Tommy deserves to be in the rock and roll hall of fame. "I think were alone now" "crystal blue persuasion" "crimson and clover" "draggin the line" im sure im missing some other hits.
@@alwag89 I'm not far behind you in age. I stopped smoking the lettuce back in the 90's, although I do dabble once or twice a year. This song though, there's enough motivation.... lol
OMG!!! I love you so much Lex. That 2 strippers line had me on the floor. As a 70 year old woman getting up was a little hard but worth it just for the great laughter you two always bless me with. Please never change you guys are so sweet and real. I was around when this song came out and strippers makes as much sense to me than most explanations I have heard.
Lol. Quality comment. I second your notion. These two bring smiles to my life every day. At first I considered... Tommy James, I believe was a Christian dude. With songs like Chrystal Blue Persuasion. He surely wouldnt write a track about strippers. But then again.... who knows. Maybe it is about strippers. Lol. Now I wonder what Heart's Dog and Butterfly is really about. Lol.
@@Falconer1128 "Dog and Butterfly" was inspired by Ann's dog. She was looking out the window as she was writing songs, and saw her dog chasing a butterfly.
@@musiclover7840 I was actually being facetious with mentioning that song, but I didn't actually know that story.... lol. So I appreciate the information.
Tommy himself said that Crimson and Clover referred to his favorite color and flower, respectively. He said it came to him waking up from a dream one morning, those two things. And he wrote a song about them. That's his story and he's sticking to it.
For genre, as a guy who grew up in the '60s, I'd call it psychedelic. Brad, you were right about cutting edge effects for the time. This blew people away when it came out. I think it still holds up, though. I may never be able to hear it again without thinking of exotic dancers: thx for that, Lex! 😄
The first hit by Tommy James & The Shondells was “Hanky Panky,” written in 15 minutes by Jeff Barry and Ellie Greenwich. Then came songs written and produced by Richie Cordell, including “I Think We’re Alone Now” and “Mony Mony.” Wanting a musical change, he wrote “Crimson and Clover” with his drummer, Peter Lucia, Jr. Its origins are in some dispute. Both writers agree the title preceded the song. Lucia says it was his idea, based on the name of his Morristown high school football team, The Crimson - who played often against the team from nearby Hopatcong, a Native American name for a green place. Tommy James said it was a title he thought of while waking up from a dream, and liked it, though unsure what it meant. It combined crimson, his favorite color, with his favorite flower, clover. The band recorded it in about five hours. Tommy played many instruments, which he overdubbed onto 16-track tape, which was brand new then in 1968. Lucia was on drums, and Mike Vale played bass. Towards the end of the song, they put the vocal through the guitar tremolo just for fun, and were surprised by how much they liked it, keeping that in the record. Before its release on today’s date, December 14, 1968, they performed it live at WLS radio in Chicago. The station recorded it, and without permission began playing their own bootleg of the song immediately. It didn’t hurt the success of the single when it was released and might have helped. On the chart for months, it got kicked up to number one after a performance of it by the band on the Ed Sullivan show.
Just watched an interview with Tommy. He had a hit with this song in the sixties along with "Mony Mony" and "I Think We're Alone Now". Then in the eighties those songs were hits again with Joan Jett, Billy Idol and Tiffany respectively.
I would say they were all hits except Tiffany's cover which became popular as a bit of a joke. The number of Tiffany parodies and joke versions of the song was insane and lasted for decades.
I always imagined that Crimson and Clover were the colors of an outfit that some attractive woman was wearing when the song was inspired. He didn't know her name, so he just referred to her that way.
I'm pretty sure strippers - if they have either name - took the names from the song... In the game Fallout 3 Crimson and Clover are two NPC s#%-slaves.
@@JayCross Crimson and Clover were just two words - his favorite color and flower - Tommy James thought sounded cool together... kind of like "Hanky Panky", their first hit.
My absolute favorite is her reaction to Metallica's _Master of Puppets._ It was also a trip to then see Brad's face at the same time. The look on his face was just, "WTF is this?" Hilarious.
"Crimson and Clover" was released in late 1968 , after a radio station leaked it. It spent 16 weeks on the U.S. charts, reaching number one in the United States (in February 1969) and four other countries. The single has sold 5 million copies. It has been covered by many artists including Joan Jett and Prince. His favorite color - crimson - and his favorite flower - clover. So there you get the title of the song...enjoy!! Also, listed as the 318 best song of all time from 1958 to 2018!
I really don´t know what you mean. I think odd songs being popular is even more prevalent now than it was back then. Something like gangnam style would have had a hard time back then. Or most of the Tik Tok music or ringtone music before it.
@@jacqueline4514 I think crimson & clover has one of the catchiest hooks off all time and was by now the only song I remember dreaming about and trying to find the song, because I didn´t know where I ever heard it. Maybe a movie or series. Imho back then it was a lot harder for independent artists, because of the huge costs involved in recording a song and producing records, while now everyone can record their own songs and put them out on the internet.
I seem to remember Tommy James saying “Crimson” and “Clover” were just two words he liked together. As little 7-yr-old hippies, this song BLEW OUR MINDS, MAAAN! One thing I do know is Lex needs wah-wah, distortion, and tremolo pedals for her guitar IMMEDIATELY!
Yeh his favorite color and flower. They wrote the song just based on that. He was also trying to change direction in their sound. This is definitely different than mony mony
I was 6 the first time hearing this. My 16 y.o. sister would let me hang out in her room while she listened to records. A couple of years later we were getting out of the car in the parking lot of my favorite store. When this song came on the radio. My mom headed into the store, my sister and I stayed in the car to hear the song. Great memories! Brad & Lex... out of a hundred subs to reactors y 'all are on top of the list!!!!!!!
