The song is the first collaboration in songwriting by Jeff Barry, Ellie Greenwich and Phil Spector. The song was composed over two days in Spector's office in New York. The title "Da Doo Ron Ron" was initially just nonsense syllables used as dummy line to separate each stanza and chorus until proper lyrics could be written, but Spector liked it so much that he kept it. Phil Spector did not want lyrics that were too cerebral that would interfere with a simple boy-meets-girl story line. The rhymes of the opening lines, "I met him on a Monday and my heart stood still ... Somebody told me that his name was Bill" was inspired by Bill Walsh, a friend of Spector who happened to visit Spector while the three were writing the song.
Musicians on this track include Barney Kessel and Tommy Tedesco on guitar, Larry Knechtel and Leon Russell on piano, and Steve Douglas on saxophone, and Hal Blaine on drums. Douglas was also the contractor for the session, meaning he assembled the musicians. According to Douglas, his sax solo on this song was one of his favorites, but Phil Spector was going to put vocals over it. Douglas convinced him to leave it alone, and it became one of the most famous saxophone solos of the era.
Phil Spector produced this song, marking his first real "Wall of Sound" production. He recorded it at Gold Star Studios in Los Angeles, packing all the musicians into a room that measured just 19 x 24 feet. Spector was meticulous about microphone placement, especially when it came to the drums. He recorded the song in mono, which meant that every instrument was coming out of both speakers at full force, eschewing the nuance of stereo for the power of a single track. Spector wasn't big on editing or post-production, so he spent a lot of his studio time having the musicians run through the track before he would roll tape. Typically, he would have the guitarists play for a while while he worked out the song, then bring in pianos, bass, and drums. Vocals were recorded in an echo chamber located behind the control room at Gold Star. Among the background singers was one of Spector's favorites: Cher.
True to the folklore of music, mainly due to artists, managers, and record companies A&R men trying to sell their product, there is a great deal of dispute over who sang lead on this track. Darlene Love has said that she was the lead singer on this song, but has given various, different accounts of her side of the story. She later backed off that claim in later interviews, saying that her lead vocals were wiped out and replaced by Crystals lead singer Dolores "La La" Brooks in retaliation by Spector when she asked him for an artist's contract. The person who can best answer that question is Phil Spector, telling his wife in 2012 that Darlene Love did not record a track of DDRR; that Darlene Love never sang background; and that Darlene Love was never a Crystal. Phil told Rachelle (his wife) that he thought Darlene Love's voice was too mature and gospely for DDRR and never considered Darlene at all for the song.
In 2004, the Crystals' song was ranked number 114 on Rolling Stone's list of The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time. It was, however, removed from the same list in the 2010 update, being the highest-ranked of the 27 songs that were removed. It was also recognized by the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as one of the "500 Songs That Shaped Rock". Other artists who have covered this song include the Carpenters, Billy J. Kramer with the Dakotas, Jack Nitzsche, The Raindrops, and The Searchers.
The song is the first collaboration in songwriting by Jeff Barry, Ellie Greenwich and Phil Spector. The song was composed over two days in Spector's office in New York. The title "Da Doo Ron Ron" was initially just nonsense syllables used as dummy line to separate each stanza and chorus until proper lyrics could be written, but Spector liked it so much that he kept it. Phil Spector did not want lyrics that were too cerebral that would interfere with a simple boy-meets-girl story line. The rhymes of the opening lines, "I met him on a Monday and my heart stood still ... Somebody told me that his name was Bill" was inspired by Bill Walsh, a friend of Spector who happened to visit Spector while the three were writing the song.
Musicians on this track include Barney Kessel and Tommy Tedesco on guitar, Larry Knechtel and Leon Russell on piano, and Steve Douglas on saxophone, and Hal Blaine on drums. Douglas was also the contractor for the session, meaning he assembled the musicians. According to Douglas, his sax solo on this song was one of his favorites, but Phil Spector was going to put vocals over it. Douglas convinced him to leave it alone, and it became one of the most famous saxophone solos of the era.
Phil Spector produced this song, marking his first real "Wall of Sound" production. He recorded it at Gold Star Studios in Los Angeles, packing all the musicians into a room that measured just 19 x 24 feet. Spector was meticulous about microphone placement, especially when it came to the drums. He recorded the song in mono, which meant that every instrument was coming out of both speakers at full force, eschewing the nuance of stereo for the power of a single track. Spector wasn't big on editing or post-production, so he spent a lot of his studio time having the musicians run through the track before he would roll tape. Typically, he would have the guitarists play for a while while he worked out the song, then bring in pianos, bass, and drums. Vocals were recorded in an echo chamber located behind the control room at Gold Star. Among the background singers was one of Spector's favorites: Cher.
