Walk Away Renée

"Walk Away Renée" is a song recorded by the band The Left Banke in 1966 (single release: July 1966, Smash Records, title printed as "Walk Away Renee"), written by the group's then 16-year-old keyboard player Michael Brown (real name Michael Lookofsky), Tony Sansone and Bob Calilli. Steve Martin Caro is featured on lead vocals. The song was also a chart hit for the Motown group the Four Tops in 1968.

The song features a flute solo played during the instrumental bridge of the middle portion of the song. Michael Brown got the idea for the flute solo from The Mamas & the Papas song "California Dreamin'" which had been recorded in November 1965 but wasn't a hit and in heavy rotation until early 1966. The arrangement also includes a lush string orchestration, a memorable harpsichord part, and a descending chromatic bass melody which led critics to refer to the group's sound as Baroque pop, "Bach-Rock" or Baroque n Roll. The session was produced by Brown's father, jazz and classical violinist Harry Lookofsky, who also led the string players.