0136 SONG REVIEW – He’s a Rebel
SONG: He’s a Rebel
ARTIST: The Crystals
YEAR: 1962
Listen to it here:
THE SONG:
“He’s A Rebel” was written by Gene Pitney. He had originally intended for it to be sung by The Shirelles, but they declined as they didn’t like the song’s anti-establishment content. Phil Spector had learned that Vikki Carr was about to record it and he wanted to beat her to the punch, so he had Darlene Love and the Blossoms record it as the Crystals. The Crystals were on tour and could not be back to LA in time to lay the track down, and were surprised to hear DJs announce “the Crystals’ latest hit” on the radio. Because the song was so big, the actual Crystals had to perform the song live, but lead singer Barbara Alston could not mimic Darlene Love’s voice, so 15-year-old group mate Dolores “LaLa” Brooks became the lead singer, and also sang lead on the follow up hit “Then He Kissed Me”. On November 3rd 1962, “He’s A Rebel” hit number 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 and was one of the few ‘no one understands him except me/he’s a loveable misfit’ songs of the era.
THE ARTIST:
The Crystals were a girl group formed in 1961 by one of the member’s uncles. Before long, the girls were signed to major league creep Phil Spector’s label Phillies Records. Their first hit “There’s No Other (Like My Baby)” hit the Billboard Hot 100 with “Uptown”, penned by Brill Building greats Mann and Weil, being their 2nd charting song. Unfortunately their next single written by another Brill Building powerhouse duo of Carole King and Gerry Goffin saw limited airplay due to its controversial subject matter – “He Hit Me (And It Felt Like a Kiss)”. Around the same time as the song’s flop, Phil Spector took a liking to Darlene Love and her group the Blossoms and he decided that because he wanted to release the song “He’s A Rebel” before Vikki Carr and rival label Liberty Records could, he had the Blossoms record the song as the Crystals, as the real Crystals were on tour. The song was a hit – The Crystals’ only US #1 (funnily not even sung by the real Crystals).
The Crystals were back as the Crystals and recording with Spector by 1963 and with some personnel changes saw more chart success with “Da Doo Ron Ron” and “Then He Kissed Me”. But despite the group’s success, the Crystals and certifiable lunatic Spector starting butting heads – the girls were upset with seemingly being replaced by the Ronettes as well as issues with royalties. After a few more line up changes, the group broke up in 1967, only to reunite in 1971 and through more arrivals and departures, toured until 2018 with 1 original Crystal.
FACTOID CORNER:
One of the Crystal’s original B-sides “There’s No Other (Like My Baby)” was recorded after the girls’ prom on prom night, with the girls still in their dresses.
“He’s A Rebel”, written by Gene Pitney shut Pitney and his own recording of “Only Love Can Break a Heart” out of the top spot on the charts.
One of the replacement singers who joined the group in 1964, Frances Collins (later Fatima Johnson) was the mother of rapper Prodigy
KELLY’S REVIEW:
So I’ve heard this song about a billion times and had NO IDEA it was written by Gene Pitney! Love to learn a little factoid! Because I’ve already mentioned Gene, let’s start with talking about the song itself. I think Gene is a bit of an underrated master of melody, even showcased here in this song. It’s interesting and fun and singable. And is that a key change going into the first chorus? An Italian 6th? The lyrical content is fine. Definitely a snapshot of the times, being in love with the ne’er do well, not following the trends of society, but has a heart of gold. Now for the production. Siiiiigh…you know, I used to really like Phil Spector’s “wall of sound”, but now I find it muddy and a little overwhelming having all of the faders pushed to the max. My opinion of Spector has also really hit the bricks in the last few years, from his financial abuse of Darlene Love, to his physical abuse of Ronnie Spector, to the murder of a girlfriend a few years ago. The man is bonkers. But let’s talk about Darlene Love because she is an absolute LEGEND. If you want to know anything about Darlene Love, just watch the incredible documentary “20 Feet From Stardom” and you will fall in love with her. It’s funny because I listened to this song back to back with “Then He Kissed Me” and I don’t know how they got away with saying they’re sung by the same group, because Darlene has a fuller, huskier voice, and LaLa Brooks had a very young sounding, sweet voice, probably owing to the fact that she was a damn teenager. Darlene sings the song so expertly though, I think she was a great choice. The harmonies are good and the group is tight, probably because Darlene’s sister was in the group so they could blend easily. The sax solo in the middle surprised me, but I don’t hate it! I also like the gospel double-time at the end of the song. I kind of hate the drum sound, and I can only really detect, drums, piano and sax, but I think we can blame the “wall of sound” on the sloppy sound. Of all the girl group songs of the era, this is one of my faves.
HOLLY’S REVIEW:
This song played A LOT on the oldies radio station in the Lower Mainland and totally qualifies as bubblegum pop. Right off the top, the first thing you notice is the terrible recording quality. The wall of sound sounds like there’s a lot of natural reverb which is then blended with after effects reverb and it makes the whole song sound soupy. Especially the vocals. My favourite thing about this recording is the bari sax, who sounds like they’re having a ton of fun the whole time. The piano is clear and used sparingly, and the drums sound awful. There’s bass, and I can’t especially pick out guitar at any point. The Crystals themselves are interesting because sometimes they’re all singing in unison and then all of a sudden they’ll split into lead and harmonies. Their voices blend pretty well, but that could be helped by the metric tons of reverb. As far as the melody goes, it’s kind of basic until every once in a while it goes into this weird tango/bolero beat for a few bars. I know we probably have a few more groups like this coming down the pipe, but this song does sound like the Crystals are trying to keep the 1950s alive and well. All in all, this song is kind of fun, but not great.
Average mark out of 10:
Holly: 7/10
Kelly: 8/10
Other notable versions of this song:
Vikki Carr with her…un-melanated version
From the movie “Bad Times at the El Royale”
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