The Crystals Biography, Photos and Posters

The Crystals

Biography

Started: 1960
City and Country of Origin: Brooklyn, New York
Music Training:
Awards:
Top Recordings: "There's No Other (Like My Baby)," "Uptown," "He's a Rebel," "He's Sure the Boy I Love," "Da Doo Ron Ron," "Then He Kissed Me"
The Crystals Biography: Brooklyn, New York's The Crystals were one of the most successful girl groups of the early 1960s. They are best remembered for the hit singles "He's A Rebel," "Da Doo Ron Ron" and "Then He Kissed Me."

In the late 1950s, Barbara Alston, Mary Thomas, Delores "Dee Dee" Kennibrew, Myrna Gerrard and Patricia "Patsy" Wright were recruited into The Crystals while in high school by Alston's uncle, Benny Wells. He named the group after his niece, Crystal. Soon, the quintet signed with Phil Spector's label Philles Records. Spector chose Alston to be the group's lead singer, which made her very uncomfortable since she had a fear of singing in front of audiences.

The group's first hit was 1961's B-side "There's No Other Like My Baby." Their second release, "Uptown" was very topical and socially-aware, as it had the group crooning about loving a boy in the ghetto. After the success of "Uptown," a pregnant Girard was replaced by Dolores "LaLa" Brooks. The next single was 1962's "He Hit Me (And It Felt Like a Kiss)," still widely remembered though only rarely played on the radio due to the touchy subject matter of spousal abuse. Sales were sluggish.

Soon after "He Hit Me" flopped, 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 and release "He's a Rebel" (written by Gene Pitney) before anyone else had a chance to cover it and have a hit with it. A version recorded by Vikki Carr was about to be released, for example. The Crystals were unavailable, but Love and the Blossoms were also based in LA, so Spector recorded them and put the record out under The Crystals' banner.

"He's A Rebel" is perhaps the Crystals' most well-remembered and beloved song, and one of the most enduring of the girl group genre. It was also their only US number 1 hit. The follow-up Crystals single, "He's Sure the Boy I Love," in actuality also featured Love and The Blossoms. It reached a very respectable number 11 on the Billboard chart, and features a classic spoken intro by Darlene Love.

After a strange recording by Spector of a song aimed at revenge against a former business partner "Let's Dance The Screw," which was attributed to The Crystals (though it is not known if these were the original Crystals or the Blossoms) 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, Merna Girard. This reduced the group to a quartet, and Alston, 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.

After "Let's Dance The Screw", 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. A young Cher also lent her talents on the backup 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. Two failed Crystals singles followed, before the band left Spector's Philles Records for United Artists Records later in 1964. "Little Boy" (number 92) was a Wall Of Sound production of monstrous proportions, with the girls' voices barely distinguishable from the music; "All Grown Up," their final single (two versions exist), rocks on the released 45 version but only reached number 98. 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. One more single was released by Barbara, Dee Dee and Mary on the tiny Michelle Records in 1967. They disbanded in 1967. They reunited in 1971 and toured widely in varying incarnations on the oldies circuit; they still perform today. Kennibrew is the only original Crystal who remained active throughout their touring from the seventies to the present, finally claiming the rights to the name Crystals away from Spector.

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