"He's a Rebel" is a pop song credited to the The Crystals,
but actually recorded by The Blossoms which went to #1 on the
Billboard Hot 100 charts in November 1962. Written by Gene
Pitney and produced by Phil Spector, it is considered one of
the definitive examples of the Spector-produced girl group
sound.
In 2004, the song was ranked #263 on Rolling Stone's 500
Greatest Songs of All Time.
The song is about a girl in love with a young man who spurns
society's conventions. Despite his being misunderstood by
others, the singer claims that he is sweet and faithful, and
she vows to be the same towards him. Studio musician Steve
Douglas performs a saxophone solo during the song's bridge. The
piano riff at the beginning was contributed by Al DeLory.
Unusually for Spector productions, no strings played on the
track.
Pitney had originally written "He's a Rebel" for The
Shirelles, but they declined. Spector learned that Vikki Carr
was soon to record the song for Liberty Records as her debut
single, and decided he had to rush his own version to stores.
The Crystals were touring on the east coast at the time, and so
Spector instead had Darlene Love sing lead on the track, backed
by The Blossoms, a Los Angeles-based group. Spector gave The
Crystals credit on the record; Mary Thomas later recalled that
"our mouths fell open" when she and her groupmates heard a
radio disc jockey announce "the new Crystals song." The quintet
was then obliged to add "He's a Rebel" to their live
repertoire, even though lead singer Barbara Alston's soft voice
could not mimic Love's hearty delivery. For this reason,
fifteen-year-old Dolores "LaLa" Brooks was promoted to the role
of lead singer the following year starting with their follow-up
single "Then He Kissed Me".
The single, with the artist listed simply as "The Crystals,"
was released in late August 1962, with the b-side "I Love You
Eddie." By November 3, "He's a Rebel" had reached #1 on the
Billboard Hot 100 chart. The number two song that week was Gene
Pitney's "Only Love Can Break a Heart", giving him (as a
songwriter and/or performer) the two top-selling singles in the
U.S. Pitney would never hit #1 as a performer. In the United
Kingdom, "He's a Rebel" peaked at #19.