Crimson And Clover

Crimson and Clover

Mike Pachelli takes a look at the 1968 song, “Crimson And Clover,” by Tommy James and The Shondells.

This song is an amazing lesson in simplicity and ingenuity! It’s based on three simple chords, but it has a key change and four tempo changes! Tommy James wrote “Crimson And Clover” because he wanted to change the direction of his group’s style after their mega hit, “Mony Mony.” He came up with the title and then proceeded to write the song. Tommy recorded the demo in 5 hours and played all the instruments except bass & drums.

A few days later, he played a rough mix, off the air, for a DJ at WLS. Without Tommy knowing, the radio station recorded the song, and then played the song as a world exclusive. The response was so great that Roulette Records released the rough mix as the final version, and “Crimson And Clover” became a smash hit and sold 5.5 million copies!

Mike plays a Gibson Les Paul Standard in the lesson.

Mike Pachelli started playing guitar as a youngster in his hometown of Youngstown, Ohio. His earliest influence was Wes Montgomery who Mike says, "first opened my ears to the possibilities on guitar." Pachelli studied classical guitar at YSU and then moved to New York City to study bebop with guitar luminaries Joe Pass and Pat Martino. Mike's guitar style is an amalgamation of blues, jazz, rock, and neo-classical. He has a wealth of musical experience gained thru years of night clubs, concert halls, and recording studios. He's performed all over the U.S. and Europe with some of the most eclectic jazz, blues, pop and rock musicians including Brother Jack McDuff, Albert King, Les & Larry Elgart, Michael Sembello, Crystal Gayle, Barbara Mandrell, Jeanne Mas, Phil Keaggy, Frank Stallone (to name a few) and has done classical symphony concerts touring with Ferrante and Teicher.