Girl Group US formé en 1961 à Brooklin (New York). Les
Crystals étaient composés de Barbara Alston (néeen 1945), Dee Dee Kennibrew (née
en 1945), Mary Thomas (née en 1946), Patricia Wright et Myrna Gerrard
Among aficionados of
the girl group sound, there can't be five acts more beloved than the Crystals.
Their best-known songs, which include "He's a Rebel," "Uptown," "Da Doo Ron
Ron," "Then He Kissed Me," and "There's No Other Like My Baby," are among the
finest examples of the best that American rock & roll had to offer in the period
before the British Invasion; and decades into the CD era, the group's records
are still prized in their original vinyl pressings even by non-collectors, who
seem to recognize that there was something special about the Crystals' work. The
group was originally a quintet consisting of Barbara Alston (born 1945), Dee Dee
Kennibrew (born 1945), Mary Thomas (born 1946), Patricia Wright, and Myrna
Gerrard, organized by Benny Wells while they were still in high school. All of
whom had started out singing in churches; Barbara Alston was Wells' niece, and
although she later became known as their lead singer on many of their records,
Alston was actually recruited as a backup singer by her uncle. Under Wells'
guidance, they began performing in more of a pop vein, and one of the gigs that
they got was cutting demos for the publisher Hill & Range, which brought them to
the Brill Building in midtown Manhattan. It was there, while they were
rehearsing, that they chanced to be heard by Phil Spector, who at that time was
just starting up his own label, Philles Records. He was in the market for new
talent and the Crystals -- who, by that time, had lost Gerrard and added La La
Brooks to their lineup as lead singer -- were just what he was looking for, sort
of. He liked their sound and their range, but he didn't initially like Brooks'
voice and insisted on Alston taking the lead, somewhat reluctantly on her part.
In September of 1961, the slightly reconfigured group cut their first hit, "There's
No Other Like My Baby," which rose to number 20 nationally. It was a promising
beginning, putting the group, Spector, and his new label on the map; although
another song cut at about the same time, "Oh, Yeah, Maybe, Baby" (which featured
Patricia Wright on lead), pointed the way to the group's future, with its
understated yet boldly played string accompaniment. In early 1962, the Crystals
recorded a Barry Mann/Cynthia Weil song called "Uptown," using an arrangement
that was a tiny bit lighter on the percussion (except for castanets, of which it
had many) but pushed the guitar and the strings out in front more than "Oh Yeah,
Maybe, Baby" had. Barbara Alston's strong-yet-sensuous Vocals enunciated lyrics
that were as steeped in topical subject matter, especially about the
frustrations of life in the ghetto, as they were in romance. This gave "Uptown"
a subtly two-pronged appeall; it was a gorgeous pop record, but also a new kind
of pop record, eminently listenable yet serious in its subtext. No, it wasn't "Blowin'
in the Wind," but it seemed to evoke a social realism that heretofore eluded the
pop charts. "Uptown" reached number 13 nationally. Its production marked a major
step forward in the making of rock & roll singles in its production, and
heralded a newer, bolder era in pop music and R&B, very much of a piece with
such hits as
the Drifters' "Up On the Roof," but with an undercurrent of frustration that
the latter song lacked; it all pointed the way toward the more sophisticated and
socially conscious kind of songs that
Sam Cooke would soon be generating.
It was at this point, in the wake of "Uptown," that the history of the Crystals
gets a little more complicated. It wasn't until June of 1962 that they had
another single ready to go, and it engendered all kinds of problems that "Uptown"
had avoided. If that song had gotten a serious lyric across with an elegant and
quietly passionate setting, "He Hit Me (It Felt Like a Kiss)" (co-authored by
Carole King and Gerry Goffin, no less) was the reverse, presenting a disturbing
lyric about infidelity and the physical abuse of a woman by a man, in a dark,
ominous manner. Barbara Alston and company gave it everything they had, and
Spector came up with a surprisingly subtle, bolero-like arrangement, but it was
a lost cause. Radio stations simply wouldn't play it, and the public didn't like
the song, period; according to Barbara Alston, the group didn't like it either,
and to this day nobody understands exactly what was in Spector's mind when he
cajoled them into cutting it.
The following month, Spector was back in the studio running another Crystals
session, except that this time it wasn't really the Crystals that he was
recording, but Darlene Love. As the owner of the Crystals' name and, as their
producer, possessing the right to record anyone he wanted (or anything he wanted)
and label it as being from "the Crystals," he decided to forego any further
battles over who should sing lead, and forego using the group entirely for "He's
a Rebel." A celebration of street-level machismo like no other, it was an upbeat
number with gorgeous hooks and, with none of the baggage of its failed
predecessor, became a number one hit, as well as engraining itself in pop
culture history as a quintessential girl group classic. Darlene Love was the
lead singer on the next hit by "the Crystals," "He's Sure the Boy I Love," as
well.
