Phil Spector
Encyclopedia
Phillip Harvey "Phil" Spector (born Harvey Phillip Spector on December 26, 1939) is an American record producer
and songwriter, later known for his conviction in the murder of actress Lana Clarkson
.
The originator of the "Wall of Sound
" production technique, Spector was a pioneer of the 1960s girl-group
sound and produced over 25 Top 40 hits in 1960–1965. After this initial success, Spector later worked with artists including Ike and Tina Turner, John Lennon
, George Harrison
, and the Ramones
with similar acclaim. He produced The Beatles
' Academy Award winning album Let It Be, and the Grammy Award–winning Concert for Bangladesh
by former Beatle George Harrison
. In 1989, Spector was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
as a non-performer. The 1965 song "You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'
", produced and co-written by Spector for The Righteous Brothers
, is listed by BMI
as the song with the most U.S. airplay in the 20th century.
The 2003 shooting death of actress Lana Clarkson in his Alhambra, California
home led to his 2009 conviction of murder
in the second degree. He is serving a prison sentence of 19 years to life.
.
's version of the traditional song "Rock Island Line
" at a talent show at his high school, Fairfax High School
. While at Fairfax, he joined a loosely knit community of aspiring musicians, including Lou Adler
, Bruce Johnston
, Steve Douglas
, and Sandy Nelson
, the last of whom played drums on Spector's first record release, "To Know Him Is to Love Him
".
, Spector formed a group, The Teddy Bears. During this period, Spector also began visiting local recording studios, and he eventually managed to win the confidence of record producer Stan Ross, coowner of Gold Star Studios
in Hollywood, who began to tutor the young man in record production and who exerted a major influence on Spector's production style. By early 1958, Spector and his bandmates had raised enough money to buy two hours of recording time at Gold Star. With Spector producing, the Teddy Bears recorded the Spector-penned "Don't You Worry My Little Pet", which helped them secure a deal with Era Records. At their next session, they recorded another song Spector had written — this one inspired by the epitaph
on Spector's father's tombstone. Released on Era's
subsidiary label, Dore Records, "To Know Him Is to Love Him
" went to #1 on Billboard Hot 100
singles chart, selling over a million copies by year's end. It was the seventh number one single on the newly formed chart.
Following the success of their debut, the group signed with Imperial Records
, but their next single, "I Don't Need You Anymore" only reached #91. While several more recordings were released, including an album The Teddy Bears Sing!, the group never again charted in the Hot 100. The Teddy Bears went their separate ways in 1959.
, a former promotion man who was a mentor to Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller. His next project, the Spectors Three, was undertaken under the aegis of Sill and his partner, Lee Hazlewood
. In 1960, Sill arranged for Spector to work as an apprentice to Leiber and Stoller in New York.
Spector quickly learned how to use a studio. He co-wrote the Ben E. King
Top 10 hit "Spanish Harlem
" with Jerry Leiber and also worked as a session musician, most notably playing the guitar solo on the Drifters
' song, "On Broadway". His own productions during this time, while less conspicuous, included releases by LaVern Baker
, Ruth Brown
, and Billy Storm, as well as the Top Notes' original version of "Twist and Shout
". Leiber and Stoller recommended Spector to produce Ray Peterson
's "Corrina, Corrina
", which reached #9 in January 1961. Later, he produced another major hit for Curtis Lee
, "Pretty Little Angel Eyes", which made it to #7. Returning to Hollywood, Spector agreed to produce one of Lester Sill's acts. After both Liberty Records
and Capitol Records
turned down the master of "Be My Boy" by the Paris Sisters, Sill formed a new label, Gregmark Records
, with Lee Hazlewood
and released it. It only managed to reach #56, but the follow-up, "I Love How You Love Me
", was a smash, reaching #5.
combined the names of its two founders. Through Hill and Range Publishers, Spector found three groups he wanted to produce: the Ducanes, the Creations, and The Crystals
. The first two signed with other companies, but Spector managed to secure the Crystals for his new label. Their first single, "There's No Other (Like My Baby)
" was a success, hitting #20. Their next release, "Uptown", made it to #13.
Spector continued to work freelance with other artists. In 1962, he produced "Second Hand Love" by Connie Francis
, which reached #7. In the early 1960s, he briefly worked with Atlantic Records
' R&B artists Ruth Brown
and LaVerne Baker. Ahmet Ertegün
of Atlantic paired Spector with Broadway
star Jean DuShon for "Talk to Me", the B-side
of which was "Tired of Trying", written by DuShon.
Spector briefly took a job as head of A&R
for Liberty Records
. It was while working at Liberty that he heard a song written by Gene Pitney
, for whom he had produced a #41 hit, "Every Breath I Take", a year earlier. "He's a Rebel
" was due to be released on Liberty by Vikki Carr
, but Spector rushed into Gold Star Studios and recorded a cover version using Darlene Love
and the Blossoms on lead vocals. The record was released on Philles, attributed to the Crystals, and quickly rose to the top of the charts.
By the time "He's a Rebel" went to #1, Lester Sill was out of the company, and Spector had Philles all to himself. He created a new act, Bob B. Soxx & the Blue Jeans
, featuring Darlene Love, Fanita James (a member of the Blossoms), and Bobby Sheen, a singer he had worked with at Liberty. The group had hits with "Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah
" (#8), "Why Do Lovers Break Each Other’s Hearts?" (#38), and "Not Too Young To Get Married" (#63). Spector also released solo material by Darlene Love in 1963. In the same year, he released "Be My Baby
" by the Ronettes, which went to #2.
Although predominantly a singles-based label, Philles released a few albums, one of which was the perennial seller A Christmas Gift for You from Philles Records in 1963.
, a production technique yielding a dense, layered effect that reproduced well on AM radio and jukebox
es. To attain this signature sound, Spector gathered large groups of musicians (playing some instruments not generally used for ensemble playing, such as electric
and acoustic guitars) playing orchestrated parts — often doubling and tripling many instruments playing in unison
— for a fuller sound. Spector himself called his technique "a Wagnerian approach to rock & roll: little symphonies for the kids".
While Spector directed the overall sound of his recordings, he took a relatively hands-off approach to working with the musicians themselves (usually a core group that became known as The Wrecking Crew
, including session players such as Hal Blaine
, Larry Knechtel
, Steve Douglas
, Carol Kaye
, Roy Caton, Glen Campbell
, and Leon Russell
), delegating arrangement duties to Jack Nitzsche
and having Sonny Bono
oversee the performances, viewing these two as his "lieutenants".
Spector frequently used songs from songwriters employed at the Brill Building
(Trio Music) and at 1650 Broadway (Aldon Music), such as the teams of Ellie Greenwich
and Jeff Barry
, Barry Mann
and Cynthia Weil
, and Gerry Goffin
and Carole King
. Spector often worked with the songwriters, receiving co-credit and publishing royalties for compositions.
Spector was already known as a temperamental and quirky personality with strong, often unconventional ideas about musical and recording techniques. Despite the trend towards multichannel recording, Spector was vehemently opposed to stereo
releases, claiming that it took control of the record's sound away from the producer in favor of the listener. Spector was more concerned with the overall collage of sound than with the recording fidelity or timbral quality. Sometimes a pair of strings or horns would be double-tracked multiple times to sound like an entire string or horn section. But in the final product the background sometimes could not be distinguished as either horns or strings. Spector also greatly preferred singles to albums, describing LPs
as "two hits and ten pieces of junk", reflecting both his commercial methods and those of many other producers at the time.
The first time Spector put the same amount of effort into an LP as he did into 45s
was when he utilized the full Philles roster and the Wrecking Crew to make what he felt would become a hit for the 1963 Christmas season. A Christmas Gift for You from Philles Records arrived in stores the day of the assassination of President Kennedy
on November 22, 1963. The somber mood of the country may have contributed to the album being a flop in its initial release. Despite its initially poor reception, selections from the album are now Yuletide mainstays on radio stations, and the album has since been a regular seller during the holiday season.
, near San Francisco. Also on the bill were the Righteous Brothers. Spector, who was conducting the band for all the acts, was so impressed with Bill Medley
and Bobby Hatfield
that he bought their contract from Moonglow Records
and signed them to Philles. In early 1965, "You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'
", became the label's second #1 single. Three more major hits with the group followed: "Just Once in My Life
" (#9), "Unchained Melody
" (originally the B side of "Hung On You") (#4) and "Ebb Tide" (#5). Despite having hits, Spector lost interest in producing the Righteous Brothers, and sold their contract and all their master recordings to Verve Records
. However, the sound of the Righteous Brothers' singles was so distinctive that the act chose to replicate it after leaving Spector, notching a second #1 hit in 1966 with the Bill Medley-produced, "(You're My) Soul and Inspiration".
The Spector-produced recording of "Unchained Melody
" had a second wave of popularity 25 years after its initial release, when it was featured prominently in the 1990 hit movie, Ghost
. A re-release of the single re-charted on the Billboard
Hot 100
, and went to number one on the Adult Contemporary charts
. This also put Spector (as a producer) back on the U.S. Top 40 charts for the first time since his last appearance in 1971 with John Lennon
's "Imagine
", although he did have U.K. top 40 hits in the interim with the Ramones
.
Spector's final signing to Philles was the husband-and-wife team of Ike and Tina Turner in 1966. Spector considered their recording of "River Deep – Mountain High", to be his best work, but it failed to go any higher than #88 in the United States. The single, which was essentially a solo Tina Turner
record, was more successful in Britain
, reaching #3.
