The song’s lyrics include, “Way back in time/ Someone said try some/ I tried some/ Now buy some, I bought some/ Oh Oh Oh/ After a while/ When I had tried them/ Denied them/ I opened my eyes and/ I saw you.” So you can tell this was not “Be My Baby.”

RELATED: George Harrison Gave Paul Simon the Ultimate Beatles Fan Gift

How well did ‘Try Some Buy Some’ do on the charts?

Although it might have been weird for Ronnie to sing “Try Some Buy Some,” she sang it beautifully.

Rolling Stone wrote, “The tune is more pensive and plodding (and therefore more George Harrison–y) than the Ronettes’ music, but Ronnie’s voice fits in perfectly as she sings about opening her eyes and falling in love (with God this time, since Harrison wrote it).”

The tune didn’t do horribly on the charts either. It made it to No. 77 on the Billboard chart. Later, George recorded the song himself and placed it on Living in the Material World. After that, David Bowie recorded the tune for his 2003 Reality album. However, Bowie had some thoughts on George’s spiritual undertones on the tune.

“For him [George],” Bowie told The Word, “there is a belief in some kind of system. But I really find that hard. Not on a day to day basis, because there are habits of life that have convinced me there is something solid to believe in.

“But when I become philosophical, in those ‘long lonely hours,’ it’s the source of all my frustrations, hammering away at the same questions I’ve had since I was 19. Nothing has really changed for me. This daunting spiritual search.

“If you can make the spiritual connection with some kind of clarity then everything else would fall into place. A morality would seem to be offered, a plan would seem to be offered, some sense would be there. But it evades me.

“Yet I can’t help writing about it. My cache of subject matter gets smaller and smaller and is rapidly reduced to those two or three questions. But they’re continual questions and they seem to be the essence of what I’ve written over time. And I’m not going to stop.”

Whatever the song means to the people who’ve recorded it, “Try Some Buy Some” gave Ronnie the chance to reinvigorate her career. It didn’t exactly do the trick, but at least it allowed Ronnie to work with George.

RELATED: George Harrison and Eric Idle Disturbed Norman Lear and His Wife by Playing Music at a Hotel in the British Virgin Islands