Probably best to just get her a multi-effects processor I think? Something like a Boss GT-1 or Zoom G5n to start out. That way she's quite a few effects and not a lot of clutter or need for a pedal board (as the collection grows - which they always do). If individual pedals, Typically those used most are some form of overdrive/distortion, I prefer tube drive/distortion so a Chandler or Tube Screamer,. Then a Wah, Chorus and likely a digital delay. As for wah, I actually thought about sending her my Vox but I plugged it in and fell in love with it again.
Crimson and Clover is a real thing, it covers many fields, its just a different version of what is known as Clover (as in 4 leaf clover). He was basically speaking about laying in a Crimson Clover field probably with a girlfriend.
The way I have heard it, they recorded the single version first, and when it was found to be a hit, they went back to the studio and recorded the extended instrumental part to pad it out to a longer version for the album version. If you listen closely you can make out the tape edits where the extra bits are inserted.
I remember being in the 6th grade, and the day this record hit the stores. This was the very first album I bought with my own money. Didn't beg mom to buy it for me, used several weeks allowance. Rode my bike to the record store, and even walked it back home 'cause I didn't want to risk dropping the album. Played that sucker to death on my portable monophonic record player. And, I still have that album in my record collection.
I remember in early 1980. I rode my bike to the record store a few times. It was about a 10 mile ride one way. I would never do that now. That same road I took is now 6 lanes and scary. In 1980, they would open a K-Mart shopping center and later that year a little record store opened. I was so glad cause it was now about a 4 mile ride one way.
Thx! Classic, iconic, emblematic song of my generation! I don’t know why nobody reacts to the Rascals! “Groovin” or “ People got to be free!” Tommy James is the lead singer. He also plays instruments.
Brad would surely know! I’ve also used the word hoot before to describe her, but there has to be a better adjective to better describe this young lady; maybe A Piece of Work!
EVERYBODY covered Tommy James. He wrote some of the best songs of his era. Terrific voice too. And i believe that is pedal steel you hear along with fuzzy guitar.
The guitar amplifier had a tremolo feature, which could be adjusted to different speeds. This accounts for the "vibrating" effect. Near the end, they put the vocals through (plugged a mic into the guitar amp). It's not an effect anyone would want to overuse, but it really makes the song here. If you watch the Ed Sullivan show version, it's very "trippy."
Nearly every Fender amp. I usually disabled it, as I found it useless for the songs I was playing at the time. The instrument making the "rip" sound is a guiro, basically a gourd with ridges cut on the side, and a metal rod going over the ridges. Check out Santana's "Evil Ways" to here it more fully.
You have to remember that stereo was still in its infancy at the time this song was created, and folks were exploring its use, and pushing its limits for all they could get out of it. Technology was starting to really take off in the recording industry, and it seemed like there was a new, different effect every week. Sometimes several at once. But overall, now you know why we called it "Psychedelic Rock."
This was truly psychedelic music. Acid, or LSD, was very popular at that time and songs like these took you to an entirely different world if you took that drug.
LOVE this song. I had a buddy in high school who had a Tommy James 8 track tape, and he would put that in while he drove, and then squeal his tires on every turn. Just go around the block laying rubber with Crimson and Clover blaring as loud as it would go. That would've been about 1976,so it was old even back then...lol.
Lex: "What is that instrument?" Answer: It's an electric guitar into a pretty clean amp (Like a Fender twin reverb, or Bassman amp) along with a Tremolo pedal or you can get that sound with any amp which has "spring reverb" that has a tremolo pot, the speed about half way and presence of it set high - above 8.
Tommy James said it was a title he thought of while waking up from a dream, and liked it, though unsure what it meant. It combined crimson, his favorite color, with his favorite flower, clover...they recorded it in about five hours. Tommy played many instruments, which he overdubbed onto 16-track tape, which was brand new then in 1968. Lucia was on drums, and Mike Vale played bass. Towards the end of the song, they put the vocal through the guitar tremolo just for fun, and were surprised by how much they liked it, keeping that in the record
I was 7 or 8 years old shuffling through mom's records and this was the very first song I ever fell in love with on my own. Everything I love about music contained in a single song.
WOW! This was the long version, which I have not heard since ... I put away my old 45s! I had forgotten all the extra sounds in this version. This was my first favorite song! I never questioned what it was about, just liked the song so much more than everything else out ... I should say I was just a little kid at the time. Thanks for the memories!
Ahhh Tommy James and the Shondells. My friends who have been married for 45 years first danced to this song in high school. LOVE this band! So many great songs: Crystal Blue Persuasion, Mony Mony, I Think We’re Alone Now, Dragging The Line. and the much lesser known but my fave, Ball Of Fire.
This song came out when I was in grade school. Always liked this group. I must confess, I have no idea what the song is about other than he likes a girl that he sees and starts contemplating being connected with her. Same with Crystal Blue Persuasion. I have no idea what it means unless he's talking about the sky. But, I still loves those songs. Feel good songs. That effect on the voices at the end is the same effect that was on the guitar at the beginning. That effect came on the Fender guitar amplifiers at that time. The amp has reverb and what they call tremolo also sometimes called vibrato. To get the effect on the vocals, they ran the microphone into the front of the guitar amplifier and recorded the sound. Pretty ingenious, huh? You can get close to that if you can rhythmically turn the volume up and down as that is what the effect is doing using a photocell.