Spector subsequently lost enthusiasm for his label and the recording industry. Already something of a recluse
, he withdrew temporarily from the public eye, marrying Veronica "Ronnie" Bennett
, lead singer of the Ronettes, in 1968. Spector emerged briefly for a cameo as a drug dealer in the film Easy Rider
, in 1969. (He had also, in 1967, appeared as himself in an episode of I Dream of Jeannie
.)
. A Ronettes single, "You Came, You Saw, You Conquered" flopped, but Spector returned to the Hot 100 with "Black Pearl", by Sonny Charles
and the Checkmates, Ltd.
. The record reached #13.
In 1970, Allen Klein
, manager of the Beatles, brought Spector to England. While producing John Lennon
's hit solo single "Instant Karma!
", which went to #3, Spector was invited by Lennon and George Harrison
to take on the task of turning the Beatles' abandoned "Get Back
" recording sessions into a usable album. Spector went to work using many of his production techniques, making significant changes to the arrangements and sound of some songs. The resulting album, Let It Be, was a massive commercial success and topped the US and UK charts. The album also yielded three #1 singles: "Get Back
", "The Long and Winding Road
" and "Let It Be
". His overdubbing of "The Long and Winding Road" infuriated its composer, Paul McCartney
, especially since the work was allegedly completed without his knowledge and without any opportunity for him to assess the results. In 2003, McCartney spearheaded the release of Let It Be... Naked, which stripped the songs of Spector's input. Spector later stated that McCartney's complaints were "bullshit": it had not stopped McCartney from accepting the "Best Musical Score" award at the 1971 Academy Awards
for the Let It Be soundtrack.
John Lennon and George Harrison
were satisfied with the results, and Let It Be led to Spector co-producing albums with both ex-Beatles. For George Harrison's multiplatinum album All Things Must Pass
(#1, 1970), Spector provided a cathedral-like sonic ambiance, complete with ornate orchestrations and gospel-like choirs. The LP yielded two major hits: "My Sweet Lord
" (#1) and "What Is Life
" (#10). That same year, Spector co-produced John Lennon's Plastic Ono Band
(#6) album, which featured a very different, sparse and raw sound.
In 1971, Spector was named director of A&R for Apple Records
. He held the post for only a year, but during that time he co-produced the single "Power to the People
" with John Lennon (#11), as well as Lennon's chart-topping Imagine
album. The album's title track hit #3 upon its release and #1 after Lennon's murder in 1980. With George Harrison, Spector co-produced Harrison's "Bangla-Desh" (a #23 hit) and wife Ronnie Spector's "Try Some, Buy Some
" (#77). Also that year, Spector recorded the music for the #1 triple album The Concert For Bangladesh
. The album later won the "Album of the Year" award at the 1972 Grammys. Despite being recorded live, Spector used up to 44 microphones simultaneously to create his trademark Wall of Sound.
Lennon retained Spector for the 1971 Christmas
single "Happy Xmas (War Is Over)
" and the poorly-reviewed 1972 album Some Time In New York City
(#48). Similar to the unusual pattern of success that Spector's A Christmas Gift for You from Philles Records experienced, "Happy Xmas (War Is Over)" also stalled in sales upon its initial release, only later to become a fixture on radio station playlists during the holiday season. In 1973, Spector participated in the recording sessions for what would be Lennon's Rock 'n' Roll
album (#6). It was during these sessions that Spector's relationship with Lennon became strained; some versions claim that the producer suffered a breakdown in the studio, brandishing a gun and disappearing with the Rock 'n' Roll tapes, although Spector biographer Dave Thompson places most of the blame on the out-of-control behavior of Lennon and his entourage. After several months, Lennon retrieved the tapes and finished the album himself. In the years following the debacle, however, Spector maintained contact with Lennon, and the former Beatle had planned on recording with him again.
The 1974 accident took place shortly after Spector had established the Warner-Spector
label with Warner Bros. Records
, which undertook new recordings with Dion
, Cher
, Harry Nilsson
and others, as well as several reissues. A similar relationship with Britain's Polydor Records
led to the formation of the Phil Spector International label in 1975.
After a pair of failed singles with Cher
, Spector produced Dion’s Born to Be with You
. Despite lukewarm reviews, artists like Bruce Springsteen
heralded the album as a masterpiece.
The majority of Spector's classic Philles recordings had been out of print in the U.S. since the original label's demise, although Spector had released several Philles Records compilations in Britain. Finally, he released an American compilation of his Philles recordings in 1977, which put most of the better known Spector hits back into circulation after many years.
Spector began to reemerge in the late 1970s, producing and co-writing a controversial 1977 album by Leonard Cohen
, entitled Death of a Ladies' Man
. The album angered many devout Cohen fans who were used to his stark acoustic sound versus the orchestral and choral wall of sound the album contains. The recording of the album was fraught with difficulty. After Cohen had laid down practice vocal tracks, Spector reportedly mixed the album in "secret" studio sessions, literally locking Cohen, who usually took a strong role in the mixing, out of the studio. Cohen said Spector once threatened him with a crossbow
, a claim, according to newspaper reports, others would make about their dealings with Spector. Cohen has remarked that the end result is "grotesque", but also "semi-virtuous". Cohen, however, still includes a reworked version of the track "Memories" in live concerts. Bob Dylan
and Allen Ginsberg
also participated in the background vocals on "Don't Go Home With Your Hard-On", which is the second time Spector indirectly "produced" Dylan – the first being Dylan's live recordings on The Concert For Bangladesh.
Spector also produced the much-publicized Ramones
album, End of the Century
in 1980. As with his work with Leonard Cohen, End of the Century received negative backlash from Ramones fans who were angered over the radio-friendly sound of the album. However, End of the Century contains some of the best known and most successful Ramones singles such as "Rock 'n' Roll High School
", "Do You Remember Rock 'n' Roll Radio?
" and their cover of a previously released Spector song for the Ronettes, "Baby, I Love You
." Guitarist Johnny Ramone
later commented on working with Spector on the recording of the album, "It really worked when he got to a slower song like 'Danny Says
' — the production really worked tremendously. For the harder stuff, it didn't work as well."
Rumors had circulated for years that Spector had threatened members of the Ramones with a gun during the sessions. Johnny Ramone
remembered a meeting at Spector's home in which the producer became upset when they tried to leave. "And then he reaches into his jacket pocket and well, he pulls out a gun, puts it on the table right in front of us, and says, 'You guys don't really have to go yet, do you?'" Drummer Marky Ramone
recalled in 2008, "They (guns) were there but he had a license to carry. He never held us hostage. We could have left at any time".
Spector worked with Yoko Ono
in 1981, and co-produced Season of Glass
, her first work after the death of her husband, John Lennon
.
on her album Falling Into You
, but that fell through. His most recent released project has been Silence Is Easy
by Starsailor
, released in 2003. He was originally supposed to produce the entire album, but was fired owing to personal and creative differences — however, one of the two Spector-produced songs on the album was a UK top 10 single.
Spector produced singer-songwriter Hargo's track, "Crying For John Lennon", which originally appears on Hargo's 2006 album In Your Eyes, but on a visit to Spector's mansion for an interview for the John Lennon tribute movie, Strawberry Fields, Hargo played Spector the song and asked him to produce it. Spector and former Paul McCartney drummer Graham Ward
produced it in the classic Wall of Sound
style on nights after his first murder trial.
In December 2007, the song "B Boy Baby
" by Mutya Buena
and Amy Winehouse
featured melodic and lyrical passages heavily influenced by the Ronettes song "Be My Baby
". As a result, Spector was given a songwriting credit on the single. The sections from "Be My Baby" are sung by Winehouse, not directly sampled from the mono single. Winehouse had made reference to her admiration of Spector's work with 1960s girl groups. She often performed Spector's first hit song, "To Know Him Is to Love Him
".
Also in December 2007, Spector attended the funeral for Ike Turner
whom he previously produced in the mid-late 1960s with his then-wife Tina Turner
. While delivering a eulogy, Spector lashed out at Tina and stated that "Ike made Tina the jewel she was. When I went to see Ike play at the Cinegrill in the 90s…there were at least five Tina Turners on the stage performing that night, any one of them could have been Tina Turner." Spector then lashed out at Oprah Winfrey
for promoting Tina Turner's autobiography that "demonized and vilified Ike."
In mid-April 2008, BBC 2 broadcast a special entitled Phil Spector: The Agony and The Ecstasy. It consists of Spector's first screen interview — breaking a long period of media silence. During the conversation, images from the murder court case are juxtaposed with live appearances of his tracks on television programs from the 1960s and 1970s, along with subtitles giving critical interpretation of some of his song production values. While he does not directly try to clear his name, the court case proceedings shown try to give further explanation of the facts surrounding the murder charges that were leveled against him. He also speaks about the musical instincts that led him to create some of his most enduring hit records, from "You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'
" to "River Deep, Mountain High", as well as The Beatles
album Let It Be, along with criticisms he feels he has had to deal with throughout his life.
of the Beach Boys—a fellow adherent of mono recording—considered Spector his main competition as a studio artist, going so far as to name the acclaimed Pet Sounds
album using Spector's initials. Bruce Springsteen
emulated the Wall of Sound technique in his recording of "Born to Run
". Shoegazing
, a British musical movement in the late 1980s and mid 1990s, was heavily influenced by the Wall of Sound. British band Wizzard
led by Roy Wood
back in 1973 had 3 heavily Spector influenced hits with See My Baby Jive (UK #1), Angel Fingers (UK #1) and I Wish It Could Be Christmas Everyday (UK #4), the latter becoming a perennial Christmas hit.
