Ellie Greenwich

Eleanor Louise Greenwich (October 23, 1940 – August 26, 2009) was an American pop music singer, songwriter, and record producer. She wrote or co-wrote "Da Doo Ron Ron", "Be My Baby", "Maybe I Know", "Then He Kissed Me", "Do Wah Diddy Diddy", "Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)", "Hanky Panky", "Chapel of Love", "Leader of the Pack", and "River Deep – Mountain High", among others.

Early years Eleanor Louise Greenwich was born in Brooklyn, New York to painter turned electrical engineer William Greenwich, a Catholic, and department store manager (later medical secretary) Rose Baron Greenwich, who was Jewish. Both parents were of Russian descent. She was not raised in either religion. and she learned how to play the accordion at a young age. At age ten, she moved with her parents and younger sister, Laura, to suburban Levittown, New York.

By her teens, Greenwich was composing songs and said in a 1973 article, "When I was 14, I met Archie Bleyer who liked my songs but told me continue my education before trying to invade the songwriting jungle." At Levittown Memorial High School in Levittown, New York, Greenwich and two friends formed a singing group, the Jivettes, which took on more members and performed at local functions. While attending high school, she started using the accordion to write love songs about her school crush. Morton, Barry and Greenwich penned "You Don't Know," which Greenwich recorded on Red Bird under her own name in 1965, at the same time Barry recorded and released another Barry–Greenwich tune, "Our Love Can Still Be Saved".

However, the couple's marriage could not be saved; before the end of the year, Barry and Greenwich divorced. The couple continued to work together for much of 1966, partly due to Greenwich's discovery of a talented singer-songwriter named Neil Diamond. Barry, Greenwich and Diamond joined to form Tallyrand Music to publish Diamond's songs. Diamond was subsequently signed to Bert Berns's Bang Records, and had several hits such as "Cherry Cherry" and "Kentucky Woman", all produced by Barry and Greenwich, who also sang backgrounds on many tracks. In addition, Barry and Greenwich teamed with Phil Spector one last time to pen "I Can Hear Music" and "River Deep - Mountain High". "I Can Hear Music" was recorded by The Ronettes in 1966 as their final single for the Philles label, and recorded by The Beach Boys in 1969. Spector produced "River Deep - Mountain High" for Ike and Tina Turner, although Ike did not play on the song - accounts vary between Spector's Rock and Roll Hall of Fame speech in 1991, that he did not turn up to the studio when invited, to others claiming he was officially banned from the studio recording. Although "River Deep" peaked at No. 3 in the UK, the song was a commercial failure in the US, stalling at No. 88. A few years later, in 1970–71, The Supremes and The Four Tops had a No. 14 (U.S. chart) hit with their revival of "River Deep".

Later career During 1967, Greenwich formed Pineywood Music with Mike Rashkow, and a Grammy Award for the cast album, and the play garnered The New York Music Critics' Award for Best Broadway Musical. During the 1990s and into the new millennium, the musical has enjoyed several revivals and continues to be performed at schools and community theaters. Leader of the Pack is still performed all over the world.

In 1991, Greenwich and Barry were inducted together into the Songwriters Hall of Fame. In 2004, Rolling Stones list of the 500 greatest rock songs included six Greenwich-Barry compositions, more than any other non-performing songwriting team. In 1964 alone, the duo were responsible for writing 17 singles that reached the Billboard Hot 100 chart.

On December 15, 2009, The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame announced that Greenwich and Barry would receive the Ahmet Ertegun Award in March 2010 (which was posthumously awarded to Greenwich) for helping to define the Brill Building sound. At the ceremony at the Waldorf-Astoria, which was telecast on the Fuse TV cable network, Carole King inducted Greenwich, Barry, and other songwriting colleagues from the 1950s and early 1960s, including Barry Mann & Cynthia Weil, Otis Blackwell (also posthumously), Mort Shuman and Jesse Stone. Ellie's award was accepted by her sister Laura, while Barry's acceptance was read by Steve van Zandt.

On May 7, 2013, a "Garden of Ellie" that contains a statue of Greenwich was placed next to Hofstra University's music school. The sculpture was commissioned by Greenwich's family and created by Peter Homestead.

Death On August 26, 2009, Greenwich died of a heart attack at St. Luke's-Roosevelt Hospital (now Mount Sinai West), New York City, where she had been admitted a few days earlier for treatment of pneumonia.

"Da Doo Ron Ron" The Crystals Jeff Barry, Phil Spector March 3 5 5 Phil Spector arranged by Jack Nitzsche "Leader of the Pack" The Shangri-Las Shadow Morton, Jeff Barry 1 3 Shadow Morton "Look of Love" Lesley Gore Jeff Barry 27 Quincy Jones

"Out in the Streets" The Shangri-Las Jeff Barry 53 Shadow Morton

"River Deep – Mountain High" Ike and Tina Turner Jeff Barry, Phil Spector March 88 3 Phil Spector "I Can Hear Music" The Ronettes Jeff Barry, Phil Spector 100 Jeff Barry 1967 "I'll Never Need More Than This" Ike and Tina Turner Jeff Barry, Phil Spector 114 64 Phil Spector arranged by Jack Nitzsche

"I Can Hear Music" The Beach Boys Jeff Barry, Phil Spector October 1 24 10 Carl Wilson

"Chapel of Love" Bette Midler Jeff Barry, Phil Spector 1970 40 arranged & producedby Barry Manilow,Geoffery Haslam, Ahmet Ertegun two sided releaseflipped with Friends