Then He Kissed Me

"Then He Kissed Me" is a song written by Phil Spector, Ellie Greenwich and Jeff Barry. The song, produced by Spector, was initially released as a single on Philles Records (#115) in July 1963 by The Crystals. The lyrics are a narrative of a young woman's encounter, romance, and eventual engagement with a fellow youth.

"Then He Kissed Me"
Single by The Crystals
from the album Philles Records Presents Today's Hits
B-side"Brother Julius"
ReleasedJuly 12, 1963
Length2:35
LabelPhilles (US, Canada)
London (UK)
Songwriter(s)Phil Spector, Ellie Greenwich, Jeff Barry
Producer(s)Phil Spector
The Crystals singles chronology
"Da Doo Ron Ron"
(1963)		 "Then He Kissed Me"
(1963)		 "Little Boy"
(1964)

In 2004, this song was #493 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.[1] Pitchfork placed it at number 18 on its list of "The 200 Greatest Songs of the 1960s".[2] Billboard named the song #8 on their list of 100 Greatest Girl Group Songs of All Time.[3]

The Crystals version

The single is one of The Crystals' best-remembered songs. It was recorded at Gold Star Studios in Los Angeles in April 1963. The lead vocal was sung by Dolores "LaLa" Brooks, the Wall of Sound arrangement was by Jack Nitzsche, featuring The Wrecking Crew, and Larry Levine was the engineer.[4] In the United States the single peaked at number six and in the United Kingdom it peaked at number two. It was The Crystals' third single to chart in the top ten in the United States, and their second to reach the top ten in the United Kingdom. The song was also a major hit in the Republic of Ireland, reaching number three in the charts there.

Chart performance

The Beach Boys version
"Then I Kissed Her"
1967 UK single cover
Single by The Beach Boys
from the album Summer Days (And Summer Nights!!)
ReleasedJuly 5, 1965 (1965-07-05)
RecordedMay 5, 1965 (1965-05-05)
Length2:15
LabelCapitol
Songwriter(s)Phil Spector, Ellie Greenwich, Jeff Barry
Producer(s)Brian Wilson

The song was reworded to the title "Then I Kissed Her" and released by The Beach Boys on their 1965 album Summer Days (And Summer Nights!!) with Al Jardine on lead vocals and production by Brian Wilson. Beyond title and gender changes, new lyrics were written retelling the story of the Crystals' song from the boyfriend's point of view.

Two years after appearing on the album, in April 1967 the song was released as a single in the United Kingdom, appearing as a stop-gap release while work continued on the "Heroes and Villains" single. This was reportedly done against the band's wishes, Beach Boys band member Mike Love commented on May 7, 1967 "The record company didn't even have the decency to put out one of Brian’s own compositions. The reason for the hold up with a new single has simply been that we wanted to give our public the best and the best isn't ready yet."[10]

"Then I Kissed Her" charted at number four in the UK. The B-side of the single was "Mountain of Love", a song off the band's 1965 Beach Boys' Party! album.

Chart performance
Chart (1967) Peak
position
Dutch Top 40[11] 2
German Singles Chart[12] 39
Irish Singles Chart[13] 4
Norwegian Singles Chart[14] 10
UK Singles Chart[15][16] 4

According to contemporary national charts sourced and cited by Billboard in 1967, it reached No. 2 in Sweden and South Africa and No. 9 in Belgium. It was No. 12 in Australia's Go Set chart and No. 6 in New Zealand.

Personnel

Personnel sourced from Craig Slowinski.[17][18]

The Beach Boys

Session musicians and production staff

References
  1. "The RS 500 Greatest Songs of All Time". RollingStone.com. Retrieved 2008-09-21.
  2. "Staff Lists: The 200 Greatest Songs of the 1960s | Features". Pitchfork. 2006-08-18. Retrieved 2014-05-24.
  3. "100 Greatest Girl Group Songs of All Time: Critics' Picks". Billboard. Retrieved July 11, 2017.
  4. Phil Spector: Back To Mono 1958 - 1969, 4 CD box set, All Mother Bertha Music, 1991, liner notes
  5. Flavour of New Zealand, 31 October 1963
  6. Joel Whitburn's Top Pop Singles 1955–1990 - ISBN 0-89820-089-X
  7. Cash Box Top 100 Singles, December 28, 1963
  8. Musicoutfitters.com
  9. "Cash Box Year-End Charts: Top 100 Pop Singles, December 28, 1963". Archived from the original on July 13, 2014. Retrieved May 16, 2019.
  10. New Musical Express, May 7, 1967
  11. "De Nederlandse Top 40, week 26, 1967". Archived from the original on 2007-12-28. Retrieved January 10, 2009.
  12. "charts-surfer.de search results". Retrieved January 10, 2009.
  13. "irishcharts.ie search results". Retrieved January 10, 2009.
  14. "norwegiancharts.com". Retrieved January 10, 2009.
  15. "everyhit.com search results". Retrieved January 10, 2009.
  16. "The Official Charts Company – Beach Boys – Then I Kissed Her". Retrieved January 10, 2009.
  17. Slowinski, Craig. "Summer Days (And Summer Nights!!)". Retrieved April 8, 2019.
  18. http://smileysmile.net/board/index.php/topic,18277.msg475845.html#msg475845
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