Ronnie Spector - She Talks to Rainbows (1999)
I've reviewed a few live albums recently, therefore I'm turning my attention towards an EP that came out a little over a decade ago. Ronnie Spector, former lead singer of 60s girl group the Ronettes, partnered with longtime admirer and former Ramones frontman Joey Ramone (and longtime Ramones collaborator and producer Daniel Ray) to create a fun, but short cover album of 60s classics and some surprising punk covers. "She Talks To Rainbows" combines some of Ronnie's Sixties charm with modern production values, creating an updated sound that is enjoyable for both older and younger fans.
The Ramones covers and the collaboration with Joey are what first attracted me to She Talks to Rainbows. The choice of Ramones tracks, both originally penned by Joey, are from the Ramones's later, less popular eras. "She Talks To Rainbows" was one of the darker and better tracks off the band's final album ¡Adiós Amigos!, but "Bye Bye Baby" comes from one of the Ramones' darker albums, Halfway to Sanity. I love that album despite its gloom, but even I know that "Bye Bye Baby", a pastiche of 60s love songs, is unfortunately not a highlight. Joey sounded tired and the depressing, bass-heavy, arrangement lessened the song's possible impact.
"Bye Bye Baby" gets the biggest upgrade as it's turned into a successful duet between Joey and Ronnie. Gone is the dull bassline and the pessimistic atmosphere, and in comes an uplifting guitar sound, a piano, and Joey sounds alive evoking feelings of a lover's nostalgia and farewell. Ronnie even gets a bit of a solo in the middle eight! The improvements are what the song needed back in 1987 as it now seems like a finale of sorts for the Ronettes classic "Be My Baby". "She Talks to Rainbows"'s atmosphere is unchanged, but the Johnny Ramone chainsaw guitar is replaced with a cleaner, arpeggio-centric riff. Ronnie's voice is naturally sweeter than Joey's vocals in his recording, but she does a fine job bringing out the inherent sadness of that track.
"You Can't Put Your Arms Around A Memory", Johnny Thunder's ballad, gets an upgrade. I'm not a fan of the studio original as Johnny wasn't a good singer and he makes that song drag on, and even the Guns N' Roses cover sounds just as horrid. Maybe some of you would be angry and say that I'm missing out on the song's sleazy charm, but Ronnie's version adds the beauty and gravitas that Johnny couldn't give. She retains the sadness that was in the original (Sadness is this album's m.o.) and the jump in tempo towards the chorus, but she doesn't speed up the chorus vocally as Johnny did, making this version ten times better in the process. (Plus, Joey returns to sing in the background towards the end!)
The Beach Boys's "Don't Worry Baby" was written by Brian Wilson as a pastiche of his favorite Ronettes track, "Be My Baby", therefore Ronnie is quite at home. Gone are those amazing harmonies and Brian Wilson's lead vocals, but Ronnie does a fine job with her version (and her backup singers aren't bad either). The final cover is a live rendition of the Ronettes's "I Wish I Never Saw the Sunshine" and it is an interesting track. Gone is that grandiose "Wall of Sound" that Phil Spector had in the original, now replaced with a lead piano and a less bombastic backing band. Ronnie's performance in the original was fine, and this one isn't that far away from the original. There is a crackle in her voice here and there serving as a reminder of her age, but it's been a graceful aging.
Joey passed away in 2001, thereby making this his only collaboration with Ronnie. He left her with a fine comeback EP and groundwork that she used in her later album, Last of the Rock Stars. Thanks Joey!
