Renée Fladen-Kamm

Renée A. Fladen (born 3 August 1948, New York City) — known as Renée Fladen-Kamm — is an American singer and vocal coach.[1]

Among her recordings are those of medieval music as vocal director of the San Francisco-based Sherwood Consort.[2] She also worked on the musical direction of theatrical works directed by Mary Devlin, another member of the Sherwood Consort.[3][4]

Fladen is said to have been the inspiration of the Left Banke songs "Walk Away Renée" (1966),[5][6] "Pretty Ballerina" (1966)[7][8] and "She May Call You Up Tonight" (1967). However, the assertion that she was the inspiration for "Walk away Renée" is contested.[lower-alpha 1]

The statement that "The man who wrote the song [was an individual named] Anthony Sansone", is at best a mis-attribution. The Wikipedia entry for the song lists Sansone only as a co-author. In regard to the first-listed composer, (Michael Brown), it notes that he: "... has stated that the song is one of a number he wrote about Renée Fladen (later Fladen-Kamm), the then-girlfriend of the Left Banke's bassist Tom Finn and object of Brown's affection". We likewise have eyewitness testimony from Tom Finn, another member of Left Banke, that Fladen, his then-girlfriend, broke Brown's heart. So the preponderance of group members affirm that Fladen was indeed the "Renée" of the song. It is entirely possible that Sansone had his own experience of heartbreak, but that is outweighed by testimony of the remaining Left Banke members.

Fladen married Howard I. Kamm (born 1946) in 1967, but the couple divorced in San Francisco in 1974.

Notes
  1. This song is a real life experience of Anthony Sansone and a girl he had a crush on from his school on Hull Ave in The Bronx. Hull Ave is so steep that when Tony would follow her home she couldn't see him over the hill. Tony was a very shy boy and never knew the real girl's name. She moved away in her Junior year and never knew a famous song was written about her. She had reddish auburn hair and blue eyes. Anthony is available if anyone is interested in the truth. The man who wrote the song. Anthony Sansone

References
  1. MTV.com "Renee Fladen-Kamm is a West Coast-based singer and vocal coach, who has been a member of the Sherwood Consort. Born Renee Fladen in New York City in the late '40s, she attended the High School of Music and Art (the predecessor to the High School for the Performing Arts, depicted in Fame). It was during that part of her life that Fladen served as the inspiration for Michael Brown to write the song "Walk Away Renee", recorded by the Left Banke and later covered by numerous other artists during the ensuing decades. ~ Bruce Eder, Rovi"
  2. Early Music News S.F. Early Music Society, 1999
  3. Mary Devlin Medieval Music, Magical Minds - Page 15 2001 "Renée Fladen-Kamm, who is still vocal coach to all of us, stepped in and directed the polyphonic vocal pieces. We now call ourselves the Sherwood Consort, since we all have a particular love for the music of the British Isles."
  4. Continuo - Volume 22 - Page 17 1998 "The play is adapted and translated by Mary Devlin, the musical direction is by Renee Fladen-Kamm, and the action sequences are choreographed and directed by James Letchworth."
  5. Jim Irvin, Phil Alexander - Mojo collection: the ultimate music companion 2007 Page 78 "Inspired by his unrequited adoration of Renee Fladen, Tom Finn's girlfriend, the lyrical mixture of heartfelt yearning and salvaged pride displayed an astonishing maturity."
  6. Jeff Rovin The Unbelievable Truth 1994 Page 123 "When dancer Renee Fladen decided she didn't want to date keyboardist Michael Brown any longer, he wrote a song, recorded it, and had a top-five smash in 1966, "Walk Away Renee," with his band the Left Banke. Still heartbroken, Brown ..."
  7. Cesare Rizzi Enciclopedia della musica rock: 1954-1969 Page 330 1996 "1966 Finn presenta agli amici la fidanzata Renée Fladen, Michael se ne innamora e nel giro di un pomeriggio scrive per lei due canzoni sui classici temi della disperazione adolescenziale a ritmo di beat: Walk Away Renée e Pretty Ballerina."
  8. Rhonda Markowitz The Greenwood Encyclopedia of Rock History Page 203 - 2006 "One fateful day, so the story goes, Finn brought his blonde girlfriend, an aspiring ballerina named Renee Fladen, to band practice. Brown fell instantly in love and incorporated his fantasy crush into the song "Walk Away Renee",
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