Crystal Blue Persuasion – Tommy James and The Shondells | Top 40 Chart Performance, Story and Song Meaning
Chart Performance: Pop (#2); 1969
Story Behind The Song By Ed Osborne
1968 was a watershed year for Tommy James and The Shondells. In the previous two years, they’d strung together a series of topnotch Top 40 hits, culminating in the retro-party rocker, Mony Mony in June of ’68.
With the advent of multi-track recording and the emergence of artists that used studio techniques to push the musical envelope, Tommy made a radical move for a pop artist.
Risking failure with his fans at radio and retail, he released Crimson And Clover, a track that sounded nothing like previous poppy Shondells singles. The response was overwhelmingly positive.
Tommy followed Crimson with the gospel-tinged Sweet Cherry Wine and a gorgeous balled called Crystal Blue Persuasion.
Many assumed Crystal Blue was about drugs. In reality, Tommy built the song around descriptions of the crystal city that he found in the Bible.
He then carefully crafted an acoustic-style arrangement by stripping away various elements until the instrumental textures perfectly framed his images of Paradise perfectly.
This content and all Song Meaning articles were created and written by Top 40 Contributing Editor Ed Osborne. © 2024 Ed Osborne. All Rights Reserved. In addition to these song meaning articles, Ed has written our “Year in Music 1960s-1990s” articles.
Produced by:
- Tommy James
- Ritchie Cordell
Lyrics Written by:
- Eddie Gray
- Tommy James
- Mike Vale
Ed Osborne
Hi. I got my first record at age two and never looked back, spending a decades-long career in radio and the music business. Even after years of reading about and listening to all types of music, I am still fascinated by it. Apart from that, I’m endlessly intrigued by art, nature, and the inner lives of people (and dogs).