Sunday, April 12, 2020

Tommy James and the Shondells - Crimson and Clover



In the sixties Tommy James and the Shondells produced many major hit songs. They were one of the biggest US rock bands of that decade, then they disappeared after 1970, and with that their fame has gradually dwindled. Everything about Tommy James and the Shondells is clean, inoffensive, suit and tie, innocent sixties pop rock style. Being by the numbers, can work against a band in the long run, and consequently, no one I know ever talks about Tommy James and the Shondells. However, they are not forgotten.

Tommy James and the Shondells’ first big hit was “Hanky Panky,” which, I do not care for, and I feel has aged badly. Nonetheless, this Raindrops cover was Tommy and boys first big hit. Number one on the charts in the United States.

“Mony Mony” is an absolutely great song, though perhaps better remembered for Billy Idol’s punk rock cover. “I Think We’re Alone Now” is an excellent song, that I often listen to. “Sweet Cherry Wine,” and “Crystal Blue Persuasion” are also very good, just to name a few. Saving the best for last, “Crimson and Clover” is their best song. It is among the best songs of the entire decade, which is big compliment, because the sixties were one of the very best decades for music ever.

Along with “Hanky Panky,” “Crimson and Clover” is the only other song Tommy James and the Shondells released that become a number one hit. I completely understand how and why “Crimson and Clover” climbed the music charts of 1968. Whereas the “Hanky Panky” was a weird cultural phenomenon that could only happen in it’s exact time and place, “Crimson and Clover” is a timeless song, a perfect song. If “Crimson and Clover” was released today, it would stand a respectably good chance of climbing the charts. Most of Tommy James and Shondells songs sound like how we expect a sixties rock song to sound, but “Crimson and Clover” is a little different, it only really sounds like itself.

Name a song that sounds like “Crimson and Clover?” Maybe one exists but I cannot think of it, and I listen to so much music that I write about it online. I feel like I would know.

The corporate pop music machine monster did exist in the sixties, but its influence had not yet permeated as deeply, so a higher per capita number of pop, notably pop rock groups, were still expected to write their own music. To be fair, many pop rock groups of today do tend to write their own songs.

When it comes to Tommy James and the Shondells, I am more familiar with their greatest hits then any album of theirs, except “Crimson and Clover.” It turns out most of Tommy James and the Shondells career was spent focusing on writing individual singles. It was not until the late sixties, near the end of this band existence, when the effort made to focus on albums. This was a significant moment in music history, albums by Led Zeppelin, The Who, The Doors, Jimi Hendrix, and of course The Beatles and The Rolling Stones, were changing how the music industry was approaching things. Sure, a single hit song can make a lot of money on the radio and the charts, but many of the best rock albums in all music history were being produced around that and they continue to sell to this day, so both the short term long term benefits of strong albums was more appealing then just singles. So, Tommy James had to address this change, or else be lost to history as a flash in the pan. The reason Tommy James and the Shondells command more respect then other largely forgotten sixties rock bands, is the album “Crimson and Clover.”

It is kind of ironic that the single song “Crimson and Clover” is what principally assisted Tommy James in making his first huge album and best album, but it worked. This amazing song fronted a respectable album and kept the rock and roll dream alive for Tommy James for a good while longer.

Because Tommy James is the front man, lead singer, guitarist, keyboard player, and his name is in the band name, I always assumed his was the leader of the group and primary song writer. I was about three-quarters correct.

Prior to “Crimson and Clover” Tommy James had always leaned on his fellow band mates for assistance in the song writing process, so much so, that some of his peers came to believe that James was incapable of writing music on this own. A quick look at the past members of Tommy James and the Shondells will reveal that dozens came and went to work with Tommy James and his band, and by the year 1967 and 1968 another full rotation had occurred in the Shondells line up, and from what I have read apparently the departing members who worked on the song writing warned James that he did not have what to takes to do it alone.

Not to be deterred, Tommy James worked with his at the time drummer Peter Lucia, and created “Crimson and Clover,” by far his best song.

So that shut them up.

It could be argued that Lucia’s contribution was further evidence that James could not write a song on his own, but it is pretty clear that Lucia was more assistance then anything else. James combined his two favorite words “Crimson,” and “Clover” and built a song outward from there, and it worked. He had proven himself.

However, it could be argued further in James’s favour. James had written multiple hits songs with multiple different people over the course of a decade, and the only constant variable was himself. After a while, any rational thinker is going to have to conclude that James was either very good at drawing creativity talents out of others, was himself a very good song writer, and/or he was a natural team player who knew how to write good songs with pretty anybody. I am pretty sure it is the last two.

Here is a weird person to compare Tommy James to, Ozzy Osbourne.

Critics, or idiots in this example, sometimes claim that Osbourne could not write music on his own and had been dependent on Tony Iommi, Randy Rhodes, Zakk Wylde, Jack E. Lee, and several others, but Ozzy was always the constant variable. Yes, Black Sabbath created some good music without Ozzy and Zakk’s solo career with the Black Label Society is great, but after a while we have to acknowledge whatever Ozzy is doing is working because he can consistently cowrites with his guitarist with great results.

To me it is pretty clear that Ozzy Osbourne is a great song writer who has been an even better team player with his band. I strongly suspect the same is true of Tommy James. It appears to me despite being the front men and main appeal of their own bands, both Osbourne and James extended a level of respect to their temporary band members by inviting to creatively contribute.

“Crimson and Clover” is a transgenerational hits song.  Both Prince and Joan Jett did covers.

Prince Cover:

Prince elects to mix "Crimson and Clover" with Steppenwolf's "Wild Thing," which I am not one-hundred percent sure is a good idea, but Prince is a musical genius and I am not, so I am not going to argue with him.

Joan Jett Cover:

Many people today are more familiar with the Joan Jett cover, and I can understand this. Joan Jett kills this cover track, and her confident and feminine voice does add something raw and sexual to the originally innocent song about discovering how desirable a stranger is. It works, and it makes sense. There was always a lust and love element withing “Crimson and Clover,” and Joan uses that to make it her own. It is one of the better covers in history, as it takes “Crimson and Clover” in a different but logical direction, and in doing so honours the original.

I think the story of Tommy James and the Shondells is a great story, and their greatest accomplishment is “Crimson and Clover.”

Since 1970 Tommy James has been a solo artist, and he is still working to this day, he released an album last year “Alive.” Unfortunately, I am not very familiar with James solo work, but however good or mediocre James later day works are, the man can always hold his head high because he gave the world “Crimson and Clover.” Without that song, James should still be proud of the great collaborative work he did in the early days with the Shondells, and presumably his solo work as well. But with “Crimson and Clover” James reaches a higher point of significance in the history of the rock and roll.

I think the story of Tommy James and how he proved his harshest critics wrong is also a great story.

- King of Braves

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