The Crystals

Few girl-group ensembles inspire deeper affection among devotees than the Crystals. Songs such as “He’s a Rebel,” “Uptown,” “Da Doo Ron Ron,” “Then He Kissed Me,” and “There’s No Other Like My Baby” rank among the era’s finest American rock & roll achievements before the British Invasion arrived; even now, decades into the digital age, original vinyl copies continue to be treasured by listeners who may not collect records but still sense the distinctive quality in the group’s output. Formed as a five-member unit by Benny Wells while its members were still attending high school, the lineup comprised Barbara Alston (born 1945), Dee Dee Kennibrew (born 1945), Mary Thomas (born 1946), Patricia Wright, and Myrna Gerrard. All five had begun singing in church settings; Alston, Wells’s niece, was brought in by her uncle originally as a backing vocalist, though she later became recognized as the lead voice on numerous recordings. Under Wells’s direction the singers shifted toward a pop approach, one early engagement being the cutting of demos for the Hill & Range publishing firm, an assignment that took them into Manhattan’s Brill Building. While rehearsing there they were overheard by Phil Spector, then launching his Philles Records label. In search of fresh talent, Spector found the Crystals—now missing Gerrard and augmented by La La Brooks as lead singer—largely suited to his needs, though he preferred Alston’s voice to Brooks’s and persuaded the former, somewhat against her inclination, to assume the foreground role.

Their first national hit, “There’s No Other Like My Baby,” was recorded in September 1961 and climbed to number 20. The success placed both the act and the fledgling label in the public eye, while a concurrent track, “Oh, Yeah, Maybe, Baby” (led by Patricia Wright), hinted at future directions through its restrained yet assertive string arrangement. Early in 1962 the Crystals tackled the Barry Mann–Cynthia Weil composition “Uptown,” whose lighter percussion—save for abundant castanets—allowed guitars and strings greater prominence. Alston’s poised yet sultry delivery shaped lyrics that balanced romantic longing with pointed commentary on ghetto life, lending the record a dual appeal: it was an exquisite pop single yet one that introduced a note of social awareness previously absent from the charts. Reaching number 13, the production signaled a decisive advance in rock & roll single-making and aligned with other forward-looking hits such as the Drifters’ “Up on the Roof,” while foreshadowing the more reflective and socially attuned work Sam Cooke would soon deliver.

Following “Uptown,” the group’s trajectory grew tangled. Another single did not appear until June 1962, when “He Hit Me (It Felt Like a Kiss)”—written by Carole King and Gerry Goffin—introduced difficulties the prior release had escaped. Where “Uptown” had conveyed serious subject matter within an elegant framework, this track presented an unsettling portrait of infidelity and domestic violence in a brooding, ominous style. Although Alston and her colleagues performed with full commitment and Spector supplied a subtly bolero-flavored arrangement, radio outlets refused airplay and audiences rejected the song outright. Alston later recalled that the members themselves disliked the material; to this day the precise motivation behind Spector’s insistence on recording it remains unclear.

The next month Spector convened another session under the Crystals’ name, yet the voices belonged to Darlene Love rather than the group. Holding ownership of the name and contractual authority to record whomever he chose, he bypassed further disputes over lead vocals and used Love for “He’s a Rebel.” An exuberant celebration of streetwise bravado, the track became a number-one hit and a defining girl-group classic. Love also fronted the subsequent Crystals release, “He’s Sure the Boy I Love.”

Only in early 1963 did the actual Crystals perform on one of their own records, “Da Doo Ron Ron,” now with La La Brooks established as lead singer. The single reached number three in the United States and number five in Britain, while “Then He Kissed Me” attained number six domestically and number two across the Atlantic. These British placements proved consequential, as major U.K. bands were poised to emerge at home before crossing to American dominance; both songs were widely covered onstage and on disc by English acts.

Despite outward success, friction with Spector mounted. The singers had resented his earlier substitution of Darlene Love under their name, and repeated live performances of those tracks heightened the irritation during an almost nonstop 1963 touring schedule. By 1964 they also sensed his waning focus, now directed toward the Ronettes and their lead singer, Veronica Bennett. Meanwhile the Crystals continued to produce strong material, including the lovely “Another Country, Another World,” the intense “Please Hurt Me,” and the blues-inflected “Look in My Eyes.” Two albums—Twist Uptown (1962) and He’s a Rebel (1963)—collected their hits alongside worthy additional tracks, yet Spector’s energies were clearly shifting elsewhere, a detachment perhaps epitomized by the peculiar “(Let’s Dance) The Screw.”

Having parted ways with former partner Lester Sill after settling a lawsuit, Spector devised the five-minute novelty as a parting gesture and, reportedly, to satisfy settlement terms obliging him to share proceeds from the next Crystals single. On the track Spector recited the lyrics while the group supplied backing vocals; only a handful of copies were pressed, one reportedly dispatched to Sill.

After two further legitimate singles failed, the Crystals—now featuring Frances Collins in place of Patricia Wright—lost interest in continuing with Spector. They purchased their release in 1965 and moved to Imperial Records, where no hits materialized amid a marketplace dominated by Motown-affiliated girl groups. The act disbanded in 1966; for the next five years they were heard only on oldies radio. With Philles Records shuttered, the scarcity of original pressings elevated the value of surviving copies and lent special cachet to later reissues. In 1971, amid a rock & roll revival, the members regrouped and performed on the oldies circuit for several years. Sporadic lineups resurfaced in the late 1970s and 1980s, yet into the twenty-first century Dee Dee Kennibrew continued to lead an active version of the group and secured new recordings.