December 9, 2022     —–     Chart #173

Hello Music Friends,

Hey folks, welcome to another edition of Chart of the Week. We are back to 1968 with today’s selection. “Crimson and Clover” is a 1968 song by American rock band Tommy James and the Shondells. Written by the duo of Tommy James and drummer Peter Lucia Jr., it was intended as a change in direction of the group’s sound and composition.

“Crimson and Clover” was released in late 1968 as a rough mix after a radio station leaked it. It spent 16 weeks on the U.S. charts, reaching number one in the United States and four other countries. The single has sold 5 million copies, making it Tommy James and the Shondells’ best-selling song. It has been covered by many artists including Joan Jett, Cher (as a duet with her son) and Prince.

Following the release of “Mony Mony”, Tommy James wanted to change direction of the group’s sound, and began producing his own material. At the time, James said this was out of “necessity and ambition”, wanting to move from singles into albums. He departed from the group’s principal songwriters Bo Gentry and Ritchie Cordell, and was given complete artistic control by Roulette Records.

The title, “Crimson and Clover”, was decided before a song had been written for it. The combination of unknown meaning came to James as he was waking up, comprising his favorite color – crimson – and his favorite flower – clover. A song to fit the phrase was written by Tommy James and bassist Mike Vale, but was scrapped. His following collaboration with drummer Peter Lucia, Jr. was more successful (Lucia has said that he himself came up with the Crimson and Clover phrase while watching a high school football game between his hometown Morristown, New Jersey Crimson and Hopatcong (green, or “clover”)). During the song’s production, Roulette Records wanted a new single, so the group agreed to release “Do Something to Me” to gain time to complete the song.

“Crimson and Clover” was recorded in late 1968 in about five hours and is one of the earliest songs recorded on 16-track equipment. Tommy James played most of the instruments, while Mike Vale played bass and Peter Lucia, Jr. played drums. The song contains a tremolo effect on the guitar, set so that it vibrated in time with the song’s rhythm. Near the end of the recording, the band had an idea of utilizing the tremolo effect with vocals. To achieve this, the voice microphone was plugged into an Ampeg guitar amplifier with tremolo turned on, and the output from the amplifier was recorded while James sang “Crimson and clover, over and over”.

Live:  https://youtu.be/Cz8BCLNHREI

Joan Jett & the Blackhearts: https://youtu.be/cXFra7gjElw 

Prince:  https://youtu.be/a4RPkoURwL8 

Keep rockin my friends,

Stan Bradshaw