For his contributions to the music industry, Spector was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
in 1989. In 1997, he was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame
. In 2004, Rolling Stone magazine ranked him #63 on their list of the "Greatest Artists of All Time".
Spector's early musical influences included Latin music in general, and Latin percussion
in particular. This is keenly perceptible in many, if not all, of Spector's recordings from the percussion in many of his hit songs: shakers, güiros (gourds), and maracas in "Be My Baby," and the son montuno
in "You've Lost That Lovin' Feeling," heard clearly in the song's bridge played by session bassist Carol Kaye
while the same repeating refrain is played on harpsichord by keyboardist Larry Knechtel
. Spector would visit Spanish Harlem
clubs and schools to hone his listening and practical skills.
The Beach Boys
paid tribute to Spector in the lyrics of their song "Mona": "Come on/Listen to 'Da Doo Ron Ron
,' now/Listen to 'Be My Baby
'/I know you're gonna love Phil Spector".
The character of Ronnie "Z-Man" Barzell in Beyond the Valley of the Dolls
, a 1970 Russ Meyer
film, is based upon Spector, though neither Meyer nor screenwriter Roger Ebert
had met him.
In Brian De Palma
's film Phantom of the Paradise
(1974), the villainous character Swan (played by Paul Williams
) was purportedly inspired by Spector. A music producer and head of a record label, Swan was named "Spectre" in original drafts of the film's screenplay.
The character of Harv Stevens in the 2009 independent short film A Reasonable Man was reportedly based on Phil Spector. The film examines his relationship with John Lennon.
was found dead, killed by a firearm
, in Spector's mansion in Alhambra, California
. Spector stated that Clarkson's death was an "accidental suicide
" and that she "kissed the gun". The emergency call from Spector's home, made by Spector's driver Adriano De Souza, quotes Spector as saying, "I think I've killed someone." According to some women who were said to have met Spector, there would come a point when they wanted to leave Spector's home, whereupon he would hold them at gunpoint. The prosecution argued that the testimony of the other women was important in order to demonstrate a "common plan or scheme". The defense sought to prevent the women from providing such testimony. Though the law in California and other states generally forbids the introduction of evidence showing a defendant's previous bad acts, the judge sided with the prosecutors and ruled that the testimony of the other women "can be used to show lack of accident or mistake".
Prior to and during the first trial, Spector went through at least three sets of attorneys. Defense attorney Robert Shapiro represented Spector at the arraignment
and early pretrial hearings and achieved his release on $1 million bail. Bruce Cutler
represented him during the 2007 trial, but withdrew on August 27, 2007, claiming "a difference of opinion between Mr. Spector and me on strategy." Attorney Linda Kenney Baden then became lead lawyer for closing arguments.
's office claimed could prove Spector's guilt. On September 26, 2007, Judge Fidler declared a mistrial because of a hung jury
(10 to 2 for conviction).
During the trial, defense expert Dr. Vincent DiMaio asserted that Spector may be suffering from Parkinson's disease
, stating: "Look at Mr. Spector. He has Parkinson's features. He trembles."
.
The California Court of Appeal
affirmed Spector's conviction in May 2011 and denied his request for a rehearing of the appeal shortly thereafter. On August 17, 2011 the California Supreme Court refused to review the Court of Appeal's decision to affirm his conviction. (S193961 Petition for review denied).
Spector is serving his sentence at the California Substance Abuse Treatment Facility and State Prison
(SATF) in Corcoran, California
. Although it is in Corcoran, it is a separate facility from California State Prison, Corcoran
. Spector will be 88 years old before becoming eligible for parole.
Spector's second and final marriage was to Veronica Bennett, later known as Ronnie Spector
. The marriage lasted from 1966 to 1974. Ronnie Spector
was the lead singer of the girl group
, the Ronettes
(another group Spector managed and produced). The two adopted three children: twins Louis Phillip Spector and Gary Phillip Spector (born May 12, 1966; adopted at age 5) and Donté Phillip Spector (born March 23, 1969; adopted at age 8 months).
In 1982, Spector had twins with then-girlfriend, Janis Zavala: Nicole Audrey Spector and Phillip Spector, Jr. (born October 18, 1982). Phillip Spector, Jr. died of leukemia
on Christmas Day, 1991
Season 3, episode 6 "Jeannie, the Hip Hippie"
Director: Hal Cooper
Writer: Christopher Golato (a pen-name used by Sidney Sheldon)
October 17, 1967
Dr. Bellows cancels Tony's camping vacation when his wife cannot find a band to play at a function. Jeannie picks 4 guys (played by Boyce and Hart along with William Lewis and Steve O'Reilly) and uses her magic to make them play. Phil Spector, who is credited in this episode as "Steve Davis", guest stars as himself. Boyce and Hart also perform the tune, "Out and About", which reached number 39 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1967.
Record producer
A record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music...
and songwriter, later known for his conviction in the murder of actress Lana Clarkson
Lana Clarkson
Lana Jean Clarkson was an American actress and fashion model. Clarkson was a native of Los Angeles County. She played roles in science fiction and fantasy movies. She was murdered by songwriter and producer Phil Spector, who was convicted of the crime on April 13, 2009.-Early life:Born in Long...
.
The originator of the "Wall of Sound
Wall of Sound
The Wall of Sound is a music production technique for pop and rock music recordings developed by record producer Phil Spector at Gold Star Studios in Los Angeles, California, during the early 1960s...
" production technique, Spector was a pioneer of the 1960s girl-group
Girl group
A girl group is a popular music act featuring several young female singers who generally harmonise together.Girl groups emerged in the late 1950s as groups of young singers teamed up with behind-the-scenes songwriters and music producers to create hit singles, often featuring glossy production...
sound and produced over 25 Top 40 hits in 1960–1965. After this initial success, Spector later worked with artists including Ike and Tina Turner, John Lennon
John Lennon
John Winston Lennon, MBE was an English musician and singer-songwriter who rose to worldwide fame as one of the founding members of The Beatles, one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music...
, George Harrison
George Harrison
George Harrison, MBE was an English musician, guitarist, singer-songwriter, actor and film producer who achieved international fame as lead guitarist of The Beatles. Often referred to as "the quiet Beatle", Harrison became over time an admirer of Indian mysticism, and introduced it to the other...
, and the Ramones
Ramones
The Ramones were an American rock band that formed in the New York City neighborhood of Forest Hills, Queens, in 1974. They are often cited as the first punk rock group...
with similar acclaim. He produced The Beatles
The Beatles
The Beatles were an English rock band, active throughout the 1960s and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. Formed in Liverpool, by 1962 the group consisted of John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr...
' Academy Award winning album Let It Be, and the Grammy Award–winning Concert for Bangladesh
The Concert for Bangla Desh
The Concert for Bangladesh is a live triple album and double DVD by George Harrison and celebrity friends performed in aid of the homeless Bengali refugees of the 1971 Bangladesh Liberation War...
by former Beatle George Harrison
George Harrison
George Harrison, MBE was an English musician, guitarist, singer-songwriter, actor and film producer who achieved international fame as lead guitarist of The Beatles. Often referred to as "the quiet Beatle", Harrison became over time an admirer of Indian mysticism, and introduced it to the other...
. In 1989, Spector was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum is a museum located on the shore of Lake Erie in downtown Cleveland, Ohio, United States. It is dedicated to archiving the history of some of the best-known and most influential artists, producers, engineers and others who have, in some major way,...
as a non-performer. The 1965 song "You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'
You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'
"You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin" is a 1964 song by The Righteous Brothers which became a number-one hit single in the United States and the United Kingdom the following year. In 1999, the performing-rights organization Broadcast Music, Inc. ranked the song as having had more radio and television...
", produced and co-written by Spector for The Righteous Brothers
The Righteous Brothers
The Righteous Brothers were the musical duo of Bill Medley and Bobby Hatfield. They recorded from 1963 through 1975, and continued to perform until Hatfield's death in 2003...
, is listed by BMI
Broadcast Music Incorporated
Broadcast Music, Inc. is one of three United States performing rights organizations, along with ASCAP and SESAC. It collects license fees on behalf of songwriters, composers, and music publishers and distributes them as royalties to those members whose works have been performed...
as the song with the most U.S. airplay in the 20th century.
The 2003 shooting death of actress Lana Clarkson in his Alhambra, California
Alhambra, California
Alhambra is a city located in the western San Gabriel Valley region of Los Angeles County, California, United States, which is approximately eight miles from the Downtown Los Angeles civic center. As of the 2010 census, the population was 83,089, down from 85,804 at the 2000 census. The city's...
home led to his 2009 conviction of murder
Murder
Murder is the unlawful killing, with malice aforethought, of another human being, and generally this state of mind distinguishes murder from other forms of unlawful homicide...
in the second degree. He is serving a prison sentence of 19 years to life.
Early childhood
Spector was born on December 26, 1939, to a lower-middle-class Jewish family in the Bronx in New York City. His grandfather was an immigrant from Russia with the surname Spekter, which he anglicized to Spector after immigrating. Phil's father committed suicide on April 20, 1949. In 1953, his mother moved the family to Los Angeles, CaliforniaLos Angeles, California
Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...
.