2:09 You're hearing multiple instruments there. And no, that's not just him playing all the instruments. The whole Name & The X's naming format was popular then. "The Shondells" is the rest of the band, not just the female backing vocals.
@@Colstonewall I miss it greatly too! Started school in 1961 and life was pretty easy and getting through the school years graduating in ‘73. Most everyone was trustworthy and virtually no street violence to speak of! A lot of folks never locked their home doors, left car keys in the car overnight as theft was not a big problem in the 60’s and even into the early 70’s. We carried transistor radios, not cell phones.
This was a huge hit in the late 60’s…I was in 9th grade when it came out. Teenaged girls loved this song…anyone that could play it got the girls. The sound came from guitar with WaWa pedal.
The effects were created using a tremolo effect on the guitar. At the end Tommy sang into a mic plugged into an amp with tremolo effect turned on. Very cutting edge at that time
Who would ever thought that the simple word AH could hit the soul so hard. Top 5 songs for me. So simple, but yet so addicting. My mind's such a sweet thing.
At the beginning of the song a Leslie, ( which is the the horn-like apparatus that gives an organ it's whirling sound)was being used to make the instruments sound like they did. In the instrumental at the end the first guitar was being played through a wah-wah pedal. The next guitar you heard was being played through a fuzz-tone pedal. A classic song that never gets old. It came out the year that I was born. I've heard it all of my life and it never gets old.
From Wiki ""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".
"Crimson and Clover" is used as a sort of theme song throughout the sci-fi-mystery TV series The Kettering Incident (2016), which is set in Tasmania and stars Elizabeth Debicki. It fits in with a red-green color theme. It even shows up when the sign on a convenience store called "The Four-Leaf Clover" is broken, so that it just flashes the letters of "over" repeatedly, mimicking the lyrics of the song ("over and over").
Tommy James said that right after recording this song he took a rough mix to a radio interview and played it on the show. Unknown to him, the station recorded it and put it into their rotation and it became popular before it was even released. So Tommy felt he had to release the rough mix to satisfy an audience that already knew how the song sounded.
man you guys are getting into the roots of rock and roll here, this is the stuff that set it off, everyone began realizing its a wide wide world and anything can be laid down and jammed on.. lay it down and cut it, big inspirational band and song here, c'mon man these guys popped it off with Mony Mony, I Think We're Alone Now, Sweet Cherry Wine and plethora of jams only the wise insiders listened to.. they set the scene for hard rock dance tunes.. its OK to dance to ROCK AND ROLL!!! also the BOMBSHELL that really opened it all up was Crystal Blue Persuasion, slow melodic rock and roll dance songs.. these guys were HUGE, Beatles huge.. they dressed like college jocks but were as experimental as they got.. yup, they called it psychedelic rock.. too funny with the stripper thing, I am sure there is a duo somewhere in the world named crimson and clover however in this sense crimson is a color, clover is a flower, crimson clover.. have you ever seen a clover flower, they are crimson, crimson clover.. just words to a song, over and over...
This was almost a 60's version of scat. The words just sounded nice together. Most of the instruments on this were guitars with different filtration. This was the beginning of the electronic manipulation of sound with "fuzz". "wa wa" , "echo", and lots of other new fangled things to change the sound of the guitar.
From Wikipedia - 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.
Another similar hit of his is Crystal Blue Persuasion. His earlier songs were lighter pop, including Hanky Panky. Tommy is still a DJ on Sirius radio's 60's station. This song is also featured in the movie, The Sun Is Also a Star.
Ha! I love how into the song Lex gets. I used to love this song back in the day. 1968 is when it came out. But I think it stayed on the radio a long time.
"Wanting a musical change, he wrote “Crimson and Clover” with his drummer, Peter Lucia, Jr. Its origins are in some dispute. Both writers agree the title preceded the song. Lucia says it was his idea, based on the name of his Morristown high school football team, The Crimson - who played often against the team from nearby Hopatcong, a Native American name for a green place. Tommy James said it was a title he thought of while waking up from a dream, and liked it, though unsure what it meant. It combined crimson, his favorite color, with his favorite flower, clover."
There were so many techniques used in recording this song that became common through the following decades. This song was the first though in so many ways, it was truly one of the most innovative in music history. Brad you really nailed it and I knew Lex would love it, after all she is such a hippy!
When I was a little kid we had this big square fan in our living room and I'd turn it on high and put my face right in front of the grate that covered the fan blades and sing "Crimson and Clover over and overrrr..." to get that funky reverb sound at the end. It worked pretty good! haha
I was fortunate enough to see them in a bar in Tonawanda New York back in the late 70s. Very down-to-earth guy, even had a couple of drinks with us at the bar afterwards.
That instrument you were asking about is a steel guitar. It's played laying flat. Used a lot in country music. As for Crimson and Clover, who knows. I just say hey it was the psychedelic 60s, anything and everything. Great song
Way ahead of their time. Check out "Mirage", "Crystal Blue Persuasion", "Sweet Cherry Wine", and "Draggin' The Line" to get an idea of the depth of their talent. Multi-faceted to say the least. 🙂
For years I heard the verse that starts "My my, such a sweet thing" as "MY MIND'S such a sweet thing." Not having access to the real lyrics definitely improved a lot of songs. Prince does a cover of this where he uses the chorus of "Wild Thing" by the Troggs as a bridge. It's kind of cool, but I think it would've cooler if he'd taken the trippy Shondell sections One Step Beyond, like he does on that version of "While My Guitar Gently Weeps."
This was my favourite song from about 18 months to roughly age 4 (mid-'69 to '72). I had to watch the arm of the record player swing back at the end of the song, and would become extremely angry if I didn't see it happen. Needless to say, my parents hated when this song came on the radio, because then they had to listen to it twice in row. Or deal with an angry toddler for hours until they got home to put the single on the turntable. Still love the song too.
