One of the first songs I remember on my little AM radio. Who knew it was Darlene? I didn't.
And before I knew, for years, every time I tried to buy a copy, even on one tape claiming all songs were the original artists, I got the Crystals singing it, which I instantly recognized as not the original. Spector didn't want to put it out listing unknowns as the performers, so he simply assigned it to one of his groups.
Wait! I can't find 2 versions. Maybe the Blossoms were the real singers
0 Replies
edgarblythe
1
Sun 19 Jan, 2014 12:01 pm
Gene Pitney had originally written "He's a Rebel" for The Shirelles, but they declined. Spector learned that Vikki Carr was soon to record the song for Liberty Records as her debut single, and decided he had to rush his own version to stores. The Crystals were touring on the east coast at the time, and so Spector instead had Darlene Love sing lead on the track, backed by The Blossoms, a Los Angeles-based group. Spector gave The Crystals credit on the record; Mary Thomas later recalled that "our mouths fell open" when she and her groupmates heard a radio disc jockey announce "the new Crystals song." The quintet was then obliged to add "He's a Rebel" to their live repertoire, even though lead singer Barbara Alston's soft voice could not mimic Love's hearty delivery. For this reason, fifteen-year-old Dolores "LaLa" Brooks was promoted to the role of lead singer the following year starting with their follow-up single "Then He Kissed Me".
The single, with the artist listed simply as "The Crystals," was released in late August 1962, with the b-side "I Love You Eddie." By November 3, "He's a Rebel" had reached No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. The number two song that week was Gene Pitney's "Only Love Can Break a Heart", giving him (as a songwriter and/or performer) the two top-selling singles in the U.S. Pitney would never hit No. 1 as a performer. In the United Kingdom, "He's a Rebel" peaked at No. 19.