Teenage performer and lyricist
In Los Angeles, Spector got involved with music, learning the guitar. At 16, he performed Lonnie DoneganLonnie Donegan
Anthony James "Lonnie" Donegan MBE was a skiffle musician, with more than 20 UK Top 30 hits to his name. He is known as the "King of Skiffle" and is often cited as a large influence on the generation of British musicians who became famous in the 1960s...
's version of the traditional song "Rock Island Line
Rock Island Line (song)
"Rock Island Line" is an American blues/folk song first recorded by John Lomax in 1934 as sung by inmates in an Arkansas State Prison, and later popularized by Lead Belly. Many versions have been recorded by other artists, most significantly the world-wide hit version in the mid-1950s by Lonnie...
" at a talent show at his high school, Fairfax High School
Fairfax High School (Los Angeles)
Fairfax High School is a Los Angeles Unified School District high school located in Los Angeles, USA, near the border of West Hollywood in the Fairfax District of Los Angeles...
. While at Fairfax, he joined a loosely knit community of aspiring musicians, including Lou Adler
Lou Adler
Lou Adler is an American record producer, manager, and director.-Life and career:Adler was born in Chicago, Illinois in December 1933, and raised in East Los Angeles. In 1964, Adler founded and co-owned Dunhill Records. He was President of the label as well as the chief record producer from 1964...
, Bruce Johnston
Bruce Johnston
Bruce Arthur Johnston is a member of The Beach Boys and a songwriter, remembered especially for composing "I Write the Songs". Johnston was not one of the original members of the band...
, Steve Douglas
Steve Douglas (saxophonist)
Steven Douglas Kreisman , better known as Steve Douglas, was an American saxophonist, flautist and clarinetist. Douglas is best known as a Los Angeles session musician, a member of The Wrecking Crew, who worked with Phil Spector, Brian Wilson and The Beach Boys...
, and Sandy Nelson
Sandy Nelson
Sandy Nelson is an American drummer. Nelson, one of the best-known rock drummers of the early 1960s, had several solo instrumental Top 40 hits and was a session drummer on many other well-known hits, and released over 30 albums.-Career:His first recording, with a band called The Renegades Sandy...
, the last of whom played drums on Spector's first record release, "To Know Him Is to Love Him
To Know Him Is to Love Him
"To Know Him Is to Love Him" is a song written by Phil Spector, inspired by words on his father's tombstone. It was first recorded by his first vocal group, the only one of which he was a member, the Teddy Bears. Their recording went to number one on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart in 1958...
".
The Teddy Bears
With three friends from high school, Marshall Lieb, Harvey Goldstein, and singer Annette KleinbardCarol Connors (singer)
Carol Connors is a retired American singer-songwriter. She is perhaps best known as the lead vocalist on The Teddy Bears' single, "To Know Him Is To Love Him", which was written by her bandmate Phil Spector.-Biography:She was the lead singer of the pop vocal trio known as The Teddy Bears, which...
, Spector formed a group, The Teddy Bears. During this period, Spector also began visiting local recording studios, and he eventually managed to win the confidence of record producer Stan Ross, coowner of Gold Star Studios
Gold Star Studios
Gold Star Studios was a major independent recording studio located in Los Angeles, California, United States. For more than thirty years, from 1950 to 1984, Gold Star was one of the most influential and successful commercial recording studios in the world....
in Hollywood, who began to tutor the young man in record production and who exerted a major influence on Spector's production style. By early 1958, Spector and his bandmates had raised enough money to buy two hours of recording time at Gold Star. With Spector producing, the Teddy Bears recorded the Spector-penned "Don't You Worry My Little Pet", which helped them secure a deal with Era Records. At their next session, they recorded another song Spector had written — this one inspired by the epitaph
Epitaph
An epitaph is a short text honoring a deceased person, strictly speaking that is inscribed on their tombstone or plaque, but also used figuratively. Some are specified by the dead person beforehand, others chosen by those responsible for the burial...
on Spector's father's tombstone. Released on Era's
Era Records
Era Records was an independent American record label located in Hollywood, California. It was founded by Herb Newman and Lou Bedell in 1955 as a pop, country and western and jazz label. Era had a #1 hit in 1956 with Gogi Grant's "The Wayward Wind", written by Newman. In 1959 Bedell sold his...
subsidiary label, Dore Records, "To Know Him Is to Love Him
To Know Him Is to Love Him
"To Know Him Is to Love Him" is a song written by Phil Spector, inspired by words on his father's tombstone. It was first recorded by his first vocal group, the only one of which he was a member, the Teddy Bears. Their recording went to number one on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart in 1958...
" went to #1 on Billboard Hot 100
Billboard Hot 100
The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...
singles chart, selling over a million copies by year's end. It was the seventh number one single on the newly formed chart.
Following the success of their debut, the group signed with Imperial Records
Imperial Records
Imperial Records is a United States based label started in 1947 by Lew Chudd and reactivated in 2006 by label owner EMI.- The independent and Liberty Records years :...
, but their next single, "I Don't Need You Anymore" only reached #91. While several more recordings were released, including an album The Teddy Bears Sing!, the group never again charted in the Hot 100. The Teddy Bears went their separate ways in 1959.
Record producer
After the split, Spector's career quickly moved from performing and songwriting to production. While recording the Teddy Bears' album, Spector had met Lester SillLester Sill
Lester Sill was an American record label executive, best remembered as Phil Spector's partner in Philles Records , and also as the head of both Colpix Records and the later Colgems Records...
, a former promotion man who was a mentor to Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller. His next project, the Spectors Three, was undertaken under the aegis of Sill and his partner, Lee Hazlewood
Lee Hazlewood
Lee Hazlewood , born Barton Lee Hazlewood was an American country and pop singer, songwriter, and record producer, most widely known for his work with guitarist Duane Eddy during the late 1950s and singer Nancy Sinatra in the 1960s.Hazlewood had a distinctive baritone voice that added an ominous...
. In 1960, Sill arranged for Spector to work as an apprentice to Leiber and Stoller in New York.
Spector quickly learned how to use a studio. He co-wrote the Ben E. King
Ben E. King
Benjamin Earl King , better known as Ben E. King, is an American soul singer. He is perhaps best known as the singer and co-composer of "Stand by Me", a U.S...
Top 10 hit "Spanish Harlem
Spanish Harlem (song)
"Spanish Harlem" is a song released by Ben E. King in 1960 on Atco Records, written by Jerry Leiber and Phil Spector and produced by Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller...
" with Jerry Leiber and also worked as a session musician, most notably playing the guitar solo on the Drifters
The Drifters
The Drifters are a long-lived American doo-wop and R&B/soul vocal group with a peak in popularity from 1953 to 1963, though several splinter Drifters continue to perform today. They were originally formed to serve as Clyde McPhatter's backing group in 1953...
' song, "On Broadway". His own productions during this time, while less conspicuous, included releases by LaVern Baker
LaVern Baker
LaVern Baker was an American rhythm and blues singer, who had several hit records on the pop chart in the 1950s and early 1960s. Her most successful records were "Tweedlee Dee" , "Jim Dandy" , and "I Cried a Tear" .-Early life:She was born Delores LaVern Baker in Chicago, Illinois...
, Ruth Brown
Ruth Brown
Ruth Brown was an American pop and R&B singer-songwriter, record producer, composer and actress, noted for bringing a pop music style to R&B music in a series of hit songs for Atlantic Records in the 1950s, such as "So Long", "Teardrops from My Eyes" and " He Treats Your Daughter Mean".For these...
, and Billy Storm, as well as the Top Notes' original version of "Twist and Shout
Twist and Shout
"Twist and Shout" is a song written by Phil Medley and Bert Russell. It was originally titled "Shake It Up, Baby" and recorded by the Top Notes and then covered by The Isley Brothers. It was covered by The Beatles with John Lennon on the lead vocals and originally released on their first album...
". Leiber and Stoller recommended Spector to produce Ray Peterson
Ray Peterson
Ray Peterson was an American pop music singer who was best remembered for singing "Tell Laura I Love Her" and "Corrine, Corrina" in the 1960s.-Career:...
's "Corrina, Corrina
Corrina, Corrina (song)
"Corrine, Corrina" is a 12 bar country blues song in the AAB form. "Corrine, Corrina" was first recorded by "Bo Carter" Chatmon . However, it was not copyrighted until 1932 by Chatmon and his publishers, Mitchell Parish and J. Mayo Williams...
", which reached #9 in January 1961. Later, he produced another major hit for Curtis Lee
Curtis Lee
Curtis Lee is an American singer of the early 1960s, who twice over was one of the beneficiaries of 1961 productions by Phil Spector. These were "Pretty Little Angel Eyes" and "Under the Moon of Love" Curtis Lee (born October 28, 1941, Yuma, Arizona, U.S.) is an American singer of the early...
, "Pretty Little Angel Eyes", which made it to #7. Returning to Hollywood, Spector agreed to produce one of Lester Sill's acts. After both Liberty Records
Liberty Records
Liberty Records was a United States-based record label. It was started by chairman Simon Waronker in 1955 with Al Bennett as president and Theodore Keep as chief engineer. It was reactivated in 2001 in the United Kingdom and had two previous revivals.-1950s:...
and Capitol Records
Capitol Records
Capitol Records is a major United States based record label, formerly located in Los Angeles, but operating in New York City as part of Capitol Music Group. Its former headquarters building, the Capitol Tower, is a major landmark near the corner of Hollywood and Vine...
turned down the master of "Be My Boy" by the Paris Sisters, Sill formed a new label, Gregmark Records
Gregmark Records
Gregmark Records was founded by Lester Sill in 1961, a year before he started Philles Records with Phil Spector.The Paris Sisters recorded five singles for the label, two of them produced by Spector. Caravan is a Gregmark Recording attributed to Duane Eddy but in actual fact is by the session man...
