To the long list of Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees who have played in Westport — the Animals, Beach Boys, Ray Charles, Cream, Doors, Rascals, Sly and the Family Stone, Smokey Robinson — add the 1st woman: Ronnie Spector.
Ronnie Spector
On April 1 the “original bad girl of rock” — the Ronettes’ lead singer on mondo hits like “Be My Baby” and “Walking in the Rain,” as well as a virtual prisoner while married to “Wall of Sound” production genius/murderer Phil Spector — comes to town with Band Together. The “HeArt & Soul” event — at the Westport Country Playhouse — benefits Save the Children.
Band Together CT unites talented musicians with concerned citizens to raise money for local and national charities, environmental issues and families in need. The total is over $450,000 — and the Westport show should add significantly to it.
Ronnie Spector is just 1 of the many top musicians set to appear — though definitely the biggest.
Also scheduled: “Saturday Night Live” band singer Christine Ohlman; soul singers Gisele Jackson and Susan Didrichsen; Elliot Lewis from Hall and Oates (who did not play here); Jeremy Chatzky (Ronnie Spector’s musical director and bassist, who recorded and toured with Bruce Springsteen), and Westport native Tim DeHuff.
Ronnie Spector is well into her Social Security years. But judging from the photo above — and the stories I’ve heard about her annual Christmas show with Darlene Love at B.B. King’s New York club— she can still bring it on.
(The April 1 benefit also includes a sale of original works donated by local artists to support Haiti relief efforts. The Westport Downtown Merchants Association is producing the event. Doors open at 7 p.m.; the show begins at 8. Tickets, at $36 each, are available at the Playhouse or by calling 203-227-4177.)
