“Da Doo Ron Ron” was a top ten hit not once, but twice–first for The Crystals, who took it to #3 in 1963…
…and later for teen idol Shaun Cassidy, who took it all the way to the top in 1977.
Written by Jeff Barry, Ellie Greenwich and Phil Spector in their first of many collaborations, “Da Doo Ron Ron” is a girl-meets-boy, girl-wants-boy… well, to call it a “story” is to give it too much credit. If “Da Doo Ron Ron” is about anything at all, it’s about teenage lust, pure and simple. To search for anything deeper is to miss the point entirely.
Bruce is no stranger to the Crystals’ catalog; back in the seventies, “Then He Kissed Me” made frequent setlist appearances, and “He’s Sure the Boy I Love” made a cameo as well. But despite a sax solo tailor made for the Big Man, “Da Doo Ron Ron” went uncovered by the E Street Band until 2009, when friend of the blog Jeff Fraum and his wife requested it when the Working on a Dream Tour stopped at the United Center in Chicago. (You can see them in the video below–the audio of the song itself is distorted, but it’s always fun to see fan reactions when their request gets honored.)
That performance was impromptu and charmingly loose–but just over a month later, Bruce had a perfect opportunity for a fully rehearsed second shot at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame’s 25th Anniversary Concert.
During the first of a pair of concerts that featured an outstanding array of talent and team-ups, Bruce invited Darlene Love to the stage to sing one of her greatest hits.
Ironically, though, “Da Doo Ron Ron” doesn’t actually feature Darlene’s vocals. The Crystals’ membership was fluid during those years, and though Love claims to have recorded the lead vocal for the original single, it appears that Phil Spector replaced her lead vocal with La La Brooks’ instead.
Over the years, varying accounts have credited Love with lead vocals or backing vocals, but it’s difficult to tell whether her vocals are anywhere to be found on the original single. Regardless, though, the song has come to be associated with her, and her one-time-only performance of it with the E Street Band was a highlight of that first Hall of Fame show.
Da Doo Ron Ron
First performed: September 20, 2009 (Chicago, IL)
Last performed: October 29, 2009 (New York City, NY)