It wasn't until early 1963 that the group again sang on one of their own
records, "Da Doo Ron Ron," and by that time, Spector had accepted La La Brooks
in lieu of Alston as lead singer. That record rose to number three in America
and became their second biggest British hit, reaching the number five spot in
the U.K. That placement, along with the U.K. number two position for "Then He
Kissed Me" (which also got to number six in America), was very important,
because at the time a lot of major British bands were about to break onto the
charts at home, before coming to dominate American music a year later. "Da Doo
Ron Ron" and "Then He Kissed Me" became among the most popular American rock &
roll songs of the period in England, covered by all manner of acts on-stage and
on-record.
The Crystals were in a seemingly enviable position, except for the fact that
they and Spector were increasingly at odds over what he was doing with them.
They'd been unhappy from the time when Spector began using their name on behalf
of records made by Darlene Love, and every time they were obliged to perform
those songs on-stage it grated against them, and in 1963 they were almost
constantly touring and performing. By 1964, they also
perceived Spector's growing inattention; he had lately discovered a girl trio
called
the Ronettes on whose music and lead singer, Veronica Bennett, he was
lavishing ever more of his time and energy. Meanwhile, the Crystals were making
good and interesting songs, such as the beautiful "Another Country, Another
World," "Please Hurt Me," and "Look in My Eyes," the latter a bluesy ballad that
showed a side of their sound that Spector seldom tried to explore. The group had
released two LPs hooked around their major hits, Twist Uptown and He's a Rebel,
in 1962 and 1963, respectively, that had some good songs on them, but Spector's
attention and enthusiasm was increasingly directed elsewhere. Spector's
seeming dismissive attitude toward the group may have been best illustrated by
the most bizarre record with which he, the group, his label, or almost anyone
else in the music business had ever been associated: "(Let's Dance) The Screw."
Spector had never been one to keep business partners very long -- in that
regard, he was a lot like the movie mogul Samuel Goldwyn -- and in 1964, he'd
settled a lawsuit against Lester Sill, the man with whom he'd started the
Philles label. As a parting shot at Sill -- and, it is rumored, to fulfill the
terms of a settlement that required him to pay a share of the proceeds from the
next Crystals single -- he devised an otherwise un-releasable single that
Philles pressed, called "(Let's Dance) The Screw." On it, Spector talked the
lyrics while the Crystals sang backup, in a five-minute musical joke that is
also one of the rarest records of the 1960s (supposedly only a handful were ever
produced, one of which was sent to Sill).
Personal jokes by their producer were all well and good, but by 1964, following
the failure of two consecutive genuine Crystals singles, the group -- with
Frances Collins replacing Patricia Wright -- was no longer interested in working
with Spector. The following year they bought out their contract and headed to
the seemingly greener pastures of the Imperial label, where they found no
success; by that time, the only girl groups that were still competitive in the
music marketplace were associated with Motown. By 1966, the Crystals had
disbanded, and for five years no one heard anything about the group except in
airplay on oldies stations. Spector had even closed down Philles Records, and
the resulting unavailability of their records except on the radio only raised
the value of the old copies that were out there, and made his periodic reissues
of the group's work that much more prized by fans. Then, in 1971, with the rock
& roll revival in full swing, the groupmembers reunited and spent a few years
delighting audiences on the oldies circuit. Various incarnations of the group
resurfaced every so often in the late '70s and 1980s, but at the dawn of the
21st century, Dee Dee Kennibrew was still leading a version of the group and had
even managed to get them recorded.