The instruments are a guitar with a tremolo effect engaged, a bass, drums and part of the solo is on a lap steel guitar. They also wrote the song”I think we’re alone now” which was a big hit in the 80’s when it was covered by Tiffany
Great use of tremolo!!! Another very trippy use of Tremolo is from Radiohead - track is called Planet Telex off The Bends album. 60’s retro from a great 90’s (and beyond) band.
Lots of synthesized sounds. As to the title, Tommy James admitted that his fave color is red and his fave flower is clover. He had an inspiration that the 2 words sounded poetic together. He was inspired by that, and decided that crimson also describes the color of blood and that clover being a flower brought thoughts of new growth and life. The he thought it also could be about an old relationship dying in a way (the crimson blood) and the blooming of a new love. I think he just liked the two words together lol. They were considered a psychedelic rock band.
I think one of those strange sixties instruments was a washboard that makes that scratchy sound. Used to be used for hand scrubbing clothes in the kitchen and is only found in museums these days.
I remember even the label on the 45 record was a trip! It spun a psychedelic orange and yellow spiral. The song was perfect match to all the Beatles stuff going on in our house back then, GREAT 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".
Crimson Red, & Clover green are Tommy James's favorite colors. He needed words to finish the song and wanted to play the song through for a friend uninterrupted so he put his two favorite colors in place of the words he needed because they fit. When he was done playing it for his friend, his friend said to leave it the way it is and let the fans put their own meaning to what the colors represent and that will give everyone their own personal connection to the song. It'll be groovy man. The intermittent voice at the end is obtained with a Leslie speaker from an organ, that ratcheting sound Lex liked is a musical instrument called a Cabasa and lots of Ecco is added.
Hey Brad and Lex, Crimson and Clover came out in 1968 and is a raw example of when rock was becoming more experimental and creative with songwriting, vocal and instrumental sound effects during 1967 - 1969. Thank you for your REACTION!
Love Lex’s reaction to Tommy James Crimson and Clover! She was grooving! 60’s music was infectious! The sounds transcendent! The vibe infectious! And she felt it. As did most of the youth of the time. Dig it!
Tommy deserves to be in the rock and roll hall of fame. "I think were alone now" "crystal blue persuasion" "crimson and clover" "draggin the line" im sure im missing some other hits.
You're missing possibly his most famous and biggest hit, "Mony Mony"
Hanky Panky!
Ball of Fire, Sweet Cherry Wine, Mirage...
"Get Out Now".. another jammer.
@@PlateOshrimp499 In the 60's I had the 45 rpm record of Hanky Panky and the other side was Crimson and Clover.
Every time I hear this song, I feel like I should be lighting something up. Definitely a trippy song.
I definitely lit up a thing or two in the day listening to this song. 😻
PERFECT description; that's smokin herb music
Early psychedelic for sure. I dropped a tab or two bitd and jammed out to this.
Well heck don't let nothing stop u,time is short,62 still enjoy a pull or two.
@@alwag89 I'm not far behind you in age. I stopped smoking the lettuce back in the 90's, although I do dabble once or twice a year. This song though, there's enough motivation.... lol
OMG!!! I love you so much Lex. That 2 strippers line had me on the floor. As a 70 year old woman getting up was a little hard but worth it just for the great laughter you two always bless me with. Please never change you guys are so sweet and real. I was around when this song came out and strippers makes as much sense to me than most explanations I have heard.
Lol. Quality comment. I second your notion. These two bring smiles to my life every day.
At first I considered... Tommy James, I believe was a Christian dude. With songs like Chrystal Blue Persuasion. He surely wouldnt write a track about strippers. But then again.... who knows. Maybe it is about strippers. Lol. Now I wonder what Heart's Dog and Butterfly is really about. Lol.
I had good laugh at that too.
...you seem like a cool older lady Jen
@@Falconer1128 "Dog and Butterfly" was inspired by Ann's dog. She was looking out the window as she was writing songs, and saw her dog chasing a butterfly.
@@musiclover7840 I was actually being facetious with mentioning that song, but I didn't actually know that story.... lol. So I appreciate the information.
I like listening to Crimson & Clover…over & over.
Cute
🤣😂🤣
I see what you did 🤪😝
😂
Tommy himself said that Crimson and Clover referred to his favorite color and flower, respectively. He said it came to him waking up from a dream one morning, those two things. And he wrote a song about them. That's his story and he's sticking to it.
NOOO!!....Lex is right!....it's about 2 strippers! 🤣
I'm going with Lex's interpretation, it's much funnier. 🙂
Thanks 👍
@ColonialBuckeye 😢
Thanks for the info, when it came out, I thought with the other lyrics, it meant laying in a field of clover with a woman in a crimson dress.
Joan Jett did a great cover of this song. She put a modern spin on it. This original version is great.
I like the original Arrows version of I Love Rock and Roll better than the Joan Jett cover.
Joan Jett gave this song so much life. I've heard Tommy James do other (better) versions of this song.
ooh you guys gotta do Joan Jetts version!
Prince too
I really like the guitar sound on Joan's cover.
For genre, as a guy who grew up in the '60s, I'd call it psychedelic. Brad, you were right about cutting edge effects for the time. This blew people away when it came out. I think it still holds up, though. I may never be able to hear it again without thinking of exotic dancers: thx for that, Lex! 😄
The first hit by Tommy James & The Shondells was “Hanky Panky,” written in 15 minutes by Jeff Barry and Ellie Greenwich. Then came songs written and produced by Richie Cordell, including “I Think We’re Alone Now” and “Mony Mony.”
