He's A Rebel - The Crystals
If your a reader of Rock and Roll Classics, welcome happy to have you on board. Recently on the other side at Classic Video Jukebox. We've been discussing the line up this year for the Iowa State Fair both Saturday and Sunday 7-9-08 and 7-10-08. Jump on over a take a look at the first weekends entertainment.
Then swing on back to Rock and Roll Classics for the Crystals on the Budweiser Stage @ the Iowa State Fair. August 8th - 10th with 2 Shows each evening @ 7:30pm and 9:30pm FREE, yes you heard right classic oldies from the Crystals for Free. He's a Rebel, Then He Kissed Me, Da Doo Ron Ron plus more none stop thru the evening hours.
In the early 1960s, Barbara Alston, Mary Thomas, Dolores "Dee Dee" Kenniebrew, Myrna Girard and Patricia "Patsy" Wright formed The Crystals through the help of Benny Wells, Barbara's uncle. Soon, the quintet signed with Phil Spector's label Philles Records.
Phil Spector began recording singer Darlene Love and her backing group The Blossoms under the name "The Crystals". Legend has it that the real Crystals were not able to travel from New York to Los Angeles fast enough to suit the LA-based Spector, who wanted to quickly record writer Gene Pitney's "He's a Rebel" before anyone else (such as Vikki Carr) could release a version. The Crystals were unavailable, but Love and the Blossoms were also based in LA, so Spector recorded and released their version under The Crystals' banner.
The song had originally been offered to The Shirelles, who turned it down because of the anti-establishment lyrics. It marked a shift in girl group thematic material, where the singer loves a "bad boy", a theme that would be amplified by later groups (especially The Shangri-La's "Leader of the Pack").
The 'real' Crystals definitely began recording again under their own name in 1963. However, Thomas had departed to get married, only to join another mildly successful group, The Butterflys, along with another original Crystal, Myrna Girard. This reduced the group to a quartet with Barbara Alston on lead. Alston, known for her shyness and stage fright, was never comfortable with being out front, stepped down from the lead spot giving it to Brooks. According to Brooks, she had been doing Alston's leads in their live shows for a while.
The group's next release was the classic "Da Doo Ron Ron." According to Darlene Love, the track was originally recorded by The Blossoms, with Love on lead vocal. Prior to release, Spector erased Love's lead vocal and replaced it with a vocal by LaLa Brooks, although he kept the Blossoms' backing vocals in place. [If you listen closely to the bottom note, you can hear Cher's unmistakable voice beefing up the backing vocals.] The song was a top 10 hit in both the US and the UK, as was the follow-up single "Then He Kissed Me" the first Crystals single since "He Hit Me" to feature all members of the Crystals as a definite group.
Both "Da Doo Ron Ron" and "Then He Kissed Me" were penned by Spector with Jeff Barry and Ellie Greenwich
Despite the steady flow of hit singles, tensions between Spector and the Crystals mounted. Already unhappy with having been replaced by Love and company on two singles, The Crystals were even more upset when in 1964, Spector began focusing much of his time on his other girl group The Ronettes. As well, there were disputes about royalties, with The Crystals feeling that Spector was withholding royalty money that was owed to them.
1964 also saw the departure of Wright who was replaced by Frances Collins, a dancer who they had met while touring; toward the end of that year Alston departed leaving the group a trio. As a trio, they recorded two singles for United Artists, "My Place" and "You Can't Tie a Good Girl Down". One more single was released by Barbara, Dee Dee and Mary on the tiny Michelle Records in 1967 ("Ring-a-Ting-a-Ling"). They disbanded in 1967. They reunited in 1971 and toured widely in varying incarnations on the oldies circuit; they still perform today. Kenniebrew is the only original Crystal who remained active throughout their touring from the seventies to the present, finally claiming the rights to the Crystals name away from Spector.
Enjoy the summer, as Always
Peace
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