Crimson and Clover

A while back I posted the Joan Jett cover of Crimson and Clover and stated that I thought that that was my favourite version, I have had to revise that statement recently as a few months ago I dug out the original when I was having a late 60s American session and it has not been filed away again instead I have been playing it quite a bit. The single was released in 1968 but not in the way it was intended, the mix was a rough mix that Tommy James sent to one of the main men at Roulette Records, Morris Levy to get his opinion on. Levy and also took this cut to a Chicago radio station to get their reaction. He was unaware that the station recorded the rough mix and aired it later, the response was very favourable and Levy decided that the rough mix should be released no improvement was needed. He turned out to be on the money as the record topped the Billboard charts in the USA and a number of other countries but I'm not sure if it was even released here. My copy if definitely a US disc.

Tommy James and the Shondells - Crimson & Clover