TWIST UPTOWN - Uptown / Another
Country-Another World / Frankenstein Twist / Oh Yeah Maybe Baby / Please
Hurt Me / There's No Other (Like My Baby) / On Broadway / What A Nice Way To
Turn Seventeen / No One Ever Tells You / Gee Whiz Look At His Eyes (Twist) /
I Love You Eddie
HE'S A REBEL - He's A Rebel / Uptown /
Another Country-Another Town / Frankenstein Twist / Oh Yeah Maybe Baby /
He's Sure The Boy I Love / There's No Other (Like My Baby) / On Broadway /
What A Nice Way To Turn Seventeen / No One Ever Tells You / He Hit Me
/ I Love You Eddie
THE CRYSTALS SING THE GREATEST HITS - VOLUME 1
- Da Doo Ron Ron / On Broadway / He's A Rebel / Hot Pastrami / There's
No Other / The Watusi / Mashed Potato Time / He's Sure The Boy I Love /
Uptown / The Twist / Gee Whiz (Look At His Eyes) / Look In My Eyes
PHIL SPECTOR WALL OF SOUND VOL. 3 - THE CRYSTALS SING THEIR GREATEST HITS
: He's A Rebel / Uptown / There's No Other / Oh Yeah, Maybe Baby / Please Hurt Me / Mashed Potatoes Time / Another Country - Another World / He's Sure The Boy I Love / Then He Kissed Me / On Broadway / What A Nice Way To Turn Seventeen / He Quit Me / I Love You Eddie / Look In My Eyes / No One Ever Tells You / Da Doo Ron Ron
La Grande
Storia Del Rock - 98 -
The Paragons
/ The Crystals / The
Dixie Cups -
Diamonds And Pearls (Paragons)
/ Florence (Paragons)
/ Weddiing Bells (Paragons)
/ Let´s Start All Over Again (Paragons)
/ Blue Velvet (Paragons)
/ If (Paragons)
/ He´s A Rebel (Crystals)
/ Da Doo Ron Ron (Crystals)
/ Then He Kissed Me (Crystals)
/ Iko Iko (Dixie
Cups) / Chapel Of Love (Dixie
Cups) / People Say (Dixie
Cups)
THE BEST OF THE CRYSTALS -
There's No Other Like My Baby / Oh Yeah, Maybe Baby / Uptown / What A Nice
Way To Turn 17 / He Hit Me (And It Felt Like A Kiss) / No One Ever Tells You
/ He's A Rebel / I Love You Eddie / Another Country-Another World / Please
Hurt Me / He's Sure The Boy I Love / Look In My Eyes / Da Doo Ron Ron /
Heartbreaker / Then He Kissed Me / I Wonder / Little Boy / Girls Can Tell /
All Grown Up (alternate take)
THEN HE KISSED ME - Going To The Chapel
(Club Mix) / He's A Rebel (Club Mix) / Da Do Ron Ron / Uptown / I Wonder /
The Boy I'm Gonna Marry / Then He Kissed Me / He's Sure The Boy I Love /
He's A Rebel / Misty Blue / One Fine Day / Rescue Me / There's No One
GREATEST HITS - Da Doo Ron Ron /
He's a Rebel / Then He Kissed Me / Uptown / He's Sure The Boy I Love /
There's No Other (Like My Baby) / Look In My Eyes / I Love You Eddie /
(Today I Met) The Boy I'm Gonna Marry / Please Hurt Me
THE CRYSTALS - Da Doo Ron Ron / One Fine
Day / He's A Rebel / Uptown / I Wonder / Today I Met The Boy I'm Gonna Marry
/ And Then He Kissed Me / He's Sure The Boy I Love / Misty Blue - As the
Days Go By / Rescue Me / There's No Other (Like My Baby) / Chapel Of Love
[club mix] / He's A Rebel [club mix]
HE'S A REBEL - He's A Rebel / Uptown /
Another Country - Another World / Frankenstein Twist / Oh Yeah, Maybe Baby /
He's Sure The Boy I Love / Please Hurt Me / Then He Kissed Me / Look In My
Eyes / Mashed Potato Time / There's No Other (Like My Baby) / On Broadway /
What A Nice Way To Turn Seventeen / No One Ever Tells You / He Hit Me (It
Felt Like A Kiss) / I Love You Eddie / Gee Whiz (Look At His Eyes) / Da Doo
Ron Ron / Little Boy / All Grown Up
BACK TO BACK - He's A Rebel (CRYSTALS) / Then He
Kissed Me (CRYSTALS) / Doo Ron Ron (When He Walked Me Home) (CRYSTALS) / He's Sure The Boy I Love
(CRYSTALS) / There's No Other (Like My Baby) (CRYSTALS) / Will You Love Me Tomorrow
(SHIRELLES) /
Baby It's You (SHIRELLES) / Dedicated To The One I Love
(SHIRELLES) / Mama Said (SHIRELLES) / Soldier
Boy (SHIRELLES)
DA DOO RON RON - Da Doo
Ron Ron / Uptown / I Wonder / The Boy I'm Gong To Marry / Then He Kissed Me
/ He's Sure The Boy I Love / He's A Rebel / Misty Blue / One Fine Day /
Rescue Me / There's No One / Going To The Chapel / He's A Rebel
ONE FINE DAY - Da Do Run Run / One Fine
Day / He's A Rebel / Uptown / I Wonder / Today I Met The Boy I'm Gonna Marry
/ And Then He Kissed Me / He's Sure The Boy I Love / Medley / Rescue Me
HE'S A REBEL - ULTIMATE COLLECTION - He's
A Rebel / Oh Yeah, Maybe Baby / Uptown / Then He Kissed Me / He's Sure The
