Black Women Invented Rock & Roll: Pt 1. -- Ronnie Spector.
“We were in a car, and they were in a bus following our car. They were a bunch of scraggly looking guys. But I loved them and I especially loved Keith, because I love that rugged look he had. Mick was, like, a pretty boy maybe. Keith used to say, “Oh, we would have great babies because you have that black, thick hair and I have black, thick hair.” Now his is not so black. (Ronnie laughs) I remember Keith and Mick asking me about James Brown and I said, “I don’t even know the guy.” — Ronnie, on touring with The Rolling Stones. (They were HER opening act in 1964.)
Veronica Yvette Bennett (later known as Ronnie Spector) was the daughter of a Black-Cherokee mother and Irish-American father. Her older sister, Estelle Bennett and their cousin Nedra Talley (Black-American, Cherokee and Puerto Rican) formed The Ronettes, an American girl group from Harlem, New York in the 1950′s.
Ronnie would marry Phil Spector of Philes Records (pictured here) in 1968 and has been quoted to say that he was destructive and bizarre – including adopting children without her knowledge and surprising her with them for Christmas. He kept her a prisoner in their Beverly Hills mansion surrounded by barbed wire and guard dogs, even hid her shoes to keep her from trying to run away.
“Keith Richards was there before I even got there. He’s known to be late. I got to the studio, and then Joey Ramone came in. It’s kind of dim in the studio and Keith is on one mic and I’m on another. And you can see Joey sitting in the control room, just staring. He looked at Keith; he looked at me. And that was like his dream. To see Ronnie Spector and Keith Richards in one room. He didn’t move when we were in the recording studio. He died shortly after that. That was the last time I saw Joey.” – On recording with Keith Richards in 2006
“Even in the Sixties, we didn’t party. I remember going to these clubs, and people would be slobberingall over me because of alcohol. It would make me sick. Everybody tells me I look so great for my age, and that’s because I didn’t do drugs. I drank beer and smoked cigarettes. But I looked after my voice. My voice makes me money. But even if that wasn’t the case, I still wouldn’t have gone to clubs. It was boring to me.” – I’m Married to the audience. (Ronnie Spector)
Ronnie with Bruce Springsteen [1975] and David Bowie and Iggy Pop [1976]
With looks to match her formidable talent, the cat-eyed siren bewitched the likes of John Lennon, Jimi Hendrix and David Bowie — all of whom vied for her affections — and served as a muse for Brian Wilson, Bruce Springsteen, Billy Joel, and even punk pioneers, the Ramones.
Her fiery live performances laid the groundwork for generations of front-women to come, and her edgy fashion is still in style. Decades later, her influence lived on in Amy Winehouse, who frequently cited Spector as an idol. “We took it from the streets to the stage,” she says of the Ronettes’ iconic pencil skirts, thick mascara and sky-high beehives. “That’s why they called us ‘The Bad Girls of Rock ‘n’ Roll.’”
“The people need to feel the music. That’s what’s so important, and that’s what is missing. You have to let the audience feel you, you have to let them feel the love, feel the rock & roll, feel the energy.” – Ronnie Spector
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