Ellie Greenwich

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Eleanor Louise "Ellie" Greenwich (born October 23, 1940 in Brooklyn , New York ; † August 26, 2009 in New York , New York ) was an American singer , songwriter and music producer , who worked in particular with her future husband Jeff Barry was successful. Her compositions included Be my Baby , River Deep, Mountain High and Do Wah Diddy Diddy .

Life

Greenwich moved with her parents from Brooklyn to Levittown at the age of ten, learning the accordion and piano . She first attended Queens College and later Hofstra University . She released her first self-composed single on RCA Records at the age of 17 . In 1959 she met her future husband, Jeff Barry. At this point he was already married, but later had the marriage annulled.

The Crystals - Da doo ron ron

In 1962 she was hired as a songwriter by the successful authors Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller . In the same year she married Jeff Barry. Together with Phil Spector they wrote Be My Baby and Baby, I Love You for The Ronettes, and Then He Kissed Me and Da Doo Ron Ron for The Crystals . Both recorded an album and a few singles under the name The Raindrops , including their composition Hanky ​​Panky , which was to be a hit for Tommy James & the Shondells in 1966 .

Do Wah Diddy Diddy became a number one hit on the Billboard Hot 100 for Manfred Mann . In 1964 the couple moved to Red Bird Records . The label's first single, Chapel of Love by the vocal trio Dixie Cups , again reached number one on the charts. This year, 17 of the titles they composed made it onto the Billboard charts . In October 1965, Barry and Greenwich divorced, but from then on they produced the singer and songwriter Neil Diamond, discovered by Greenwich. River Deep, Mountain High , a hit with Ike and Tina Turner , was their last collaboration with Phil Spector. In 1967 Greenwich founded a record label on which Dusty Springfield published,among others. She also worked as a background singer for Bobby Darin and Frank Sinatra, among others.

Under the title Leader of the Pack , a musical about her life was produced on Broadway in 1985 , which came to 120 performances and was nominated for a Tony Award and a Grammy .

In 1991, Greenwich and her ex-husband were inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame . In total, she received 25 gold and platinum records. She died of a heart attack after previously being hospitalized for pneumonia.

The Rolling Stone listed Greenwich and Barry as 19th of the 100 best songwriters of all time in 2015 .

literature

  • Irwin Stambler: The Encyclopedia Of Pop, Rock And Soul . 3rd revised edition. St. Martin's Press, New York 1989, ISBN 0-312-02573-4 , pp. 269-271

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Theatermania.com
  2. ^ Leader of the Pack IBDb
  3. ↑ The 100 Greatest Songwriters of All Time. Rolling Stone , August 2015, accessed August 8, 2017 .
personal data
SURNAME Greenwich, Ellie
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Greenwich, Eleanor Louise
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American singer, songwriter, and record producer
DATE OF BIRTH October 23, 1940
PLACE OF BIRTH Brooklyn , New York
DATE OF DEATH August 26, 2009
Place of death New York , New York