he's a rebel

The Crystals had their only chart topper with the unconventional romance of this single on which they didn't even perform. Phil Spector heard a demo of the song by the composer Gene Pitney while he was working in A&R at Liberty Records. The song had been offered to the Shirelles; but they opted not to record it because of the anti-establishment theme of the lyrics. He knew the song would be a hit and, when he discovered that Vikki Carr was going to release it as her debut single, he quit his job and quickly recorded his own version at Gold Star Studios for the label he had formed with Lester Still Philles Records. The Crystals  (comprised at different points of singers Barbara Alston, Mary Thomas, Dolores "Dee Dee" Kenniebrew, Myrna Girard, Patricia "Patsy" Wright, and Dolores "LaLa" Brooks) had been the first artist signed to that label; but they were unavailable to record the song because they were touring on the east coast. He recruited the Blossoms - Darlene Love, Famita James, and Gracia Nitzschke to record the song; but credited it to the Crystals and rush released the single.

Blossoms lead singer Darlene Love revealed: "Between 'He's A Rebel' and the Christmas album two years later, The Crystals didn't sing on any of their own records, they just went out on tour to promote them. La La Brooks got to sing lead on the re-recording of 'Da Doo Ron Ron,' but the rest of the vocals were by the Blossoms. Another Crystal, Dee Dee Kenniebrew, got really upset, I remember, but I don't think any of the other girls made much of a fuss. I know it used to irritate Dee Dee when fans would compliment her on how great those records were when she never got to sing on them."

Dee Dee Kenniebrew considers: "The Crystal's first hit in the UK was 'He's A Rebel,' but we didn't sing it. When we rehearsed it we hadn't particularly liked it. Also, we'd already had two hit records in The States, plus an album, yet we still hadn't been paid. Phil Spector probably thought we were giving him too much hassle about money, so he got a studio group to record the song. Unfortunately, our first manager didn't get us a good contract and Spector was able to use the group's name."

'He's A Rebel' spent two weeks at the top of the US pop chart and made it to number nineteen in the UK.  The song kept Gene Pitney's own single 'Only Love Can Break a Heart' from reaching the top spot. 








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See the way he walks down the street
Watch the way he shuffles his feet
My, he holds his head up high
When he goes walking by
He's my guy
When he holds my hand, I'm so proud
'Cause he's not just one of the crowd
Why is he always the one
To try the things they've never done?
And just because of that, they say:
"He's a rebel and he'll never ever be any good
He's a rebel 'cause he never ever does what he should"
But just because he doesn't do what everybody else does,
That's no reason why I can't give him all my love
He's always good to me,
Always treats me tenderly
'Cause he's not a rebel, no no no
He's not a rebel, no no no, to me
If they don't like him that way,
They won't like me, I'm sure, today
And I'll be standing right by his side when they say:
"He's a rebel and he'll never ever be any good
He's a rebel 'cause he never ever does what he should"
But just because he doesn't do what everybody else does,
That's no reason why we can't share love
He's always good to me
Good to him, I try to be
'Cause he's not a rebel, no no no
He's not a rebel, no no no, to me
Oh! (he's not a rebel, no no no)
He's not a rebel, no no no