"HE'S A REBEL" by Vicki Carr--NOT the Crystals

[gremashlo]

I'd always heard the story about this song--that Phil Spector was 'moonlighting' as an A @ R man for Liberty Records in New York, when he found a demo of "Rebel" by Gene Pitney that was intended for Vicki Carr...

Well, Carr recorded her version, but by then Spector took the demo to LA, quit Liberty, got Darlene Love to record the solo (the Crystals were in high school, and couldn't go to LA) in a studio he'd never used with musicians and studio men he'd never worked with...and created a masterpiece that he released on Philles.

But, what about Carr's version?

I finally found a copy in a Nebraska antique store yesterday (God know what kind of journey it took, as it barely made the charts at all after Spector's Philles release went to #1 and blew it outta the radio waves), took it home, and played it...

...and it is bad. Snuff Garrett's production is bland, and Miss Carr conveyed none of the emotion that Love expressed so strongly. Had Spector never stolen it, Carr's version would have done nothing special, and the song would have been forgotten.

Has anyone else heard the song, or heard about its background?

[dave910]

Jun 20, 2008 9:20:34 GMT -5 gremashlo said:

I'd always heard the story about this song--that Phil Spector was 'moonlighting' as an A @ R man for Liberty Records in New York, when he found a demo of "Rebel" by Gene Pitney that was intended for Vicki Carr...

Well, Carr recorded her version, but by then Spector took the demo to LA, quit Liberty, got Darlene Love to record the solo (the Crystals were in high school, and couldn't go to LA) in a studio he'd never used with musicians and studio men he'd never worked with...and created a masterpiece that he released on Philles.

But, what about Carr's version?

I finally found a copy in a Nebraska antique store yesterday (God know what kind of journey it took, as it barely made the charts at all after Spector's Philles release went to #1 and blew it outta the radio waves), took it home, and played it...

...and it is bad. Snuff Garrett's production is bland, and Miss Carr conveyed none of the emotion that Love expressed so strongly. Had Spector never stolen it, Carr's version would have done nothing special, and the song would have been forgotten.

Has anyone else heard the song, or heard about its background?

I never hear Carr's version, however I think I'd be worth a laugh. But you never know, some kid could stumble upon the recording and give it a techno beat, and it may become a hit. I remember Shirley Bassey's "History Repeating" with a remix by Propellerheads being featured on "Sex & the City". Would something like this happen with Carr's version of "He's A Rebel"?

[H2IZCOOL]

I never heard it, but would be interested to hear it, like Dave says, for a laugh.

I really can't picture Vicki singing this. It seems so out of character with what she usually did.

BTW, are you sure Spector didn't try to kill Vicki to get the demo?

[H2IZCOOL]

OK, I just heard the song.

Uh ... no thanks!. That marching band drumbeat is awful. The rest is just very bad.

[gremashlo]

Jun 20, 2008 22:30:37 GMT -5 H2IZCOOL said:

OK, I just heard the song.

Uh ... no thanks!. That marching band drumbeat is awful. The rest is just very bad.

You're one up on me--I got about halfway, and picked up the needle--and that's after I bought the dang thing!...however, her version shows just how brilliant Spector was--that Snuff Garrett and Spector could take the SAME demo and be so totally different.

Plus, Spector figured out early that the combo of song and vocalist was everything--Liberty obviously shoved "Rebel" on Carr ("It Must Be Him" was yet to come--and even that isn't all that great) without really thinking about it. She had just signed with Liberty, and they figured any good song would do.

[daniel]

I have to admit, the only thing I'm familiar with Viki Carr singing is the jingle for the long-defunct Zody's discount store: (It was kind of like the West Coast's version of Zayre) "Take a look... at Zody's Nooooooooooow!"