True to the folklore of music, mainly due to artists, managers, and record companies A&R men trying to sell their product, there is a great deal of dispute over who sang lead on this track. Darlene Love has said that she was the lead singer on this song, but has given various, different accounts of her side of the story. She later backed off that claim in later interviews, saying that her lead vocals were wiped out and replaced by Crystals lead singer Dolores "La La" Brooks in retaliation by Spector when she asked him for an artist's contract. The person who can best answer that question is Phil Spector, telling his wife in 2012 that Darlene Love did not record a track of DDRR; that Darlene Love never sang background; and that Darlene Love was never a Crystal. Phil told Rachelle (his wife) that he thought Darlene Love's voice was too mature and gospely for DDRR and never considered Darlene at all for the song.
In 2004, the Crystals' song was ranked number 114 on Rolling Stone's list of The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time. It was, however, removed from the same list in the 2010 update, being the highest-ranked of the 27 songs that were removed. It was also recognized by the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as one of the "500 Songs That Shaped Rock". Other artists who have covered this song include the Carpenters, Billy J. Kramer with the Dakotas, Jack Nitzsche, The Raindrops, and The Searchers.
The song is the first collaboration in songwriting by Jeff Barry, Ellie Greenwich and Phil Spector. The song was composed over two days in Spector's office in New York. The title "Da Doo Ron Ron" was initially just nonsense syllables used as dummy line to separate each stanza and chorus until proper lyrics could be written, but Spector liked it so much that he kept it. Phil Spector did not want lyrics that were too cerebral that would interfere with a simple boy-meets-girl story line. The rhymes of the opening lines, "I met him on a Monday and my heart stood still ... Somebody told me that his name was Bill" was inspired by Bill Walsh, a friend of Spector who happened to visit Spector while the three were writing the song.
Musicians on this track include Barney Kessel and Tommy Tedesco on guitar, Larry Knechtel and Leon Russell on piano, and Steve Douglas on saxophone, and Hal Blaine on drums. Douglas was also the contractor for the session, meaning he assembled the musicians. According to Douglas, his sax solo on this song was one of his favorites, but Phil Spector was going to put vocals over it. Douglas convinced him to leave it alone, and it became one of the most famous saxophone solos of the era.
Phil Spector produced this song, marking his first real "Wall of Sound" production. He recorded it at Gold Star Studios in Los Angeles, packing all the musicians into a room that measured just 19 x 24 feet. Spector was meticulous about microphone placement, especially when it came to the drums. He recorded the song in mono, which meant that every instrument was coming out of both speakers at full force, eschewing the nuance of stereo for the power of a single track. Spector wasn't big on editing or post-production, so he spent a lot of his studio time having the musicians run through the track before he would roll tape. Typically, he would have the guitarists play for a while while he worked out the song, then bring in pianos, bass, and drums. Vocals were recorded in an echo chamber located behind the control room at Gold Star. Among the background singers was one of Spector's favorites: Cher.
True to the folklore of music, mainly due to artists, managers, and record companies A&R men trying to sell their product, there is a great deal of dispute over who sang lead on this track. Darlene Love has said that she was the lead singer on this song, but has given various, different accounts of her side of the story. She later backed off that claim in later interviews, saying that her lead vocals were wiped out and replaced by Crystals lead singer Dolores "La La" Brooks in retaliation by Spector when she asked him for an artist's contract. The person who can best answer that question is Phil Spector, telling his wife in 2012 that Darlene Love did not record a track of DDRR; that Darlene Love never sang background; and that Darlene Love was never a Crystal. Phil told Rachelle (his wife) that he thought Darlene Love's voice was too mature and gospely for DDRR and never considered Darlene at all for the song.
In 2004, the Crystals' song was ranked number 114 on Rolling Stone's list of The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time. It was, however, removed from the same list in the 2010 update, being the highest-ranked of the 27 songs that were removed. It was also recognized by the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as one of the "500 Songs That Shaped Rock". Other artists who have covered this song include the Carpenters, Billy J. Kramer with the Dakotas, Jack Nitzsche, The Raindrops, and The Searchers.