, with Lee Hazlewood
Lee Hazlewood
Lee Hazlewood , born Barton Lee Hazlewood was an American country and pop singer, songwriter, and record producer, most widely known for his work with guitarist Duane Eddy during the late 1950s and singer Nancy Sinatra in the 1960s.Hazlewood had a distinctive baritone voice that added an ominous...
and released it. It only managed to reach #56, but the follow-up, "I Love How You Love Me
I Love How You Love Me
"I Love How You Love Me" was an American 1961 Top Ten hit for the Paris Sisters which inaugurated a string of elaborately produced classic hits by Phil Spector...
", was a smash, reaching #5.
Philles Records
In late 1961, Spector formed a new record company with Lester Sill, who by this time had ended his business partnership with Hazlewood. Philles RecordsPhilles Records
Philles Records was a record label formed in 1961 by Phil Spector and Lester Sill, the label taking its name from a hybrid of their first names. Initially, the label was distributed by Jamie/Guyden in Philadelphia...
combined the names of its two founders. Through Hill and Range Publishers, Spector found three groups he wanted to produce: the Ducanes, the Creations, and The Crystals
The Crystals
The Crystals are an American vocal group based in New York, considered one of the defining acts of the girl group era of the first half of the 1960s. Their 1961–1964 chart hits, including "Uptown", "He's a Rebel", "Da Doo Ron Ron " and "Then He Kissed Me", featured three successive female lead...
. The first two signed with other companies, but Spector managed to secure the Crystals for his new label. Their first single, "There's No Other (Like My Baby)
There's No Other (Like My Baby)
"There's No Other " is a song written by Phil Spector and Leroy Bates, and first recorded by girl group The Crystals.-Beach Boys version:...
" was a success, hitting #20. Their next release, "Uptown", made it to #13.
Spector continued to work freelance with other artists. In 1962, he produced "Second Hand Love" by Connie Francis
Connie Francis
Connie Francis is an American pop singer of Italian heritage and the top-charting female vocalist of the 1950s and 1960s. Although her chart success waned in the second half of the 1960s, Francis remained a top concert draw...
, which reached #7. In the early 1960s, he briefly worked with Atlantic Records
Atlantic Records
Atlantic Records is an American record label best known for its many recordings of rhythm and blues, rock and roll, and jazz...
' R&B artists Ruth Brown
Ruth Brown
Ruth Brown was an American pop and R&B singer-songwriter, record producer, composer and actress, noted for bringing a pop music style to R&B music in a series of hit songs for Atlantic Records in the 1950s, such as "So Long", "Teardrops from My Eyes" and " He Treats Your Daughter Mean".For these...
and LaVerne Baker. Ahmet Ertegün
Ahmet Ertegun
Ahmet Ertegün was a Turkish American musician and businessman, best known as the founder and president of Atlantic Records. He also wrote classic blues and pop songs and served as Chairman of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and museum...
of Atlantic paired Spector with Broadway
Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
star Jean DuShon for "Talk to Me", the B-side
A-side and B-side
A-side and B-side originally referred to the two sides of gramophone records on which singles were released beginning in the 1950s. The terms have come to refer to the types of song conventionally placed on each side of the record, with the A-side being the featured song , while the B-side, or...
of which was "Tired of Trying", written by DuShon.
Spector briefly took a job as head of A&R
A&R
Artists and repertoire is the division of a record label that is responsible for talent scouting and overseeing the artistic development of recording artists. It also acts as a liaison between artists and the record label.- Finding talent :...
for Liberty Records
Liberty Records
Liberty Records was a United States-based record label. It was started by chairman Simon Waronker in 1955 with Al Bennett as president and Theodore Keep as chief engineer. It was reactivated in 2001 in the United Kingdom and had two previous revivals.-1950s:...
. It was while working at Liberty that he heard a song written by Gene Pitney
Gene Pitney
Eugene Francis Alan Pitney, known as Gene Pitney , was an American singer-songwriter, musician and sound engineer. Through the mid-1960s, he enjoyed success as a recording artist on both sides of the Atlantic and was among the group of early 1960s American acts who continued to enjoy hits after the...
, for whom he had produced a #41 hit, "Every Breath I Take", a year earlier. "He's a Rebel
He's a Rebel
"He's a Rebel" is a pop song credited to the girl group The Crystals, reaching #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 charts in November 1962. Written by Gene Pitney and produced by Phil Spector, it is considered one of the definitive examples of the Spector-produced girl group sound.In 2004, the song was...
" was due to be released on Liberty by Vikki Carr
Vikki Carr
Vikki Carr is an American singer and humanitarian from El Paso, Texas. She has performed in a variety of music genres, including jazz, pop and country, but has enjoyed her greatest success singing in Spanish.-Career:After taking the stage name 'Vikki Carr', she signed with Liberty Records in 1962...
, but Spector rushed into Gold Star Studios and recorded a cover version using Darlene Love
Darlene Love
Darlene Love is an American popular music singer and actress. She gained prominence in the 1960s for the song "He's a Rebel," a #1 American single in 1962, and was part of the Phil Spector stable that produced a celebrated Christmas album in 1963....
and the Blossoms on lead vocals. The record was released on Philles, attributed to the Crystals, and quickly rose to the top of the charts.
By the time "He's a Rebel" went to #1, Lester Sill was out of the company, and Spector had Philles all to himself. He created a new act, Bob B. Soxx & the Blue Jeans
Bob B. Soxx & the Blue Jeans
Bob B. Soxx & the Blue Jeans was an early 1960s vocal group produced by Phil Spector, and was initially conceived as a vehicle for the lead vocals of Bobby Sheen, who took the stage name Bob B. Soxx...
, featuring Darlene Love, Fanita James (a member of the Blossoms), and Bobby Sheen, a singer he had worked with at Liberty. The group had hits with "Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah
Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah
"Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah" is a song from the Disney 1946 live action and animated movie Song of the South, sung by James Baskett. With music by Allie Wrubel and lyrics by Ray Gilbert, "Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah" won the Academy Award for Best Original Song...
" (#8), "Why Do Lovers Break Each Other’s Hearts?" (#38), and "Not Too Young To Get Married" (#63). Spector also released solo material by Darlene Love in 1963. In the same year, he released "Be My Baby
Be My Baby
"Be My Baby" is a 1963 single written by Phil Spector, Jeff Barry, and Ellie Greenwich, performed by The Ronettes and produced by Spector. When released as a single, the song reached #2 on the U.S. Billboard Pop Singles Chart and #4 on the UK's Record Retailer...
" by the Ronettes, which went to #2.
Although predominantly a singles-based label, Philles released a few albums, one of which was the perennial seller A Christmas Gift for You from Philles Records in 1963.
The Wall of Sound
Spector's trademark during that era was the so-called Wall of SoundWall of Sound
The Wall of Sound is a music production technique for pop and rock music recordings developed by record producer Phil Spector at Gold Star Studios in Los Angeles, California, during the early 1960s...
, a production technique yielding a dense, layered effect that reproduced well on AM radio and jukebox
Jukebox
A jukebox is a partially automated music-playing device, usually a coin-operated machine, that will play a patron's selection from self-contained media...
es. To attain this signature sound, Spector gathered large groups of musicians (playing some instruments not generally used for ensemble playing, such as electric
Electric guitar
An electric guitar is a guitar that uses the principle of direct electromagnetic induction to convert vibrations of its metal strings into electric audio signals. The signal generated by an electric guitar is too weak to drive a loudspeaker, so it is amplified before sending it to a loudspeaker...
and acoustic guitars) playing orchestrated parts — often doubling and tripling many instruments playing in unison
Unison
In music, the word unison can be applied in more than one way. In general terms, it may refer to two notes sounding the same pitch, often but not always at the same time; or to the same musical voice being sounded by several voices or instruments together, either at the same pitch or at a distance...
— for a fuller sound. Spector himself called his technique "a Wagnerian approach to rock & roll: little symphonies for the kids".
While Spector directed the overall sound of his recordings, he took a relatively hands-off approach to working with the musicians themselves (usually a core group that became known as The Wrecking Crew
The Wrecking Crew (music)
The Wrecking Crew was a nickname coined by the drummer Hal Blaine after the fact for a group of session musicians in Los Angeles, California, who earned wide acclaim in the 1960s. They backed dozens of popular singers, and were one of the most successful "groups" of studio musicians in music history...
, including session players such as Hal Blaine
Hal Blaine
Hal Blaine is an American drummer and session musician. He is most known for his work with the Wrecking Crew in California. Blaine played on numerous hits by popular groups, including Elvis Presley, John Denver, the Ronettes, Simon & Garfunkel, the Carpenters, the Beach Boys, Nancy Sinatra, and...
, Larry Knechtel
Larry Knechtel
Lawrence William "Larry" Knechtel was an American keyboard player and bassist, best known for his work as a session musician with such artists as Simon & Garfunkel, Duane Eddy, The Beach Boys, The Mamas & the Papas, The Partridge Family, The Doors, and Elvis Presley, and as a member of the 1970s...
, Steve Douglas
Steve Douglas (saxophonist)
Steven Douglas Kreisman , better known as Steve Douglas, was an American saxophonist, flautist and clarinetist. Douglas is best known as a Los Angeles session musician, a member of The Wrecking Crew, who worked with Phil Spector, Brian Wilson and The Beach Boys...
