Crystal Blue Persuasion

"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 than to James's contemporary efforts with psychedelic rock. It included melodic passages for an acoustic guitar, as well as a bass pattern, played between the bridge, and the third verse of the song.

In a 1985 interview in Hitch magazine, James said the title of the song came to him while he was reading the Bible's Book of Revelation:

I took the title from the Book of Revelations 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.

However, according to James's manager, James was actually inspired by his readings of the Book of Ezekiel, which (he remembered as) speaking of a blue Shekhinah light that represented the presence of the Almighty God, and of the Book of Isaiah and Book of Revelation, which tell of a future age of brotherhood of mankind, living in peace and harmony.

Many listeners thought "Crystal Blue Persuasion" was a drug song advocating the use of "crystal meth" (Methamphetamine), while on the West Coast-- where at the time of the song's release there were several popular types of high quality blue-colored LSD tablets in circulation--listeners generally assumed James was referring to "acid". In 1979, noted music writer Dave Marsh described it as "a transparent allegory about James' involvement with amphetamines." However, until the Controlled Substances Act (CSA) was enacted into law by the Congress of the United States as Title II of the Comprehensive Drug Abuse Prevention and Control Act of 1970, most illicit amphetamine use involved the more readily available pharmaceutical-grade pill form rather than the then-rare "crystal meth" form. It was after the pill form became harder to obtain on the street (with enforcement of the CSA) that "crystal meth" rose in popularity. Thus it is unlikely that "Crystal Blue Persuasion", written before 1970, would refer to "crystal meth". Moreover, until the mid-1970s methamphetamine was most commonly called "speed" or, in the case of cheap home-brewed product, "crank"; the term "methedrine", under which name it was once commercially manufactured, was generally used instead of "methamphetamine", the term that became common after the drug's resurgence in the 1980s.

When released as a single in June 1969, "Crystal Blue Persuasion" became one of the biggest hits for the group, peaking at number two on the Billboard Pop Singles chart. The single version differs from the album version of the song with horn overdubs added to the mix and a longer bongos overdub before the third verse.

A primitive non-representational music video was made, that showed various scenes of late 1960s political and cultural unrest and imagery of love and peace.

Tito Puente, The Heptones, Morcheeba and John Wesley Harding are among those who have covered the song.