Tommy James & The Shondells is known in music history as the group that brought such classics as “Crimson and Clover,” “Crystal Blue Persuassion,” and “Mony Mony.”In a revealing and intimate interview with the website SongFacts, James offers a preview of his forthcoming autobiography, “Me, The Mob, and The Music.” The book has already been optioned for a movie by Martin Scorsese.In the interview, James reveals some very interesting facts, including how he became a Christian and how the mob was involved in his career. I’ve recapped some here, but mke sure you check out the whole interview at SongFacts; it’s very indepth. And here, you can listen to “Crystal Blue Persuassion” while you read:

• When his first record, “Hanky Panky” broke out in Pittsburgh, he was called to NY to talk to labels. He grabbed the first bar band he could find to back him – and they became The Shondells.
• The band’s label, Roulette, was a front for the Genovese crime family in New York, who financed and ran the label. When James went to NY to meet with labels, all of the majors passed, after getting a call from Morris Levy at Roulette, who laid claim to the band and scared off any competition.
• What, exactly, does “Mony” mean? It’s the acronym for Mutual of New York Insurance Company.

He and his songwriting partner, Ritchie Cordell, were in his apartment at 888 Eighth Avenue in New York, trying to come up with a two-syllable word for a party song they were writing. Taking a break, they went out on his terrace, where they had a perfect view of the Mutual of New York Insurance Company sign.

• The band was invited to play at Woodstock. At the time, they were in Hawaii on a two week break, enjoying life in a mansion at the foot of Diamond Head. When his secretary called with the invite to Woodstock, James replied, “Did I hear you right? Did you say would I leave paradise, fly 6,000 miles, and play a pig farm? Is that what you just asked me?” When his secretary explained that the festival was going to be a big deal, James replied, “Well, I’ll tell you what, if I’m not there, start without us, will you please?” By the end of the week, he knew the band had missed something big. “But,” he tells SongFacts, “in the end I think I got probably more mileage out of that story.”
• The song “Crystal Blue Persuassion” was written when James was becoming a Christian. The title is a reference to Chapter 19 of the Book of Revelation, when John talks about the Lake of Crystal. “The imagery was right there,” James explains. “‘Crystal blue persuasion,’ although those words aren’t used together, it was kind of what the image meant to me.”
• The line from the song, “It’s a new vibration” isn’t a reference to drugs; it’s a reference to his new Christian faith.
• All of the guys in the band eventually became Christians. “And we’re very proud of it,” James says, “And ‘Crystal Blue Persuasion’ was our way of saying that in a kind of pop record way.”
• “Sweet Cherry Wine” is a metaphor for the blood of Jesus.
• In 1967, while writing songs, James was listening to a televised event with Billy Graham at Shea Stadium. He put down his guitar and started listening to Graham. “And he just gave the most amazingly lucid teaching on why Jesus came,” James says. “I had never heard it put quite that way before.”
• When asked in the interview if he found his drug use and new faith at odds, James replies, “Oh, God, yes. I mean, the point was that the message of the gospel cut right through all that for me. And unfortunately I didn’t quit doing drugs for several more years, but the point was that God never let go of me.”
• And perhaps my favorite quote: “Well, I don’t worship every Sunday; I worship every day. Every hour of every day.”

There is a whole lot more in the interview about Tommy James’ music, so visit SongFacts.com for the rest of the story.Got a gospel or Christian music news tip? Send me an email!Click here to subscribe to Gospel Soundcheck by email and have the Gospel Soundcheck headlines delivered daily to your email inbox. And don’t forget to follow me on Twitter!