Boy I Love / Da Doo Ron Ron / Heartbreaker / Girls Can Tell / All Grown Up /
There's No Other Like My Baby / Little Boy / He Hit Me (It Felt Like A Kiss)
/ What A Nice Way To Turn 17 / No One Ever Tells You / I Love You Eddie /
Mashed Potato Time / Frankenstein Twist / I Wonder / Another Country,
Another World / Please Hurt Me / Look In My Eyes / On Broadway / In The
Morning / When The Right Boy Comes Along / Are You Trying To Get Rid Of Me
Baby? / Santa Claus Is Coming To Town / Paarde Of The Wooden Soldiers /
Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer / The Screw (Let's Dance)
GREATEST HITS - Uptown
/ There's No Other Like My Baby / Today I Met The Boy I'm Gonna Marry / Look
In The Eyes / I Love You Eddie / Then He Kissed Me / Please Hurt Me / Da Doo
Ron Ron / He's A Rebel / He's Sure The Boy I Love
The Crystals and
Shangri-Las - Remember (Walking
In The Sand) (Shangri-Las)
/ Da Do Ron Ron (Crystals) /
Right Now And Not Later (Shangri-Las)
/ He's A Rebel (Crystals) /
Long Live Our Love (Shangri-Las)
/ Train From Kansas City (Shangri-Las)
/ Uptown (Crystals) / What's
A Girl Supposed To Do (Shangri-Las)
/ Past, Present And Future (Shangri-Las)
/ And Then He Kissed Me (Crystals) /
Give Him A Great Big Kiss (Shangri-Las)
/ Heaven Only Knows (Shangri-Las)
/ He's Sure The Boy I Love (Crystals)
/ I Can Never Go Home Anymore (Shangri-Las)
/ Out In The Streets (Shangri-Las)
/ There's No Other Like My Baby (Crystals)
/ Sophisticated Boom Boom (Shangri-Las)
/ The Dum Dum Ditty (Shangri-Las)
/ I Wonder (Crystals) /
Leader Of The Pack (Shangri-Las)
DA DOO RON RON - THE BEST OF THE CRYSTALS -
There's No Other Like My Baby / Oh Yeah, Maybe Baby / Uptown / What A
Nice Way To Turn 17 / He Hit Me (It Felt Like A Kiss) / No One Ever Tells
You / He's A Rebel / I Love You Eddie / Another Country - Another World /
Please Hurt Me / He's Sure The Boy I Love / Da Doo Ron Ron / Heartbreaker /
Then He Kissed Me / I Wonder / Little Boy / All Grown Up / Woman In Love
(With You)
The Ronettes & The
Crystals - Original Hits - Ronettes : Be My Baby / Baby I Love You /
Walking In The Rain / Do I Love You / Darlene LOVE : Why Do Lovers Break Each Others Hearts?
/ (Today I Met) The Boy I'm Gonna Mary /
Crystals : He's A Rebel / He's Sure The Boy I
Love / Then He Kissed Me / Da Doo Ron Ron
Girl Group US formé en 1961 à Brooklin (New York). Les
Crystals étaient composés de Barbara Alston (néeen 1945), Dee Dee Kennibrew (née
en 1945), Mary Thomas (née en 1946), Patricia Wright et Myrna Gerrard
Among aficionados of
the girl group sound, there can't be five acts more beloved than the Crystals.
Their best-known songs, which include "He's a Rebel," "Uptown," "Da Doo Ron
Ron," "Then He Kissed Me," and "There's No Other Like My Baby," are among the
finest examples of the best that American rock & roll had to offer in the period
before the British Invasion; and decades into the CD era, the group's records
are still prized in their original vinyl pressings even by non-collectors, who
seem to recognize that there was something special about the Crystals' work. The
group was originally a quintet consisting of Barbara Alston (born 1945), Dee Dee
Kennibrew (born 1945), Mary Thomas (born 1946), Patricia Wright, and Myrna
Gerrard, organized by Benny Wells while they were still in high school. All of
whom had started out singing in churches; Barbara Alston was Wells' niece, and
although she later became known as their lead singer on many of their records,
Alston was actually recruited as a backup singer by her uncle. Under Wells'
guidance, they began performing in more of a pop vein, and one of the gigs that
they got was cutting demos for the publisher Hill & Range, which brought them to
the Brill Building in midtown Manhattan. It was there, while they were
rehearsing, that they chanced to be heard by Phil Spector, who at that time was
just starting up his own label, Philles Records. He was in the market for new
talent and the Crystals -- who, by that time, had lost Gerrard and added La La
Brooks to their lineup as lead singer -- were just what he was looking for, sort
of. He liked their sound and their range, but he didn't initially like Brooks'
voice and insisted on Alston taking the lead, somewhat reluctantly on her part.