Wanting a musical change, he wrote “Crimson and Clover” with his drummer, Peter Lucia, Jr. Its origins are in some dispute. Both writers agree the title preceded the song. Lucia says it was his idea, based on the name of his Morristown high school football team, The Crimson - who played often against the team from nearby Hopatcong, a Native American name for a green place.
Tommy James said it was a title he thought of while waking up from a dream, and liked it, though unsure what it meant. It combined crimson, his favorite color, with his favorite flower, clover.
The band recorded it in about five hours. Tommy played many instruments, which he overdubbed onto 16-track tape, which was brand new then in 1968. Lucia was on drums, and Mike Vale played bass. Towards the end of the song, they put the vocal through the guitar tremolo just for fun, and were surprised by how much they liked it, keeping that in the record.
Before its release on today’s date, December 14, 1968, they performed it live at WLS radio in Chicago. The station recorded it, and without permission began playing their own bootleg of the song immediately. It didn’t hurt the success of the single when it was released and might have helped. On the chart for months, it got kicked up to number one after a performance of it by the band on the Ed Sullivan show.
Just watched an interview with Tommy.
He had a hit with this song in the sixties along with "Mony Mony" and "I Think We're Alone Now".
Then in the eighties those songs were hits again with Joan Jett, Billy Idol and Tiffany respectively.
Lene Lovich also did a great cover of I Think We're Alone Now in the early 80s, including a Japanese version.
I would say they were all hits except Tiffany's cover which became popular as a bit of a joke.
The number of Tiffany parodies and joke versions of the song was insane and lasted for decades.
You left out "Crystal Blue Persuasion"
2 Strippers!!!🤣 That is classic!😃 Thanks Lex for making my day!😁
I did have two strippers once named Ginger and Spice
I always imagined that Crimson and Clover were the colors of an outfit that some attractive woman was wearing when the song was inspired. He didn't know her name, so he just referred to her that way.
I'm pretty sure strippers - if they have either name - took the names from the song... In the game Fallout 3 Crimson and Clover are two NPC s#%-slaves.
@@JayCross Crimson and Clover were just two words - his favorite color and flower - Tommy James thought sounded cool together... kind of like "Hanky Panky", their first hit.
Lex: ..."it was the sixties..." hahaha
I love how Lex enjoys a song. She really gets into it. Bless you both!
My absolute favorite is her reaction to Metallica's _Master of Puppets._
It was also a trip to then see Brad's face at the same time. The look on his face was just, "WTF is this?" Hilarious.
Lex gets it. You just groove.
Guitars with effects and a pedal steel are making those sounds. Reverb, tremelo (rarely used today), fuzz and a wah pedal.
"Crimson and Clover" was released in late 1968 , after a radio station leaked it. It spent 16 weeks on the U.S. charts, reaching number one in the United States (in February 1969) and four other countries. The single has sold 5 million copies. It has been covered by many artists including Joan Jett and Prince. His favorite color - crimson - and his favorite flower - clover. So there you get the title of the song...enjoy!! Also, listed as the 318 best song of all time from 1958 to 2018!
This was a big hit back in the day when odd songs made top 40. That would never happen today and it's a shame
I really don´t know what you mean. I think odd songs being popular is even more prevalent now than it was back then. Something like gangnam style would have had a hard time back then. Or most of the Tik Tok music or ringtone music before it.
I don’t think this song was or is odd.
I think Stuff’s sentiment is that it has a unique, non hit factory type sound and yet it made it 😊
@@jacqueline4514 I think crimson & clover has one of the catchiest hooks off all time and was by now the only song I remember dreaming about and trying to find the song, because I didn´t know where I ever heard it. Maybe a movie or series.
Imho back then it was a lot harder for independent artists, because of the huge costs involved in recording a song and producing records, while now everyone can record their own songs and put them out on the internet.
This wasn't just top 40, it was #1 for 2 weeks.
I seem to remember Tommy James saying “Crimson” and “Clover” were just two words he liked together. As little 7-yr-old hippies, this song BLEW OUR MINDS, MAAAN!
One thing I do know is Lex needs wah-wah, distortion, and tremolo pedals for her guitar IMMEDIATELY!
LOL! Right?
Yeh his favorite color and flower. They wrote the song just based on that. He was also trying to change direction in their sound. This is definitely different than mony mony
I was 6 the first time hearing this. My 16 y.o. sister would let me hang out in her room while she listened to records. A couple of years later we were getting out of the car in the parking lot of my favorite store. When this song came on the radio. My mom headed into the store, my sister and I stayed in the car to hear the song. Great memories! Brad & Lex... out of a hundred subs to reactors y 'all are on top of the list!!!!!!!
Probably best to just get her a multi-effects processor I think? Something like a Boss GT-1 or Zoom G5n to start out. That way she's quite a few effects and not a lot of clutter or need for a pedal board (as the collection grows - which they always do).
If individual pedals, Typically those used most are some form of overdrive/distortion, I prefer tube drive/distortion so a Chandler or Tube Screamer,. Then a Wah, Chorus and likely a digital delay. As for wah, I actually thought about sending her my Vox but I plugged it in and fell in love with it again.
Crimson and Clover is a real thing, it covers many fields, its just a different version of what is known as Clover (as in 4 leaf clover). He was basically speaking about laying in a Crimson Clover field probably with a girlfriend.
Hey y'all, if I'm not mistaken this was the original full length version of the song which is always the best in my opinion! Great reaction as always!
