Alynda Segarra is a Puerto Rican-American who grew up in the Bronx and ran away from home at the age 17. After several years traveling the country in whatever unconventional means she could find, Segarra settled in New Orleans and began to create a sort of roots-conscious folk that easily dips its toes in the blues, R&B, rock, and country. Inspired by the punk ethos she experienced during a childhood spent haunting the Lower East Side, and the transitive communities she found during her travels, Alynda’s band name invokes and celebrates those on the fringes of society: Hurray For The Riff Raff.
After self-releasing six records, eventually, Segarra’s singular style received national recognition in 2014 for her breakout record Small Town Heroes. She plans to follow that up this year with an album that delves deeper into her own Puerto Rican heritage, The Navigator, or Navita Milagros Negrón, which will be out 3/10 via ATO Records.
In the meantime, Segarra has brought one of her most beloved live covers to life as part of an Amazon Music Originals playlist series for Valentines Day that is part of a larger celebration of love — and hate, for that matter. Hurray For The Riff Raff have long played the classic Ronettes song “Be My Baby” as part of their live show, and today we’re premiering the recorded version of that cover as part of the Love Me and Love Me Not collection that includes over seventy other songs, all lovingly rendered by bands like Joyce Manor, Okkervil River, Luke Bell, Xenia Rubinos and more.
Here’s what Alynda Segarra had to say about her cover:
“Ronnie Spector’s flawless performance of ‘Be My Baby’ influenced me since I first heard my family sing along on long road trips from NYC to Florida. The song is perfect, and it made me think about melodies and what makes a song timeless. Everywhere I’ve traveled: from an ancient pub in Ireland, to my brother’s wedding in the Dominican Republic, to a festival stage in New Orleans — people get excited when I cover this song. Maybe it makes us feel young, maybe it makes us feel in love, maybe we just love to sing along. I hope I make Ronnie proud.”
I’m positive Ronnie approves, Alynda’s version is faithful to the original, with slight bluesy tweaks that make it even more boisterous and yearning. Listen above and look for more coming from Hurray For The Riff Raff in the next few weeks, for a taste of their upcoming record check out the debut video for one of the album’s early singles “Hungry Ghost,” which is dedicated to safe spaces and sanctuaries, below.
The entire Amazon playlist will be available for streaming by Amazon Prime and Amazon Music Unlimited subscribers this Friday, 2/3.