, Carol Kaye
Carol Kaye
Carol Kaye is an American musician, best known as one of the most prolific and widely heard bass guitarists in history, playing on an estimated 10,000 recording sessions in a 55 year career....
, Roy Caton, Glen Campbell
Glen Campbell
Glen Travis Campbell is an American country music singer, guitarist, television host and occasional actor. He is best known for a series of hits in the 1960s and 1970s, as well as for hosting a variety show called The Glen Campbell Goodtime Hour on CBS television.During his 50 years in show...
, and Leon Russell
Leon Russell
Claude Russell Bridges , known professionally as Leon Russell, is an American musician and songwriter, who has recorded as a session musician, sideman, and maintained a solo career in music....
), delegating arrangement duties to Jack Nitzsche
Jack Nitzsche
Bernard Alfred "Jack" Nitzsche was an arranger, producer, songwriter, and film score composer. He first came to prominence in the late 1950s as the right-hand-man of producer Phil Spector, and went on to work with the Rolling Stones, Neil Young and others...
and having Sonny Bono
Sonny Bono
Salvatore Phillip "Sonny" Bono was an American recording artist, record producer, actor, and politician whose career spanned over three decades.-Early life:...
oversee the performances, viewing these two as his "lieutenants".
Spector frequently used songs from songwriters employed at the Brill Building
Brill Building
The Brill Building is an office building located at 1619 Broadway on 49th Street in the New York City borough of Manhattan, just north of Times Square and further uptown from the historic musical Tin Pan Alley neighborhood...
(Trio Music) and at 1650 Broadway (Aldon Music), such as the teams of Ellie Greenwich
Ellie Greenwich
Eleanor Louise "Ellie" Greenwich was an American pop music singer, songwriter, and record producer. She wrote or co-wrote "Be My Baby", "Christmas ", "Da Doo Ron Ron", "Leader of the Pack", "Do Wah Diddy Diddy", and "River Deep, Mountain High", among many others...
and Jeff Barry
Jeff Barry
Jeff Barry is an American pop music songwriter, singer, and record producer.-Early career:...
, Barry Mann
Barry Mann
Barry Mann is an American songwriter, and part of a successful songwriting partnership with his wife, Cynthia Weil.-Career:...
and Cynthia Weil
Cynthia Weil
Cynthia Weil is a prominent American songwriter. She is famous for having written many songs together with her husband Barry Mann....
, and Gerry Goffin
Gerry Goffin
Gerry Goffin is an American lyricist. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1990 with former songwriting partner and first wife, Carole King. he has co-written six Billboard Hot 100 chart-toppers.-Career:Goffin enlisted with the Marine Corps Reserve after graduating from...
and Carole King
Carole King
Carole King is an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. King and her former husband Gerry Goffin wrote more than two dozen chart hits for numerous artists during the 1960s, many of which have become standards. As a singer, King had an album, Tapestry, top the U.S...
. Spector often worked with the songwriters, receiving co-credit and publishing royalties for compositions.
Spector was already known as a temperamental and quirky personality with strong, often unconventional ideas about musical and recording techniques. Despite the trend towards multichannel recording, Spector was vehemently opposed to stereo
Stereophonic sound
The term Stereophonic, commonly called stereo, sound refers to any method of sound reproduction in which an attempt is made to create an illusion of directionality and audible perspective...
releases, claiming that it took control of the record's sound away from the producer in favor of the listener. Spector was more concerned with the overall collage of sound than with the recording fidelity or timbral quality. Sometimes a pair of strings or horns would be double-tracked multiple times to sound like an entire string or horn section. But in the final product the background sometimes could not be distinguished as either horns or strings. Spector also greatly preferred singles to albums, describing LPs
LP album
The LP, or long-playing microgroove record, is a format for phonograph records, an analog sound storage medium. Introduced by Columbia Records in 1948, it was soon adopted as a new standard by the entire record industry...
as "two hits and ten pieces of junk", reflecting both his commercial methods and those of many other producers at the time.
The first time Spector put the same amount of effort into an LP as he did into 45s
Gramophone record
A gramophone record, commonly known as a phonograph record , vinyl record , or colloquially, a record, is an analog sound storage medium consisting of a flat disc with an inscribed, modulated spiral groove...
was when he utilized the full Philles roster and the Wrecking Crew to make what he felt would become a hit for the 1963 Christmas season. A Christmas Gift for You from Philles Records arrived in stores the day of the assassination of President Kennedy
John F. Kennedy assassination
John Fitzgerald Kennedy, the thirty-fifth President of the United States, was assassinated at 12:30 p.m. Central Standard Time on Friday, November 22, 1963, in Dealey Plaza, Dallas, Texas...
on November 22, 1963. The somber mood of the country may have contributed to the album being a flop in its initial release. Despite its initially poor reception, selections from the album are now Yuletide mainstays on radio stations, and the album has since been a regular seller during the holiday season.
The mid-Sixties
In 1964, The Ronettes appeared at the Cow PalaceCow Palace
Cow Palace is an indoor arena, in Daly City, California, situated on the city's border with neighboring San Francisco, notable as a sporting arena.-History:...
, near San Francisco. Also on the bill were the Righteous Brothers. Spector, who was conducting the band for all the acts, was so impressed with Bill Medley
Bill Medley
William Thomas Medley is an American singer and songwriter, best known as one half of The Righteous Brothers....
and Bobby Hatfield
Bobby Hatfield
Robert Lee "Bobby" Hatfield was an American singer, best known as one half of the Righteous Brothers.-Early life:...
that he bought their contract from Moonglow Records
Moonglow Records
Moonglow Records was a small record label in the sixties. They were famous for signing The Righteous Brothers before they were signed by Phil Spector for his Philles Records. The label was initially independently distributed, but they became an Atlantic distributed label very early on.The Moonglow...
and signed them to Philles. In early 1965, "You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'
You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'
"You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin" is a 1964 song by The Righteous Brothers which became a number-one hit single in the United States and the United Kingdom the following year. In 1999, the performing-rights organization Broadcast Music, Inc. ranked the song as having had more radio and television...
", became the label's second #1 single. Three more major hits with the group followed: "Just Once in My Life
Just Once in My Life
"Just Once in My Life" is a song written by Gerry Goffin, Carole King and Phil Spector. The most popular version of the song was performed by The Righteous Brothers.The Righteous Brothers released their version as a single in 1965...
" (#9), "Unchained Melody
Unchained Melody
"Unchained Melody" is a 1955 song with music by Alex North and lyrics by Hy Zaret. It has become one of the most recorded songs of the 20th century, by some counts having spawned over 500 versions in hundreds of different languages....
" (originally the B side of "Hung On You") (#4) and "Ebb Tide" (#5). Despite having hits, Spector lost interest in producing the Righteous Brothers, and sold their contract and all their master recordings to Verve Records
Verve Records
Verve Records is an American jazz record label now owned by Universal Music Group. It was founded by Norman Granz in 1956, absorbing the catalogues of his earlier labels, Clef Records and Norgran Records , and material which had been licensed to Mercury previously.-Jazz and folk origins:The Verve...
. However, the sound of the Righteous Brothers' singles was so distinctive that the act chose to replicate it after leaving Spector, notching a second #1 hit in 1966 with the Bill Medley-produced, "(You're My) Soul and Inspiration".
The Spector-produced recording of "Unchained Melody
Unchained Melody
"Unchained Melody" is a 1955 song with music by Alex North and lyrics by Hy Zaret. It has become one of the most recorded songs of the 20th century, by some counts having spawned over 500 versions in hundreds of different languages....
" had a second wave of popularity 25 years after its initial release, when it was featured prominently in the 1990 hit movie, Ghost
Ghost (film)
Ghost is a 1990 romantic drama film starring Patrick Swayze, Demi Moore and Whoopi Goldberg. It was written by Bruce Joel Rubin and directed by Jerry Zucker.-Plot:...
. A re-release of the single re-charted on the Billboard
Billboard (magazine)
Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...
Hot 100
Billboard Hot 100
The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...
, and went to number one on the Adult Contemporary charts
Hot Adult Top 40 Tracks
Adult Top 40 is a variation on the United States Billboard charts...
. This also put Spector (as a producer) back on the U.S. Top 40 charts for the first time since his last appearance in 1971 with John Lennon
John Lennon
John Winston Lennon, MBE was an English musician and singer-songwriter who rose to worldwide fame as one of the founding members of The Beatles, one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music...
's "Imagine
Imagine (song)
"Imagine" is a song written and performed by the English musician John Lennon. It is the opening track on his album Imagine, released in 1971...
", although he did have U.K. top 40 hits in the interim with the Ramones
Ramones
The Ramones were an American rock band that formed in the New York City neighborhood of Forest Hills, Queens, in 1974. They are often cited as the first punk rock group...
.
Spector's final signing to Philles was the husband-and-wife team of Ike and Tina Turner in 1966. Spector considered their recording of "River Deep – Mountain High", to be his best work, but it failed to go any higher than #88 in the United States. The single, which was essentially a solo Tina Turner
Tina Turner
Tina Turner is an American singer and actress whose career has spanned more than 50 years. She has won numerous awards and her achievements in the rock music genre have led many to call her the "Queen of Rock 'n' Roll".Turner started out her music career with husband Ike Turner as a member of the...
record, was more successful in Britain
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
, reaching #3.