This is the album version (not the single)
This is the first time hearing the full version.
The way I have heard it, they recorded the single version first, and when it was found to be a hit, they went back to the studio and recorded the extended instrumental part to pad it out to a longer version for the album version. If you listen closely you can make out the tape edits where the extra bits are inserted.
@@CadillacL Welcome to the expanded universe! 🙂
@@urbangrouse Thank you!
Tommy James in the shandells are very underrated you should check out more try dragging the line or Crystal Blue persuasion
I remember being in the 6th grade, and the day this record hit the stores. This was the very first album I bought with my own money. Didn't beg mom to buy it for me, used several weeks allowance. Rode my bike to the record store, and even walked it back home 'cause I didn't want to risk dropping the album. Played that sucker to death on my portable monophonic record player. And, I still have that album in my record collection.
I remember in early 1980. I rode my bike to the record store a few times. It was about a 10 mile ride one way. I would never do that now. That same road I took is now 6 lanes and scary. In 1980, they would open a K-Mart shopping center and later that year a little record store opened. I was so glad cause it was now about a 4 mile ride one way.
Thx! Classic, iconic, emblematic song of my generation! I don’t know why nobody reacts to the Rascals! “Groovin” or “ People got to be free!” Tommy James is the lead singer. He also plays instruments.
This song is iconic! Lex honey I bet you’re a hoot to hang with! ✌️❤️
Brad would surely know! I’ve also used the word hoot before to describe her, but there has to be a better adjective to better describe this young lady; maybe A Piece of Work!
Brad & Lex, you'll love their "Mony Mony", "Crystal Blue Persuasion" and "I Think We're ALone Now"
All good songs but you forgot Draggin’ The Line.
EVERYBODY covered Tommy James. He wrote some of the best songs of his era.
Terrific voice too. And i believe that is pedal steel you hear along with fuzzy guitar.
I think she’s also puzzled by what sounds like the scraping of a guiro. ☺️
The guitar amplifier had a tremolo feature, which could be adjusted to different speeds. This accounts for the "vibrating" effect. Near the end, they put the vocals through (plugged a mic into the guitar amp). It's not an effect anyone would want to overuse, but it really makes the song here. If you watch the Ed Sullivan show version, it's very "trippy."
Nearly every Fender amp. I usually disabled it, as I found it useless for the songs I was playing at the time. The instrument making the "rip" sound is a guiro, basically a gourd with ridges cut on the side, and a metal rod going over the ridges. Check out Santana's "Evil Ways" to here it more fully.
Now, through my head will run crimson and clover, over and over.
I was smiling the whole time Lex was smiling. It really was showing me you enjoyed it. A classic song from the 60's. Great reaction.
You have to remember that stereo was still in its infancy at the time this song was created, and folks were exploring its use, and pushing its limits for all they could get out of it. Technology was starting to really take off in the recording industry, and it seemed like there was a new, different effect every week. Sometimes several at once. But overall, now you know why we called it "Psychedelic Rock."
Crimson and Clover sure gave that boy a wild ride he never forgot!
This was truly psychedelic music. Acid, or LSD, was very popular at that time and songs like these took you to an entirely different world if you took that drug.
LOVE this song. I had a buddy in high school who had a Tommy James 8 track tape, and he would put that in while he drove, and then squeal his tires on every turn. Just go around the block laying rubber with Crimson and Clover blaring as loud as it would go. That would've been about 1976,so it was old even back then...lol.
Lex: "What is that instrument?" Answer: It's an electric guitar into a pretty clean amp (Like a Fender twin reverb, or Bassman amp) along with a Tremolo pedal or you can get that sound with any amp which has "spring reverb" that has a tremolo pot, the speed about half way and presence of it set high - above 8.
love watching the look on lex face when she 1st heres a song. its like i heard this song i think in a previous life
Tommy James said it was a title he thought of while waking up from a dream, and liked it, though unsure what it meant. It combined crimson, his favorite color, with his favorite flower, clover...they recorded it in about five hours. Tommy played many instruments, which he overdubbed onto 16-track tape, which was brand new then in 1968. Lucia was on drums, and Mike Vale played bass. Towards the end of the song, they put the vocal through the guitar tremolo just for fun, and were surprised by how much they liked it, keeping that in the record
I was 7 or 8 years old shuffling through mom's records and this was the very first song I ever fell in love with on my own. Everything I love about music contained in a single song.
WOW! This was the long version, which I have not heard since ... I put away my old 45s! I had forgotten all the extra sounds in this version. This was my first favorite song! I never questioned what it was about, just liked the song so much more than everything else out ... I should say I was just a little kid at the time. Thanks for the memories!
Just saw Tommy James and The Shondells last month. He still brings it live. Crimson and Clover brought down the house!
Ahhh Tommy James and the Shondells. My friends who have been married for 45 years first danced to this song in high school. LOVE this band! So many great songs: Crystal Blue Persuasion, Mony Mony, I Think We’re Alone Now, Dragging The Line. and the much lesser known but my fave, Ball Of Fire.
This song came out when I was in grade school. Always liked this group. I must confess, I have no idea what the song is about other than he likes a girl that he sees and starts contemplating being connected with her. Same with Crystal Blue Persuasion. I have no idea what it means unless he's talking about the sky. But, I still loves those songs. Feel good songs.
That effect on the voices at the end is the same effect that was on the guitar at the beginning. That effect came on the Fender guitar amplifiers at that time. The amp has reverb and what they call tremolo also sometimes called vibrato. To get the effect on the vocals, they ran the microphone into the front of the guitar amplifier and recorded the sound. Pretty ingenious, huh? You can get close to that if you can rhythmically turn the volume up and down as that is what the effect is doing using a photocell.
