The Crystal Mansion's relatively short story is that of a white R&B band moving towards groovy psychedelic rock in the '70s. . The origins of the band are found in a cover band called the Secrets that existed from 1962 to 1968. The original setting included drummer Rick Morley and guitarist Ronnie Gentile. Later singer Johnny Caswell and organist Sal Rota were recruited. In 1968, they changed their name to The Crystal Mansion and released "The Thought of Loving You," on Capitol Records, written and co-produced by Dave White, their first single to get national airplay. "The Thought of Loving You" reached # 1 in L.A. and was covered by The Manhattan Transfer, Cher, Spiral Starecase, Lou Christy, Astrud ilberto and Wayne Newton. Capitol  showed interest and financed an album for the band. Bassist, Fred Faulkner was eventually replaced by Billy Crawford. In 1970 the single "Carolina in My Mind" was released, and reached number 44 on the national charts. This song hinted a shift towards pop. Percussionist Mario Sanchez and keyboardist Pete Iannetti were added in 1971 and in 1972 the album Crystal Mansion  was released on the Motown label Rare Earth. This time the group made much more use of their funky qualities but also showed strong influences from the psychedelic and progressive rock scene. In 1978  they recorded an album for Fox, called "Tickets," produced by Brooks Arthur. Ronnie Gentile was replaced by Tommy Herzer and  Dave White  joined the band.