"He's a Rebel" is a pop/rock song credited to the girl group the Crystals (although actually recorded by the Blossoms), reaching No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in November 1962. Written by Gene Pitney and produced by Phil Spector, it is an example of the Spector-produced girl group sound.
In 2004, the song was ranked No. 263 on Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.
The song is about a girl in love with a young man who spurns society's conventions. Despite his being misunderstood by others, the singer claims he is sweet and faithful and vows to be the same towards him. Steve Douglas performs a saxophone solo during the song's bridge. The piano riff at the beginning was contributed by Al DeLory. Unusually for Spector productions, no strings played on the track.
Pitney wrote "He's a Rebel" for The Shirelles, but they declined. Spector learned Vikki Carr was to record it for Liberty Records as her debut, and wanted his own version on sale first. The Crystals were touring on the east coast of the USA at the time, so Spector had The Blossoms, a Los Angeles group, record the track. He credited The Crystals on the record; Mary Thomas recalled that "our mouths fell open" when she and her groupmates heard a disc jockey announce "the new Crystals song." The quintet was then obliged to add "He's a Rebel" to their live repertoire, even though lead singer Barbara Alston could not mimic Blossoms lead singer Darlene Love. For this reason, 15-year-old Dolores "LaLa" Brooks became the lead singer the following year with the follow-up "Then He Kissed Me".
"He's a Rebel" is a song that was co-written by Summer and from the Donna Summer album She Works Hard for the Money. Although not released as a single in the US, it won Donna a Grammy Award for Best Inspirational Performance at the awards ceremony in 1984.
He's a Rebel is the second album issued by girl group The Crystals in 1963, and also the second LP in the Philles catalogue. This was an effort to take an advantage of the monster hit "He's a Rebel" which went to #1 US in 1962, written by Gene Pitney. The song was actually recorded by The Blossoms with Darlene Love on lead vocals and attributed to The Crystals. Notably on the LP is "He Hit Me (It Felt Like a Kiss)," a withdrawn single by the "real" Crystals group.
This was actually a repackaging of Twist Uptown, The Crystals' debut. Two of the original eleven tracks were taken from that album and replaced with "He's a Rebel" and its follow-up "He's Sure the Boy I Love" (#11 US, also recorded with The Blossoms) while "He Hit Me" was added for a twelfth track. The He's a Rebel album peaked at #131 US.
(The Crystals)
See the way he walks down the street
Watch the way he shuffles his feet
How he holds his head up high
When he goes walking by
He's my guy
If he holds my hand, I'm so proud
‘Cause he's not just one of the crowd
I think he's always the one to try
The things I've never done
And just because of that
They will say, hey
(Chorus 1)
He's a rebel and he'll never ever be any good
He's a rebel ‘cause he never ever does
What he should
And just because he doesn't do what
Everybody else does
That's no reason why
I can't give him all my love
(Chorus 2)
He is always good to me
Always treats me tenderly
He's not a rebel no, no, no
He's not a rebel no, no, no to me
If they don't like him that way
They won't like me after today
I'll be standing by his side
When they say
(Repeat Chorus 1)
And just because he doesn't do
What everybody else does
That's no reason why
We can't share a love
(Repeat Chorus 2)