Crimson and Clover
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| "Crimson and Clover" | ||
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| Crimson and Clover by Tommy James and the Shondells single cover | ||
| Single by Tommy James and the Shondells | ||
| from the album Crimson and Clover | ||
| B-side | (I'm) Taken (promo copies only) Some Kind of Love |
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| Released | November 1968 | |
| Format | 7" | |
| Recorded | 1968 | |
| Genre | Psychedelic rock | |
| Length | 3:27 (single version) 5:25 (album version) |
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| Label | Roulette | |
| Audio sample | ||
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"Crimson and Clover" is a song by Tommy James and the Shondells. It was one of the biggest hits of the 1960s and reached #1 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 and #1 in Canada in 1969. It dropped from #18 to completely out of the Billboard pop charts in one week, setting a record for the furthest drop out of the charts. [1]
"Crimson and Clover" was completely written and recorded by the duo of Tommy James and Peter Lucia Jr., the Shondells drummer. Lucia played drums and delivered backing vocals, while James played all other instruments and sang the lead vocals.
The song is famous for a unique "wobbly" vocal effect near the end of the song. To produce this effect, Tommy James plugged his microphone into a guitar amplifier, flipped the tremolo switch, and repeatedly sang the line "crimson and clover, over and over". When it was released in November 1968, some listeners thought he was saying "Christmas is over" instead of "crimson and clover."[2]
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[edit] Various releases
There are three releases of "Crimson and Clover".
- Album version: contains extended guitar solos and runs well over five minutes.
- Single version: cuts the album version's guitar solos and runs just under three and a half minutes.
- CD version (1991's "Crimson and Clover/Cellophane Symphony"): is similar to the album version, but the guitar solos are a fraction higher in speed than on the LP version. This corrects the band's mistakes made in 1968, when they added new sections with different tape speeds to the existing single. The CD booklet states that Crimson and Clover is now as it is "meant to be heard," and that Tommy James is "very satisfied" with the reissue of the original LP master tapes to CD form.
[edit] Cover versions
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[edit] Whole interpretations
- The Uniques (featuring Slim Smith) did a reggae cover in 1969[3][4]
- Patrick Samson, a Lebanese singer, did an Italian cover entitled "Soli si muore" in 1969.
- '70s Chilean band Aguaturbia did a part English/part Spanish cover entitled "Carmesí y Trébol".
- '60s Mexican band Los Moskas Spanish cover entitled "Amor sin suerte" in his LP Venus
- Joan Jett and the Blackhearts did a rendition of the song in 1981 that appears on the album I Love Rock 'n Roll, and reached #7 on the Billboard Hot 100. She sings the song with the original lyrics which are sung about a woman. Jett did another rendition of the song in 1995 as the lead singer of Evil Stig (Jett's collaboration with punk band The Gits) on the live album Evil Stig.
- Chicago art rocker Bobby Conn also did an interpretation of the song on a rare 7" LP with "Never Get Ahead" as well as "Who's the Paul?".
- The band 2Young did a hip-hop remix of the song in the mid-90s.
- Cher and her son Elijah Blue Allman performed the song as a duet for the soundtrack to A Walk On The Moon (1999).
- Kelly Clarkson performed the song live a number of times towards the end of her 2005 Hazel Eyes Tour.
- Sielun Veljet, a Finnish rock group covered the song on their album Musta laatikko.
- Dolly Parton on her 2005 cover album Those Were the Days.
- Prince debuted his studio version on Dec. 18, 2008 on 103.1 Indie FM in Los Angeles, CA, mixing it with Chip Taylor's famous Wild Thing chorus inside the song and Jimi Hendrix’s “Foxy Lady" “ooh baby, I think I love you” phrase. The Prince cover can be heard on his new website http://www.lotusflow3r.com.
The song is often incorrectly attributed to The Velvet Underground, Simon and Garfunkel or The Hollies on P2P networks and lyrics websites.
[edit] Samples and mentions
- Jarvis Cocker's "Black Magic" is built around a sample of the song.
- The band Jimmy Eat World references this song in "A Praise Chorus" on their album Bleed American. Near the end of the song, they repeat the words "crimson and clover, over and over" several times.
- The band Kings of Leon mention the song in "California Waiting" (from their debut album Youth and Young Manhood), in the line "Crimson and Clover pullin' overtime".
- Elliott Smith sings "the radio was playing Crimson and Clover" in the song "Baby Britain" on his album XO.
- The band American Hi-Fi mentions "crimson and clover" in the song "The Breakup Song" on their album The Art of Losing - "Its over, all over. Just like in Crimson and Clover".
- Metric mentions "crimson and clover" in the song Siamese Cities off the Static Anonymity EP.
- Renee Renee mentions "crimson and clover" in his song "Driving".
- Liz Phair sings, "crimson and clover--soon he's taken over all my senses now" in the song "Johnny Feelgood".
- The track "Our Time" from the Yeah Yeah Yeahs debut EP samples the melody of "Crimson and Clover" when Karen O sings "It's the year to be hated / So glad that we made it."
- On Hawk Nelson's album Letter to the President in the song First Time, "Crimson and Clover over and over" is mentioned.
[edit] Background music
- It plays all through the "Renée" segment on the 2003 Jim Jarmusch film Coffee and Cigarettes.
- It is used as background music to a makeout scene between John Cusack's character 'Rob' and his high school girlfriend 'Penny' in the movie High Fidelity.
- It was used multiple times in the 2003 film Monster.
- It is used as background music in Veronica Mars when Logan waits in his yacht for Veronica, who never shows up.
- It is used as background music in an A&W commercial where a middle-aged couple go to an A&W restaurant to relive memories.
- Also used as background music in Sports Night at the end of the "Sally" episode.
- A small part is used in the movie Frequency as the radio signal is traveling to the sun and back through time.
- The beginning of the song is used in The L Word in the episode 1.08 'Listen Up'.
- The song plays near the end of the Cold Case episode "Revolution", the fourteenth episode of the series' second season.
- It plays during the prom dance scene in the movie My Best Friend's Girl.
- It was used as background music for the season 2 finale episode of Quebec sitcom "Les Invincibles".
- It is on the soundtrack of the film The Boat That Rocked.
| Preceded by "I Heard It Through the Grapevine" by Marvin Gaye |
Billboard Hot 100 number one single February 1, 1969 (two weeks) |
Succeeded by "Everyday People" by Sly & the Family Stone |
