Fact #88521
When:
Short story:
The Crystals release a new single He Hit Me (And It Felt Like A Kiss), written by Carole King and Gerry Goffin, on Phil Spector's Philles Records in the USA.
Full article:
Barbra Alston [The Crystals] : He Hit Me was absolutely, positively the one record that none of us liked. We knew in our hearts that it was going to be a controversial piece and argued on several occasions with Phil about releasing it. All I really wanted to know was "Why"? Why would five young girls sing something extraordinary like "he hit me and it felt like a kiss"? Yuk, was what I truly felt.
Yes, the song was recorded in New York, in whatever studio Phil was using during that time. Phil was a master at getting you in the mood for whatever song(s) he was attempting at the time. Since I never wanted to sing lead in the first place, he really had to do a job on me for that one.
He would get everyone out of the control room, clear the studio and have no one but he and the group there. He would cut out the lights in the studio making it cozy and subdued. He always kept the light on in the control room, though, and you would see him sitting up there doing the whole routine by himself. He was quite an intelligent musician. I remember on Uptown, Phil must have played every string instrument there was, the piano, and I believe the drums. He overdubbed everything and anything! He was a one-man band.
We found out years later that Phil made us do He Hit Me to make a flop record. He wanted to get rid of his partner (Lester Sill) and if we had a flop, he would be in a better position to buy Lester's share out. Isn't that amazing? He actually used us for his personal gain in more ways than one.
Jack Nitzsche (arranger) : Lester Sill and Harry Finfer were Phil's partners in Philles Records. And all of a sudden Phil couldn't figure out why he needed them... They ended up with a contract saying they would have a piece of the next two Crystals records, and it was too late to stop Then He Kissed Me. So they had a piece of that, but the follow up... they sent 50 copies to each distributor... it was just handclaps and a bass, and every time they'd stop, Phil's attorney would go "Do The Screw." That's what it was.
(Source: unknown)
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Yes, the song was recorded in New York, in whatever studio Phil was using during that time. Phil was a master at getting you in the mood for whatever song(s) he was attempting at the time. Since I never wanted to sing lead in the first place, he really had to do a job on me for that one.
He would get everyone out of the control room, clear the studio and have no one but he and the group there. He would cut out the lights in the studio making it cozy and subdued. He always kept the light on in the control room, though, and you would see him sitting up there doing the whole routine by himself. He was quite an intelligent musician. I remember on Uptown, Phil must have played every string instrument there was, the piano, and I believe the drums. He overdubbed everything and anything! He was a one-man band.
We found out years later that Phil made us do He Hit Me to make a flop record. He wanted to get rid of his partner (Lester Sill) and if we had a flop, he would be in a better position to buy Lester's share out. Isn't that amazing? He actually used us for his personal gain in more ways than one.
Jack Nitzsche (arranger) : Lester Sill and Harry Finfer were Phil's partners in Philles Records. And all of a sudden Phil couldn't figure out why he needed them... They ended up with a contract saying they would have a piece of the next two Crystals records, and it was too late to stop Then He Kissed Me. So they had a piece of that, but the follow up... they sent 50 copies to each distributor... it was just handclaps and a bass, and every time they'd stop, Phil's attorney would go "Do The Screw." That's what it was.
(Source: unknown)