Spector subsequently lost enthusiasm for his label and the recording industry. Already something of a recluse
Recluse
A recluse is a person who lives in voluntary seclusion from the public and society, often close to nature. The word is from the Latin recludere, which means "shut up" or "sequester." There are many potential reasons for becoming a recluse: a personal philosophy that rejects consumer society; a...
, he withdrew temporarily from the public eye, marrying Veronica "Ronnie" Bennett
Ronnie Spector
Veronica Yvette "Ronnie" Spector is an American rock and roll and popular music vocalist, and was the lead singer of the 1960s hit-making girl group, The Ronettes, who were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2007. She is known as the "original bad girl of rock and roll."-Personal...
, lead singer of the Ronettes, in 1968. Spector emerged briefly for a cameo as a drug dealer in the film Easy Rider
Easy Rider
Easy Rider is a 1969 American road movie written by Peter Fonda, Dennis Hopper, and Terry Southern, produced by Fonda and directed by Hopper. It tells the story of two bikers who travel through the American Southwest and South with the aim of achieving freedom...
, in 1969. (He had also, in 1967, appeared as himself in an episode of I Dream of Jeannie
I Dream of Jeannie
I Dream of Jeannie is a 1960s American sitcom with a fantasy premise. The show starred Barbara Eden as a 2,000-year-old genie, and Larry Hagman as an astronaut who becomes her master, with whom she falls in love and eventually marries...
.)
Comeback
In 1969, Spector made a brief return to the music business by signing a production deal with A&M RecordsA&M Records
A&M Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group that operates under the mantle of its Interscope-Geffen-A&M division.-Beginnings:...
. A Ronettes single, "You Came, You Saw, You Conquered" flopped, but Spector returned to the Hot 100 with "Black Pearl", by Sonny Charles
Sonny Charles
Sonny Charles is an American soul singer from Fort Wayne, Indiana. He was the lead singer of Checkmates, Ltd...
and the Checkmates, Ltd.
Checkmates, Ltd.
Checkmates, Ltd. were an American R&B group from Fort Wayne, Indiana. The group, discovered by Nancy Wilson, included both black and white members; their one major hit was 1969's "Black Pearl", produced by Phil Spector. The song peaked at #13 on the U.S. pop chart...
. The record reached #13.
In 1970, Allen Klein
Allen Klein
Allen Klein was an American businessman, talent agent and record label executive. His clients included The Beatles and The Rolling Stones.- The accountant :...
, manager of the Beatles, brought Spector to England. While producing John Lennon
John Lennon
John Winston Lennon, MBE was an English musician and singer-songwriter who rose to worldwide fame as one of the founding members of The Beatles, one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music...
's hit solo single "Instant Karma!
Instant Karma!
"Instant Karma!" is a song written by John Lennon, released as a single in 1970 on Apple Records, catalogue Apple 1003 in the United Kingdom, Apple 1818 in the United States. It is the third solo single issued by Lennon, and it peaked at #3 on both the Billboard Hot 100 and Cash Box Top 100 singles...
", which went to #3, Spector was invited by Lennon and George Harrison
George Harrison
George Harrison, MBE was an English musician, guitarist, singer-songwriter, actor and film producer who achieved international fame as lead guitarist of The Beatles. Often referred to as "the quiet Beatle", Harrison became over time an admirer of Indian mysticism, and introduced it to the other...
to take on the task of turning the Beatles' abandoned "Get Back
Get Back
"Get Back" is a song by The Beatles, composed by Paul McCartney and frequently attributed to Lennon–McCartney. The song was originally released as a single on 11 April 1969, and credited to "The Beatles with Billy Preston." A different mix of the song later became the closing track of Let It Be ,...
" recording sessions into a usable album. Spector went to work using many of his production techniques, making significant changes to the arrangements and sound of some songs. The resulting album, Let It Be, was a massive commercial success and topped the US and UK charts. The album also yielded three #1 singles: "Get Back
Get Back
"Get Back" is a song by The Beatles, composed by Paul McCartney and frequently attributed to Lennon–McCartney. The song was originally released as a single on 11 April 1969, and credited to "The Beatles with Billy Preston." A different mix of the song later became the closing track of Let It Be ,...
", "The Long and Winding Road
The Long and Winding Road
"The Long and Winding Road" is a ballad written by Paul McCartney that originally appeared on The Beatles' album Let It Be. It became The Beatles' 20th and last number-one song in the United States on 23 May 1970, and was the last single released by the quartet...
" and "Let It Be
Let It Be (song)
"Let It Be" is a song by The Beatles, released in March 1970 as a single, and as the title track of their album Let It Be. It was written by Paul McCartney, but credited to Lennon–McCartney. It was their final single before McCartney announced his departure from the band...
". His overdubbing of "The Long and Winding Road" infuriated its composer, Paul McCartney
Paul McCartney
Sir James Paul McCartney, MBE, Hon RAM, FRCM is an English musician, singer-songwriter and composer. Formerly of The Beatles and Wings , McCartney is listed in Guinness World Records as the "most successful musician and composer in popular music history", with 60 gold discs and sales of 100...
, especially since the work was allegedly completed without his knowledge and without any opportunity for him to assess the results. In 2003, McCartney spearheaded the release of Let It Be... Naked, which stripped the songs of Spector's input. Spector later stated that McCartney's complaints were "bullshit": it had not stopped McCartney from accepting the "Best Musical Score" award at the 1971 Academy Awards
Academy Awards
An Academy Award, also known as an Oscar, is an accolade bestowed by the American Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize excellence of professionals in the film industry, including directors, actors, and writers...
for the Let It Be soundtrack.
John Lennon and George Harrison
George Harrison
George Harrison, MBE was an English musician, guitarist, singer-songwriter, actor and film producer who achieved international fame as lead guitarist of The Beatles. Often referred to as "the quiet Beatle", Harrison became over time an admirer of Indian mysticism, and introduced it to the other...
were satisfied with the results, and Let It Be led to Spector co-producing albums with both ex-Beatles. For George Harrison's multiplatinum album All Things Must Pass
All Things Must Pass
All Things Must Pass is a triple album by George Harrison, recorded and released in 1970. The original vinyl release featured two LPs of rock songs as well as Apple Jam, a third LP of informal jams...
(#1, 1970), Spector provided a cathedral-like sonic ambiance, complete with ornate orchestrations and gospel-like choirs. The LP yielded two major hits: "My Sweet Lord
My Sweet Lord
"My Sweet Lord" is a song by former Beatles lead guitarist George Harrison from his UK number one hit triple album All Things Must Pass. The song was written in praise of the Hindu god Krishna...
" (#1) and "What Is Life
What Is Life
"What Is Life" is a song by George Harrison and is the first track on side two of his 1970 solo album All Things Must Pass. It was released as the second single from that album in the United States on February 15, 1971 with another album track, "Apple Scruffs," as the B-side...
" (#10). That same year, Spector co-produced John Lennon's Plastic Ono Band
John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band
John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band was received with high critical praise upon release. Critic Greil Marcus remarked, "John's singing in the last verse of 'God' may be the finest in all of rock." In early 1971, the album reached number eight on the UK and went to number six in the US, spending eighteen...
(#6) album, which featured a very different, sparse and raw sound.
In 1971, Spector was named director of A&R for Apple Records
Apple Records
Apple Records is a record label founded by The Beatles in 1968, as a division of Apple Corps Ltd. It was initially intended as a creative outlet for the Beatles, both as a group and individually, plus a selection of other artists including Mary Hopkin, James Taylor, Badfinger, and Billy Preston...
. He held the post for only a year, but during that time he co-produced the single "Power to the People
Power to the People (song)
"Power to the People" is a song written by John Lennon, released as a single in 1971 by John Lennon and the Plastic Ono Band on Apple Records, catalogue Apple R5892 in the United Kingdom and Apple 1830 in the United States. It peaked at #11 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #7 on the British singles chart...
" with John Lennon (#11), as well as Lennon's chart-topping Imagine
Imagine (album)
Imagine is the second album by John Lennon. Recorded and released in 1971, the album tended toward songs that were gentler, more commercial and less avant-garde than those on his critically acclaimed previous album, John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band. The album is considered the most popular of his works...
album. The album's title track hit #3 upon its release and #1 after Lennon's murder in 1980. With George Harrison, Spector co-produced Harrison's "Bangla-Desh" (a #23 hit) and wife Ronnie Spector's "Try Some, Buy Some
Try Some, Buy Some
"Try Some, Buy Some" is a song written by George Harrison and released on his Living in the Material World in 1973. It was initially recorded by Ronnie Spector in 1971 and co-produced by Phil Spector. Harrison re-used the same backing track for his own version.The original Ronnie Spector version...
" (#77). Also that year, Spector recorded the music for the #1 triple album The Concert For Bangladesh
The Concert for Bangladesh
The Concert for Bangladesh was the name for two benefit concerts organised by George Harrison and Ravi Shankar, held at noon and at 7 PM on August 1, 1971, playing to a total of 40,000 people at Madison Square Garden in New York City...
. The album later won the "Album of the Year" award at the 1972 Grammys. Despite being recorded live, Spector used up to 44 microphones simultaneously to create his trademark Wall of Sound.
