Artist:The CrystalsSong:Da Doo Ron Ron
Album:Da Doo Ron Ron: The Very Best Of The Crystals
Of course The Crystals had some of the biggest hits of the early 60s and were a big part of establishing Phil Spector's production techniques known as The Wall Of Sound. But Spector was never satisfied with the lead vocals and this caused friction with The Crystals and also with Darlene Love. The Crystals were organized in Brooklyn by Benny Wells with his niece Barbara Alston, Dee Dee Kennibrew, Mary Thomas, Patricia Wright and Myrna Gerrard. Myrna left and La La Brooks was the new lead singer. They started out cutting demos for music publishers. One day they were rehearsing in the Brill Building and got the attention of Phil Spector. He was starting his new label Philles. He liked The Crystals but he didn't like La La's voice and he insisted that Barbara Alston sing lead. Their first single There's No Other Like My Baby reached the top 20 in 1961. The follow up Uptown did even better at #13. But when the 1962 single He Hit Me (It Felt Like A Kiss) flopped, Spector took a very strange turn with The Crystals. First, it should be said that nobody liked He Hit Me except Spector. Barbara Alston says the group hated the song. But Spector blamed The Crystals. So for their next single He's A Rebel, he didn't even use The Crystals. He used Darlene Love and her group The Blossoms and labeled it The Crystals. He did the same thing with He's Sure The Boy I Love. Of course both songs were big hits. Spector would have continued to do this except Darlene was pissed that she wasn't getting credit for her singing. So he originally recorded Da Doo Ron Ron with The Blossoms but then erased Darlene's lead vocal and replaced her with La La Brooks. It reached #5 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1963. The song was written by the legendary team of Ellie Greenwich and Jeff Barry. According to Ellie, the phrase Da Doo Ron Ron came about when they couldn't think of anything else. The Crystals had another huge hit with Then He Kissed Me. By 1964, Spector had lost interest in The Crystals in favour of The Ronettes and The Crystals were never happy about the He's A Rebel shenanigans. So they left for United Artists and after no success there, The Crystals split up in 1966. They reformed in 1971 and Dee Dee Kennibrew still leads a version of The Crystals on the oldies circuit. Sony Legacy has just released a series of Phil Spector comps and they are reasonably priced. That includes this Crystals comp. Here are The Crystals performing Da Doo Ron Ron on Shindig 1965.
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