2:09 You're hearing multiple instruments there. And no, that's not just him playing all the instruments. The whole Name & The X's naming format was popular then. "The Shondells" is the rest of the band, not just the female backing vocals.
I was born in 1963. This is what I grew up listening too. America was a much different place back then.
What a great song, takes me back to about 8th grade or so and always playing at the roller rink!
Same jr.high
I was a sophomore at the time, such a great song
Yep. Great times. It was a different America then and I miss it;
@@Colstonewall I miss it greatly too! Started school in 1961 and life was pretty easy and getting through the school years graduating in ‘73. Most everyone was trustworthy and virtually no street violence to speak of! A lot of folks never locked their home doors, left car keys in the car overnight as theft was not a big problem in the 60’s and even into the early 70’s. We carried transistor radios, not cell phones.
crimson and clover = pure bliss .he wants to explore everything with this chick in the song and feel good.
This was a huge hit in the late 60’s…I was in 9th grade when it came out. Teenaged girls loved this song…anyone that could play it got the girls. The sound came from guitar with WaWa pedal.
Love this song. I love all their songs.
I was a teen and fell in love with this song. It gets very psycodelic.
That is a guitar I think..
The effects were created using a tremolo effect on the guitar. At the end Tommy sang into a mic plugged into an amp with tremolo effect turned on. Very cutting edge at that time
Who would ever thought that the simple word AH could hit the soul so hard. Top 5 songs for me. So simple, but yet so addicting. My mind's such a sweet thing.
At the beginning of the song a Leslie, ( which is the the horn-like apparatus that gives an organ it's whirling sound)was being used to make the instruments sound like they did. In the instrumental at the end the first guitar was being played through a wah-wah pedal. The next guitar you heard was being played through a fuzz-tone pedal. A classic song that never gets old. It came out the year that I was born. I've heard it all of my life and it never gets old.
From Wiki ""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".
"Crimson and Clover" is used as a sort of theme song throughout the sci-fi-mystery TV series The Kettering Incident (2016), which is set in Tasmania and stars Elizabeth Debicki. It fits in with a red-green color theme. It even shows up when the sign on a convenience store called "The Four-Leaf Clover" is broken, so that it just flashes the letters of "over" repeatedly, mimicking the lyrics of the song ("over and over").
Tommy James said that right after recording this song he took a rough mix to a radio interview and played it on the show. Unknown to him, the station recorded it and put it into their rotation and it became popular before it was even released. So Tommy felt he had to release the rough mix to satisfy an audience that already knew how the song sounded.
They pulled EVERYTHING out when doing this one, Fuzz tone bass, wah wah pedals. synthesizers, etc. and it was a big hit for them.
Lovely song, best song to have on the radio when out parking on the overlook with your girlfriend, sets just the right mood
man you guys are getting into the roots of rock and roll here, this is the stuff that set it off, everyone began realizing its a wide wide world and anything can be laid down and jammed on.. lay it down and cut it, big inspirational band and song here, c'mon man these guys popped it off with Mony Mony, I Think We're Alone Now, Sweet Cherry Wine and plethora of jams only the wise insiders listened to..
they set the scene for hard rock dance tunes.. its OK to dance to ROCK AND ROLL!!! also the BOMBSHELL that really opened it all up was Crystal Blue Persuasion, slow melodic rock and roll dance songs.. these guys were HUGE, Beatles huge.. they dressed like college jocks but were as experimental as they got.. yup, they called it psychedelic rock..
too funny with the stripper thing, I am sure there is a duo somewhere in the world named crimson and clover however in this sense crimson is a color, clover is a flower, crimson clover.. have you ever seen a clover flower, they are crimson, crimson clover.. just words to a song, over and over...
My sisters wore this song out when I was about 8, in 1969.
Wow I can see them dancing as the sun shone through the window on a summer's day.
This is so 1968-69. Like a time capsule. My favorite song of all-time. I was just in the first grade in the Chicago suburbs.
love it and "Crystal Blue Persuasion" will never fall out of my top 10! it was just that good!
This was almost a 60's version of scat. The words just sounded nice together. Most of the instruments on this were guitars with different filtration. This was the beginning of the electronic manipulation of sound with "fuzz". "wa wa" , "echo", and lots of other new fangled things to change the sound of the guitar.
Wife here..I'm taking back to the lake..,boat riding.., Myself and My Dad digging great 🎶 music..Especially this Song..He Loved his hippie music!!❤❤💞
I'm sitting here crying. I'm 65 and this was my music. So many beautiful memories of amazing people, places and times.
From Wikipedia - 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.
Another similar hit of his is Crystal Blue Persuasion. His earlier songs were lighter pop, including Hanky Panky. Tommy is still a DJ on Sirius radio's 60's station. This song is also featured in the movie, The Sun Is Also a Star.
Great variety on you channel. Thanks. A lot of great music from my generation and before.
Love this, makes me think of looking after my mind better than I do. Beautifully sung.
Ha! I love how into the song Lex gets. I used to love this song back in the day. 1968 is when it came out. But I think it stayed on the radio a long time.
I love Lex's child like innocence it's takes me back to my youth!
"Wanting a musical change, he wrote “Crimson and Clover” with his drummer, Peter Lucia, Jr. Its origins are in some dispute. Both writers agree the title preceded the song. Lucia says it was his idea, based on the name of his Morristown high school football team, The Crimson - who played often against the team from nearby Hopatcong, a Native American name for a green place.
