Two artists exist by this name:

1) The Crystals were one of the most… Read Full Bio ↴Two artists exist by this name:

1) The Crystals were one of the most successful girl groups of the early 60s, Known for their association with producer Phil Spector, they had several well-remembered hit singles such as "He's A Rebel", "Da Doo Ron Ron", and "Then He Kissed Me". They were also trailblazers for many later African-American pop artists.

2) The Crystals was also the name of an obscure doo-wop group organised by the enigmatic Sun Ra in the mid-50s. Little is known about them. However, their tune "Honey In The Bee Box" was featured in the compilation album 'Interplanetary Melodies' on Norton Records, an album which has received critical acclaim.

3). If you are here for the Italian progressive rock band Crystals, they are not "The Crystals". Refer to the Crystals band page for more information and please fix your tags.

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In the late 50s, Barbara Alston, Mary Thomas, Delores "Dee Dee" Kennibrew, Merna Girard and Patricia "Patsy" Wright formed a singing project called "The Crystals" in high school. Under the leadership of Alston's uncle, Benny Wells, they wanted to aim for the big time. Soon, the quintet signed with Phil Spector's label Philles Records. Spector then chose Alston to be the group's lead singer, which made her very uncomfortable since she had a fear of singing in front of audiences.

Their first hit was 1961's "There's No Other Like My Baby". This song's B-side "Oh Yeah, Maybe Baby" (featuring Wright on lead) and the following single "Uptown" were topical and socially-aware pieces about growing up in the ghetto. After the success of "Uptown", a pregnant Girard was replaced by Dolores "LaLa" Brooks. The next single was 1962's "He Hit Me (And It Felt Like a Kiss)", still widely remembered though only rarely played on the radio due to the touchy subject matter of spousal abuse. Sales were sluggish.

Soon after "He Hit Me" flopped, Phil Spector began recording singer Darlene Love and her backing group The Blossoms under the name "The Crystals". Legend has it that the real Crystals were not able to travel from New York to Los Angeles fast enough to suit the LA-based Spector, who wanted to quickly record and release "He's a Rebel" (written by Gene Pitney) before anyone else had a chance to cover it and have a hit with it. The Crystals were unavailable, but Love and the Blossoms were also based in LA, so Spector recorded them and put the record out under The Crystals' banner.

"He's A Rebel" is perhaps the Crystals' most well-remembered and beloved songs, and one of the most enduring of the girl group genre. It was also their only US #1 hit. The follow-up Crystals single, "He's Sure the Boy I Love", in actuality also featured Love and The Blossoms.

The next single credited to The Crystals is one of the rarest -- and also possibly the strangest -- in rock music history. Reports vary as to the actual motivation behind the recording, but most agree that Phil Spector was looking for a way to annoy former business partner Lester Sill. What he came up with was a nearly six-minute song called "Let's Dance The Screw - Part I", which would be unplayable on 1963 radio. The record featured simple instrumentation (very much unlike Spector's famous Wall of Sound production style), repetitive lyrics, and Spector himself intoning the lyric "Dance The Screw" numerous times in a deadpan monotone. (The B-side, Part II, was more of the same.) The Crystals sang the song's repetitive verses, though it is unclear if these singers were the 'real' Crystals or The Blossoms.

The single was never commercially released, and only a few copies are known to exist (all marked D.J. COPY - NOT FOR SALE). The record was apparently only created to be a bizarre sort of joke at Sill's expense, as a single copy was specially delivered to him in early 1963.

Though it's unclear as to the level of their participation in "Let's Dance The Screw", the 'real' Crystals definitely began recording again under their own name in 1963. However, Thomas had departed to get married which reduced them to a quartet, and Alston stepped down from the lead spot giving it to Brooks.

After "Let's Dance The Screw", the group's next release was the classic "Da Doo Ron Ron." According to Darlene Love, the track was originally recorded by The Blossoms, with Love on lead vocal. Prior to release, Spector erased Love's lead vocal and replaced it with a vocal by LaLa Brooks, although he kept the Blossoms' backing vocals in place. The song was a top 10 hit in both the US and the UK, as was the follow-up single "Then He Kissed Me" — the first Crystals single since "He Hit Me" to feature all members of the Crystals as a definite group.

