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The Ronettes are my favourite girl group of the 60s, primarily because Ronnie Spector was such a charismatic and talented performer – and of course because of Phil Spector’s brilliant studio production. Today I want to highlight two performances featuring Ronnie – one vintage and one modern.  But first, some background on the group.

The Ronettes were Veronica Bennett (aka Ronnie Spector) on lead vocals, her sister Estelle Bennett, and their cousin Nedra Talley. They were professional singers and dancers at New York’s Peppermint Lounge when discovered by disc jockey ‘Murray the K’ (Murray Kaufman), who hired them as dancers for his Brooklyn Fox Theater rock and roll revues.

The girls picked up a record deal in 1961 with Colpix and released their first single, ‘I Want a Boy,’ as ‘Ronnie and the Relatives’. The group soon changed its name to The Ronettes and released several more singles under Colpix, but with little success.

The real break for The Ronettes occurred in 1963 when they came to the attention of Phil Spector, who Ronnie would later marry. Spector signed them to his Philles label and their first single was the classic ‘Be My Baby’, which is one of the best loved records of the 60s. A number of other hits followed, including ‘Baby, I Love You,’The Best Part of Breaking Up,’ ‘Do I Love You?’ and ‘Walking in the Rain.’

The first video I want to highlight is a vintage television performance of ‘Be My Baby’ and ‘Shout.’  They sure knew how to entertain a crowd!

The Ronettes – Be My Baby

The above video shows what a great edge Ronnie Spector had to her voice, as well as fantastic stage presence. Listening to her, you can certainly see that she was an influence on Amy Winehouse and Winehouse has actually said as much.

That brings me to the second video, which features the audio of Ronnie Spector’s performance of the huge Amy Winehouse hit ‘Back to Black.’

The song was performed on December 27 2007 at the Wolf Den at Mohegan Sun Casino.

Ronnie Spector – Back to Black

*** EDIT – 8 Jan 2010 ***
It’s come to my attention that the video of Ronnie Spector singing Back to Black is no longer available on Youtube. However, you can download it as an MP3 at the following link:
Ronnie Spector – Back to Black MP3