Then He Kissed Me (Then I Kissed Her)
Then He Kissed Me, written by Phil Spector, Ellie Greenwich, and Jeff Barry, won the #493 spot in Rolling Stones’ 500 Greatest Songs of All Time. That’s the effect of Spector’s Wall of Sound, so it’s not hard to understand why the Crystals, The Beach Boys, and Bruce Springsteen wanted to record this amazing tune of adolescent love.
The Crystals released it as a single in September 1963, and it became their signature song. They peaked on the US charts at #6, but fared far better on the UK charts at #1. Since The Crystals were made up of whoever was in the studio at the time, Dolores “LaLa” Brooks received the duty to sing lead vocals. Had she not been late that morning, the honor would have gone to Darlene Love. Regardless, LaLa does another great job, as when she sang lead on De Do Run Run earlier the same year.
The Crystals (1963)
Brian Wilson’s love of The Wall of Sound is obvious. However, his early career is riddled with bold-faced stealing of other composers’ works (Chuck Berry, Bo Diddley, et al). This recording is an example of the former and a smidge of the latter.
Wilson switched the gender focus to a male protagonist and changed the title to Then I Kissed Her. Also, it’s one of those rare instances where neither Brian nor Mike Love sing the lead–he let Al Jardine work his Elfan magic on the recording.
The Beach Boys (1965)
Proving again that he is Master of the Cover Song, Springsteen opens his St. Louis show with this classic and brings the house down before he even starts.
Bruce Springsteen (2008)
