THE BEHIND THE SCENES QUEEN

So, there I was in the maternity ward, visiting my ex-steady (and still very special friend), her parents, and her newborn daughter, Elizabeth. Talk came to the chosen shortened version, Ellie, and what notable Ellies there have been. That's a tough one, right? Not for me. I came up with exactly one, Ellie Greenwich. Greenwich was a singer, songwriter and a producer, best known for the songs she wrote with Jeff Barry, as part of that Brill Building mob, many recorded by artists on Phil Spector's roster. With Barry and Phil Spector, she wrote "Be My Baby" and "Baby, I Love You" (recorded by the Ronettes), "Then He Kissed Me" and "Da Doo Ron Ron" (the Crystals), "Not Too Young To Get Married" (Bob B. Soxx & the Blue Jeans), and "Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)" (Darlene Love). Greenwich and Barry then went on to write "Do Wah Diddy Diddy", "Hanky Panky" (which they recorded as the Raindrops, three years prior to Tommy James and the Shondells' hit version), and with Shadow Morton wrote "Leader of the Pack" (the Shangrilas). They ended their on again-off again partnership with Spector, penning "I Can Hear Music" (the Ronettes, the Beach Boys) and "River Deep and Mountain High" (Ike and Tina Turner). Mind you, this is just a fraction of the songs written by the Greenwich/Barry partnership. Check Greenwich's page at the Songwriter's Hall of Fame and hold on to your skull.

Somewhere in there she found the time to discover a kid named Neil Diamond, and produce and sing background vocals on his "Cherry Cherry", "Solitary Man", and "Kentucky Woman". She did all of this and still somehow managed to find the time to look really cool.

~ NOTE: ALL MEDIA IS HOSTED BY THE BLOGS & SITES NAMED BELOW ~

Listen:
Ellie Greenwich (as Ellie Gee) - Red Corvette mp3 at Probe Is Turning-On the People 
The Raindrops (Greenwich and Barry) - Hanky Panky mp3 at Beware of the Blog
The Crystals - Da Doo Run Run at Jordan Hatch
The Shangrilas - Leader of the Pack mp3 at Jordan Hatch
The Ronettes - I Can Hear Music mp3 at Mercury Paradise
The Beach Boys - I Can Hear Music mp3 at Cold Splinters
Ike and Tina Turner - River Deep Mountain High mp3 at Jordan Hatch
Visit:
Ellie Greenwich at Wikipedia
Ellie Greenwich biography at Songwriters Hall of Fame
Ellie Greenwich song list at Songwriters Hall of Fame
Ellie Greenwich and Jeff Barry at Songwriters Hall of Fame