by NoRegrets 9 Replies latest social entertainment
Anyone else ever hear the JW urban legend that Tommy James of Tommy James and the Shondells was a JW for a time and that his song Crystal Blue Persuasion was referring to the Truth book. I find no conformation of this or of Tommy James ever being affiliated with the WT but was curious if anyone had ever heard this.
NR
Oh yea that was the rumor in the day, geez did we sell a ton of those at .25.
I heard the rumor. It must have been fifteen or more years ago that I heard it from one sister. I heard it only once.
I've been doing some online searching and can't find any legitmacy to it. All I can find is that he wrote the song after he became a Christian and it was inspired a chapter of Revelation. I'll keep digging, but I doubt he was ever a JW.
NoRe- it was just in the JW rumor mill back then, we all wanted to rub shoulders with the Famous. Dylan's 'All Along The Watchtower' had the same rumors going for it.
I hear that Elvis Presley's In the Ghetto was really about serving time in Bethel. Elvis apparently never got over the Watchtower's rejection of his application to serve at Bethel. He dedicated at least 3 of his other songs to his bitter experience: All Shook Up (a song about his difficulties coming to terms with the rejection), Suspicious Minds (the brothers remained highly suspicious of his motives for applying) and If I Can Dream (finally coming to terms with being rejected, he consoled himself by dreaming about being accepted for a post in bethel. The poor man died with his dearest wish unfulfilled. I hope there's a Las Vegas in the new system because at least one resurrectee will be hot to trot on the stage when life is breathed back into him...
Tommy James wrote a book in 2010 titled "Me, The Mob, & The Music". A friend of mine lent it to me and it was a great read. Tells about his entire life and career. He also tells how the song Crystal Blue Persuasion came to be and it his explanation has nothing to do with the JW's......unless he wants to hide a part of his life.
HappyDad
Here is what Wikipedia says....
"Crystal Blue Persuasion" is a 1969 song originally recorded by Tommy James and the Shondells and composed by Eddie Gray, Tommy James and Mike Vale.
A gentle-tempoed groove, "Crystal Blue Persuasion" was built around a prominent organ part with an understated arrangement, more akin to The Rascals' sound at the time rather than James's other efforts of the time with psychedelic rock.
It also included a melodic passages for an acoustic guitar, as well as a bass pattern, played between the bridge, and the third verse of the song.
The title of the song came to James while he was reading The Bible's Book of Revelation, according to James in a 1985 interview in Hitch magazine:
I took the title from the Book of Revelations[sic] in the Bible, reading about the New Jerusalem. The words jumped out at me, and they're not together; they're spread out over three or four verses. But it seemed to go together, it's my favorite of all my songs and one of our most requested.[1]
With an appropriate lighting scheme, the 2000s edition of Tommy James and the Shondells perform "Crystal Blue Persuasion"
However, according to James's manager, James was actually inspired by his reading of the Book of Ezekiel where it speaks of the Blue Shekinah Light which represented the presence of the Almighty God and the Books of Isaiah and Revelation where it speaks of a bright future of a brotherhood of mankind living in peace and harmony.[2]
Thanks Happy Dad and BTW I love your profile pic!
NR
why don't they add it to the new song book.