Both "Da Doo Ron Ron" and "Then He Kissed Me" were penned by Spector with Jeff Barry and Ellie Greenwich.

Despite the steady flow of hit singles, tensions between Spector and the Crystals mounted. Already unhappy with having been replaced by Love and company on two singles, The Crystals were even more upset when in 1964, Spector began focusing much of his time on rival girl group The Ronettes. Two failed Crystals singles followed, before the band left Spector's Philles Records for Imperial Records later in 1964. 1964 also saw the departure of Wright who was replaced by Frances Collins; toward the end of that year Alston departed leaving the group a trio. They disbanded in 1966. They reunited in 1971 and toured widely in varying incarnations on the oldies circuit; they still occasionally perform today. Kennibrew is the only original Crystal who remained active throughout their touring from the seventies to the present.
Lead singer Barbara Alston (September 28, 1943 – February 16, 2018) died at a Charlotte hospital in 2018.

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Girls Can Tell
The Crystals Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

Girls can tell if boys are true
By the things they say and do
And I can tell that you'll be true to me

Don't you know it means so much
When I feel your tender touch
When you say that I look real fine
When you put your hand in mine

We will always be together
Stay in love forever, girls can tell

Girls can tell if things are right
When they've kisses a boy goodnight
And I can tell that you're just right for me

When it's time for you to go
Gee I'll always miss you so
I gotta kiss you one more time
I gotta hear you say you're mine

We will always be together
Stay in love forever, girls can tell

Every day I'll love you more
Than I did the day before
Listen, I will make you see
Just how much you mean to me

Every time I look at you
I just don't know what to do
And I wanna hold you tight
I wanna see you every night

'Cause the stars that shine above me
I can say you love me, girls can tell

Overall Meaning

The Crystals’ song Girls Can Tell is a romantic love song that speaks about the feelings of a girl for her partner. The opening line of the song, “Girls can tell if boys are true,” sets the tone for the rest of the song. The lyrics suggest that girls are perceptive and can tell the difference between genuine and false love. The songstress believes her partner is truly in love with her due to his words and actions. She feels confident in his love and their future together.

Throughout the song, the girl describes how her partner’s touches make her feel and how she appreciates it when he compliments her. She also speaks about how much she will miss him when he is gone and how she wants to hold him tight. However, the couple's relationship is not entirely one-sided; the girl is willing to reciprocate the love displayed by her partner.

In conclusion, Girls Can Tell is a sweet love song that expresses the feelings of trust, love and admiration between two people.

Line by Line Meaning

Girls can tell if boys are true
Girls have an intuition about whether a boy is honest or not

By the things they say and do
Girls use boys’ words and actions to gauge their honesty

And I can tell that you'll be true to me
I can tell that you'll be honest with me

Don't you know it means so much
Do you know how much it means to me

When I feel your tender touch
I feel how caring your touch is

When you say that I look real fine
When you compliment my appearance

When you put your hand in mine
When you hold my hand

We will always be together
We will stay together forever

Stay in love forever, girls can tell
Girls are good at recognizing true love that lasts forever

Girls can tell if things are right
Girls can sense when things are perfect

When they've kisses a boy goodnight
After kissing a boy goodnight

And I can tell that you're just right for me
I believe that you are perfect for me

When it's time for you to go
When it's time for you to leave

Gee I'll always miss you so
I will miss you very much

I gotta kiss you one more time
I have to kiss you one last time

I gotta hear you say you're mine
I want you to say that you're mine

Every day I'll love you more
I will love you more and more each day

Than I did the day before
More than I loved you yesterday

Listen, I will make you see
I will help you understand

Just how much you mean to me
How important you are to me

Every time I look at you
Whenever I see you

I just don't know what to do
I don't know how to react

And I wanna hold you tight
I want to embrace you tightly

I wanna see you every night
I want to be with you every night

'Cause the stars that shine above me
Because the stars above me

I can say you love me, girls can tell
I know that you love me, and girls can tell when someone is truly in love

Lyrics © BMG Rights Management, Universal Music Publishing Group, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Abkco Music Inc.
Written by: ELLIE GREENWICH, JEFF BARRY, PHILIP SPECTOR

Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind

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