Two famous singles alone make this 1969 album indispensable: the title track, a masterpiece of young-love rock 'n' roll yearning, memorably covered by Joan Jett and the Blackhearts and Dolly Parton, and the sunny doo-wop ballad "Crystal Blue Persuasion." The rest of the album is merely psychedelic fun. Some of the period-piece wah-wah guitars, Farfisa and grand-piano blasts, vocals run backwards and airy R&B grooves seem a bit unnecessary 42 years later, but the sweet harmonies and strong songwriting (particularly the spooky-soul "Breakaway" and the fast-paced, catchy and Monkees-worthy "Do Something to Me") redeem the excess.

James, who literally plucked this version of the Shondells from a Pittsburgh nightclub stage, has been largely lost to pop history, possibly due to forgettable (but still funny) lyrics like "Hello, banana, I'm a tangerine." But the journeyman rocker (he started at age 13) dominated the charts in the late '60s, and "Crimson & Clover" holds up almost as well as, say, the Zombies' Odessey & Oracle. And if you don't believe this review, maybe you'll accept the word of Hubert H. Humphrey, the 1968 presidential candidate who wrote the liner notes. Declared the ex-veep to the Shondells: "You have what… read more »