"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 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. In 2004, this song was #493 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of500 Greatest Songs of All Time. Pitchfork placed it at number 18 on its list of "The 200 Greatest Songs of the 1960s". Billboard named the song #8 on their list of 100 Greatest Girl Group Songs of All Time.
The Crystals version
The single is one of The Crystals' most 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 arrangement of The Wrecking Crew's Wall of Sound was by Jack Nitzsche and Larry Levine was the engineer. In the United States the single peaked at number six and in the United Kingdom the single peaked at number two. The single 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.
The song was reworded to the title "Then I Kissed Her" and released by The Beach Boys on their 1965 album Summer Days 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." "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
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. The Beach Boys
