"He's Sure the Boy I Love" is a 1962 single by

The Crystals The Crystals are an American vocal group that originated in New York City. Considered one of the defining acts of the girl group era in the first half of the 1960s, their 1961–1964 chart hits – including " There's No Other (Like My Baby)", ...

. The song was originally recorded by

The Blossoms The Blossoms are an American girl group that originated from California. During their height of success in the 1960s, the group's lineup most famously consisted of Darlene Love, Fanita James, and Jean King. Although the group had a recording ...

but credited to The Crystals. On the ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

'' charts in 1963, "He's Sure the Boy I Love" peaked at #11 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and #18 on the

Hot R&B Singles The Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart ranks the most popular R&B and hip hop songs in the United States and is published weekly by ''Billboard''. Rankings are based on a measure of radio airplay, sales data, and streaming activity. The chart had 100 p ...

Background

In 1962, The Blossoms recorded "

He's a Rebel "He's a Rebel" is a song written by Gene Pitney that was originally recorded by Vikki Carr and by the girl group the Blossoms. Produced by Phil Spector, the Blossoms' version was issued as a single credited to the Crystals, which topped the Bill ...

" with

Phil Spector Harvey Phillip Spector (born Harvey Philip Spector; December 26, 1939January 16, 2021) was an American record producer and songwriter, best known for his innovative recording practices and entrepreneurship in the 1960s, followed decades later by ...

. Instead of crediting the song to The Blossoms, Spector released the song under The Crystals without informing the group while they were on tour. After "He's A Rebel" became a hit song, Spector brought The Blossoms back to record "He's Sure the Boy I Love."

Recording and release

While The Crystals were on tour,

Darlene Love Darlene Wright (born July 26, 1941), known professionally as Darlene Love, is an American singer and actress. She was the lead singer of the girl group the Blossoms and she also recorded as a solo artist. She began singing as a child with her ...

of the Blossoms was asked by Phil Spector to record "He's Sure the Boy I Love". After being discredited from "He's A Rebel", Love urged Spector to give her a royalty contract with a rate of three cents per record. The track was recorded at

Gold Star Studios Gold Star Studios was an independent recording studio located in Los Angeles, California, United States. For more than thirty years, from 1950 to 1984, Gold Star was one of the most successful commercial recording studios in the world. Founded ...

in Los Angeles in November 1962. The Wrecking Crew played a

Jack Nitzsche Bernard Alfred "Jack" Nitzsche ( '; April 22, 1937 – August 25, 2000) was an American musician, arranger, songwriter, composer, and record producer. He first came to prominence in the early 1960s as the right-hand-man of producer Phil Spec ...

arrangement,

Larry Levine Larry Levine (May 8, 1928 – May 8, 2008) was an American audio engineer, known for his collaboration with Phil Spector on the Wall of Sound recording technique. Biography Levine received the 1966 Grammy Award for Best Engineered Recording ...

was the engineer. "He's Sure the Boy I Love" was featured on The Crystals re-released album ''

'' and replaced a prior track of theirs that had originally appeared on

Twist Uptown ''Twist Uptown'' is the first album by The Crystals, issued to capitalize upon their success with the Cynthia Weil and Barry Mann composition "Uptown" which was a #13 US hit, and their first top forty hit "There's No Other (Like My Baby)" (#20 US) ...

. The song was released on

Philles Records Philles Records was an American record label formed in 1961 by Phil Spector and Lester Sill, the label taking its name from a hybrid of their first names. Initially, the label was distributed by Jamie/Guyden in Philadelphia. In 1962, Spector pur ...

109.

Controversy

After discovering that Spector had once again discredited The Blossoms from their recording and given their song to The Crystals, Darlene Love got into a confrontation with Spector. Similarly, The Crystals were angry at Spector for having them sing another song on tour that was not theirs.

Cynthia Weil Cynthia Weil (born October 18, 1940) is an American songwriter who wrote many songs together with her husband Barry Mann. Life and career Weil was born in New York City, and was raised in a Conservative Jewish family. Her father was Morris Wei ...

, who co-wrote the song with her husband

Barry Mann Barry Mann (born Barry Imberman; February 9, 1939) is an American songwriter and musician, and part of a successful songwriting partnership with his wife, Cynthia Weil. He has written or co-written 53 hits in the UK and 98 in the US. Early li ...

was unaware that Darlene Love had sung on the track. To sound like Love, lead singer of the Crystals La La Brooks rehearsed the introduction of "He's Sure the Boy I Love" in a Californian accent.

Reception

''Billboard'' magazine called "He's Sure the Boy I Love" a successful song that had a "rousing ork backing". ''

Cash Box ''Cashbox'', also known as ''Cash Box'', was an American music industry trade magazine, originally published weekly from July 1942 to November 1996. Ten years after its dissolution, it was revived and continues as ''Cashbox Magazine'', an online ...

'' described it as a "change-of-pace’r...

hat A hat is a head covering which is worn for various reasons, including protection against weather conditions, ceremonial reasons such as university graduation, religious reasons, safety, or as a fashion accessory. Hats which incorporate mecha ...

finds the gals in top rockin’ mashed potatoes form" and has a "terrific

arrangement.."

Chart performance

In February 1963, the song peaked at #18 on the

and #11 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100.

Popular culture

In 1990, "He's Sure the Boy I Love" was featured in the movie ''

Goodfellas ''Goodfellas'' (stylized ''GoodFellas'') is a 1990 American biographical crime film directed by Martin Scorsese, written by Nicholas Pileggi and Scorsese, and produced by Irwin Winkler. It is a film adaptation of the 1985 nonfiction book '' Wis ...

'' during the infamous "shinebox" scene. It also appeared in ''

Bad Times at the El Royale ''Bad Times at the El Royale'' is a 2018 American neo-noir thriller film written, directed, and produced by Drew Goddard. It stars an ensemble cast consisting of Jeff Bridges, Cynthia Erivo, Dakota Johnson, Jon Hamm, Cailee Spaeny, Lewis Pullm ...

'' in 2018.

References

{{authority control 1962 singles The Crystals songs Songs written by Barry Mann Songs with lyrics by Cynthia Weil 1962 songs Song recordings produced by Phil Spector