Tommy James said it was a title he thought of while waking up from a dream, and liked it, though unsure what it meant. It combined crimson, his favorite color, with his favorite flower, clover."
There were so many techniques used in recording this song that became common through the following decades. This song was the first though in so many ways, it was truly one of the most innovative in music history. Brad you really nailed it and I knew Lex would love it, after all she is such a hippy!
When I was a little kid we had this big square fan in our living room and I'd turn it on high and put my face right in front of the grate that covered the fan blades and sing "Crimson and Clover over and overrrr..." to get that funky reverb sound at the end. It worked pretty good! haha
This is definitely a vibe. ALWAYS have loved this, from the first I heard it in the 70's.
I was fortunate enough to see them in a bar in Tonawanda New York back in the late 70s. Very down-to-earth guy, even had a couple of drinks with us at the bar afterwards.
I have to add you're my favorite reaction channel. I love the way Lexi reacted and smiled the entire time.
That instrument you were asking about is a steel guitar. It's played laying flat. Used a lot in country music. As for Crimson and Clover, who knows. I just say hey it was the psychedelic 60s, anything and everything. Great song
"...two strippers?" - I literally did a spit take with my coffee!
Trippin' back in the 60's.
Way ahead of their time. Check out "Mirage", "Crystal Blue Persuasion", "Sweet Cherry Wine", and "Draggin' The Line" to get an idea of the depth of their talent. Multi-faceted to say the least. 🙂
Love her analogy of songs. I’ve been listening to this song for years and never once thought about Crimson & Clover being “Stripper” names. 🤯🤭
For years I heard the verse that starts "My my, such a sweet thing" as "MY MIND'S such a sweet thing." Not having access to the real lyrics definitely improved a lot of songs.
Prince does a cover of this where he uses the chorus of "Wild Thing" by the Troggs as a bridge. It's kind of cool, but I think it would've cooler if he'd taken the trippy Shondell sections One Step Beyond, like he does on that version of "While My Guitar Gently Weeps."
This was my favourite song from about 18 months to roughly age 4 (mid-'69 to '72). I had to watch the arm of the record player swing back at the end of the song, and would become extremely angry if I didn't see it happen. Needless to say, my parents hated when this song came on the radio, because then they had to listen to it twice in row. Or deal with an angry toddler for hours until they got home to put the single on the turntable.
Still love the song too.
The instruments are a guitar with a tremolo effect engaged, a bass, drums and part of the solo is on a lap steel guitar. They also wrote the song”I think we’re alone now” which was a big hit in the 80’s when it was covered by Tiffany
Great use of tremolo!!! Another very trippy use of Tremolo is from Radiohead - track is called Planet Telex off The Bends album. 60’s retro from a great 90’s (and beyond) band.
That's an electric guitar with a massive amount of reverb. They were really into their effects pedals.
Probably my favorite song from the '60s.
Lots of synthesized sounds. As to the title, Tommy James admitted that his fave color is red and his fave flower is clover. He had an inspiration that the 2 words sounded poetic together. He was inspired by that, and decided that crimson also describes the color of blood and that clover being a flower brought thoughts of new growth and life. The he thought it also could be about an old relationship dying in a way (the crimson blood) and the blooming of a new love. I think he just liked the two words together lol. They were considered a psychedelic rock band.
I think one of those strange sixties instruments was a washboard that makes that scratchy sound. Used to be used for hand scrubbing clothes in the kitchen and is only found in museums these days.
I am so glad you guys chose the long version of the song. I love the this song so much.
When the song first came out here in the valley there was only a.m. radio top 20 and when the song came on it just blew my mind every time
1968 we used to get a good buzz on and listen to this type of songs. Takes me back.
Yes, Lex, that was trippy, what we would call: Psychedelic music. And you were groovin' to it! Love Tommy James and the Shondells.
These guys came out just when I turned 15! I absolutely love it!!!🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥
I remember even the label on the 45 record was a trip! It spun a psychedelic orange and yellow spiral. The song was perfect match to all the Beatles stuff going on in our house back then, GREAT SONG!
I love how he sings 'what a beautiful feeling'. gives me goosebumps. Lex had me cracking up about the 'two strippers' comment. lol.
This is from my era and can't believe I haven't heard it before. Amazing. Could watch Lex all day. Everything about her is stunning!
"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".
Childhood memories right here….great pick. Crystal Blue persuasion is another good one. Definitely a trippy song .
Such a vibe with all that reverb
Crimson Red, & Clover green are Tommy James's favorite colors. He needed words to finish the song and wanted to play the song through for a friend uninterrupted so he put his two favorite colors in place of the words he needed because they fit. When he was done playing it for his friend, his friend said to leave it the way it is and let the fans put their own meaning to what the colors represent and that will give everyone their own personal connection to the song. It'll be groovy man. The intermittent voice at the end is obtained with a Leslie speaker from an organ, that ratcheting sound Lex liked is a musical instrument called a Cabasa and lots of Ecco is added.
Hey Brad and Lex, Crimson and Clover came out in 1968 and is a raw example of when rock was becoming more experimental and creative with songwriting, vocal and instrumental sound effects during 1967 - 1969. Thank you for your REACTION!
Great song of the the 60s acid/rock era .
Cheers guys I've never heard this version of the song! There's more to this than the version I knew of.
Love Lex’s reaction to Tommy James Crimson and Clover! She was grooving! 60’s music was infectious! The sounds transcendent! The vibe infectious! And she felt it. As did most of the youth of the time. Dig it!
Grew up listening to this on my Moms Albums, love it & know every lyric, born in 65, Joan Jett also covers this &does an excellent