Lennon retained Spector for the 1971 Christmas
Christmas
Christmas or Christmas Day is an annual holiday generally celebrated on December 25 by billions of people around the world. It is a Christian feast that commemorates the birth of Jesus Christ, liturgically closing the Advent season and initiating the season of Christmastide, which lasts twelve days...
single "Happy Xmas (War Is Over)
Happy Xmas (War Is Over)
"Happy Xmas " is a song written by John Lennon and Yoko Ono and released in 1971 as a single by John & Yoko/Plastic Ono Band with the Harlem Community Choir....
" and the poorly-reviewed 1972 album Some Time In New York City
Some Time in New York City
Some Time in New York City was released in 1972 and is John Lennon's third post-Beatles album, fifth with Yoko Ono, and third with producer Phil Spector...
(#48). Similar to the unusual pattern of success that Spector's A Christmas Gift for You from Philles Records experienced, "Happy Xmas (War Is Over)" also stalled in sales upon its initial release, only later to become a fixture on radio station playlists during the holiday season. In 1973, Spector participated in the recording sessions for what would be Lennon's Rock 'n' Roll
Rock 'n' Roll (John Lennon album)
Rock 'n' Roll is a 1975 album of late 1950s and early 1960s songs covered by John Lennon. Recording the album was problematic and spanned a year. Though critically derided, it reached #6 in both the United Kingdom and the United States.-History:...
album (#6). It was during these sessions that Spector's relationship with Lennon became strained; some versions claim that the producer suffered a breakdown in the studio, brandishing a gun and disappearing with the Rock 'n' Roll tapes, although Spector biographer Dave Thompson places most of the blame on the out-of-control behavior of Lennon and his entourage. After several months, Lennon retrieved the tapes and finished the album himself. In the years following the debacle, however, Spector maintained contact with Lennon, and the former Beatle had planned on recording with him again.
Later years
As the 1970s progressed, Spector became increasingly reclusive. The most probable and significant reason for his withdrawal, recently revealed by biographer Dave Thompson, was that Spector was seriously injured when he was thrown through the windshield of his car in a crash in Hollywood. According to a contemporary report published in the New Musical Express, Spector was almost killed, and it was only because the attending police officer detected a faint pulse that Spector was not declared dead at the scene. He was admitted to the UCLA Medical Center on the night of March 31, 1974, suffering serious head injuries which necessitated several hours of surgery with over 300 stitches to his face, and more than 400 stitches to the back of his head. His head injuries, Thompson suggests, were the reason that Spector began his habit of wearing outlandish wigs in later years.The 1974 accident took place shortly after Spector had established the Warner-Spector
Warner-Spector Records
Warner-Spector Records was a record label formed on October 12, 1974 as an outlet for Phil Spector productions by Warner Bros. Records. The label lasted for three years...
label with Warner Bros. Records
Warner Bros. Records
Warner Bros. Records Inc. is an American record label. It was the foundation label of the present-day Warner Music Group, and now operates as a wholly owned subsidiary of that corporation. It maintains a close relationship with its former parent, Warner Bros. Pictures, although the two companies...
, which undertook new recordings with Dion
Dion DiMucci
Dion Francis DiMucci , better known as Dion, is an American singer-songwriter whose work has incorporated elements of doo-wop, pop oldies music, rock and R&B styles....
, Cher
Cher
Cher is an American recording artist, television personality, actress, director, record producer and philanthropist. Referred to as the Goddess of Pop, she has won an Academy Award, a Grammy Award, an Emmy Award, three Golden Globes and a Cannes Film Festival Award among others for her work in...
, Harry Nilsson
Harry Nilsson
Harry Edward Nilsson III was an American singer-songwriter who achieved the peak of his commercial success in the early 1970s. On all but his earliest recordings he is credited as Nilsson...
and others, as well as several reissues. A similar relationship with Britain's Polydor Records
Polydor Records
Polydor is a record label owned by Universal Music Group, headquartered in the United Kingdom.-Beginnings:Polydor was originally an independent branch of the Deutsche Grammophon Gesellschaft. Its name was first used as an export label in 1924, the British and German branches of the Gramophone...
led to the formation of the Phil Spector International label in 1975.
After a pair of failed singles with Cher
Cher
Cher is an American recording artist, television personality, actress, director, record producer and philanthropist. Referred to as the Goddess of Pop, she has won an Academy Award, a Grammy Award, an Emmy Award, three Golden Globes and a Cannes Film Festival Award among others for her work in...
, Spector produced Dion’s Born to Be with You
Born to Be with You (album)
- Production credits :* Phil Gernhard - Producer* Pete Romano - Engineer* Phil Spector - Producer-External links:* on Radio3Net a radio channel of Romanian Radio Broadcasting Company...
. Despite lukewarm reviews, artists like Bruce Springsteen
Bruce Springsteen
Bruce Frederick Joseph Springsteen , nicknamed "The Boss," is an American singer-songwriter who records and tours with the E Street Band...
heralded the album as a masterpiece.
The majority of Spector's classic Philles recordings had been out of print in the U.S. since the original label's demise, although Spector had released several Philles Records compilations in Britain. Finally, he released an American compilation of his Philles recordings in 1977, which put most of the better known Spector hits back into circulation after many years.
Spector began to reemerge in the late 1970s, producing and co-writing a controversial 1977 album by Leonard Cohen
Leonard Cohen
Leonard Norman Cohen, is a Canadian singer-songwriter, musician, poet and novelist. Cohen published his first book of poetry in Montreal in 1956 and his first novel in 1963. His work often explores religion, isolation, sexuality and interpersonal relationships...
, entitled Death of a Ladies' Man
Death of a Ladies' Man
Death of a Ladies' Man is the fifth of Leonard Cohen's albums. Produced and co-written by the storied Phil Spector, it was a surprise to some fans when the voice of typically minimalist Cohen was surrounded, some critics said submerged completely, by Spector's Wall of Sound, which included multiple...
. The album angered many devout Cohen fans who were used to his stark acoustic sound versus the orchestral and choral wall of sound the album contains. The recording of the album was fraught with difficulty. After Cohen had laid down practice vocal tracks, Spector reportedly mixed the album in "secret" studio sessions, literally locking Cohen, who usually took a strong role in the mixing, out of the studio. Cohen said Spector once threatened him with a crossbow
Crossbow
A crossbow is a weapon consisting of a bow mounted on a stock that shoots projectiles, often called bolts or quarrels. The medieval crossbow was called by many names, most of which derived from the word ballista, a torsion engine resembling a crossbow in appearance.Historically, crossbows played a...
, a claim, according to newspaper reports, others would make about their dealings with Spector. Cohen has remarked that the end result is "grotesque", but also "semi-virtuous". Cohen, however, still includes a reworked version of the track "Memories" in live concerts. Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan is an American singer-songwriter, musician, poet, film director and painter. He has been a major and profoundly influential figure in popular music and culture for five decades. Much of his most celebrated work dates from the 1960s when he was an informal chronicler and a seemingly...
and Allen Ginsberg
Allen Ginsberg
Irwin Allen Ginsberg was an American poet and one of the leading figures of the Beat Generation in the 1950s. He vigorously opposed militarism, materialism and sexual repression...
also participated in the background vocals on "Don't Go Home With Your Hard-On", which is the second time Spector indirectly "produced" Dylan – the first being Dylan's live recordings on The Concert For Bangladesh.
Spector also produced the much-publicized Ramones
Ramones
The Ramones were an American rock band that formed in the New York City neighborhood of Forest Hills, Queens, in 1974. They are often cited as the first punk rock group...
album, End of the Century
End of the Century
T. Donald Guarisco of Allmusic notes that the "entire album is pretty controversial in the world of Ramones fandom".Dee Dee recalled hearing a song from the album on the radio, perhaps "I'm Affected": "I couldn't believe how awful it sounded. It was horrible. I hated "Baby, I Love You"...
in 1980. As with his work with Leonard Cohen, End of the Century received negative backlash from Ramones fans who were angered over the radio-friendly sound of the album. However, End of the Century contains some of the best known and most successful Ramones singles such as "Rock 'n' Roll High School
Rock 'n' Roll High School
Rock 'n' Roll High School is a 1979 musical comedy film produced by Roger Corman, directed by Allan Arkush, and featuring the Ramones.The film starred P. J. Soles, Vince Van Patten, and Clint Howard...
", "Do You Remember Rock 'n' Roll Radio?
Do You Remember Rock 'n' Roll Radio?
"Do You Remember Rock 'n' Roll Radio?" was the second single by American punk rock band the Ramones from their fifth studio album, End of the Century. It was released on May 16, 1980. This song and the album itself marked a complete change in the Ramones' sound...
" and their cover of a previously released Spector song for the Ronettes, "Baby, I Love You
Baby, I Love You
"Baby, I Love You" is a pop song written by Jeff Barry, Ellie Greenwich, and Phil Spector, produced by Spector, and originally recorded in 1963 by The Ronettes...
." Guitarist Johnny Ramone
Johnny Ramone
John William Cummings , better known by his stage name Johnny Ramone, was an American guitarist and songwriter, best known for being the guitarist for the punk rock band the Ramones. He was a founding member of the band, and remained a member throughout the band's entire career...
later commented on working with Spector on the recording of the album, "It really worked when he got to a slower song like 'Danny Says
Danny Says
"Danny Says" is a ballad written by Joey Ramone. The song was originally released as the third track on the Ramones 1980 album, End of the Century. The 2002 Expanded Edition CD of the album includes a demo version of "Danny Says" among the bonus tracks...
' — the production really worked tremendously. For the harder stuff, it didn't work as well."
Rumors had circulated for years that Spector had threatened members of the Ramones with a gun during the sessions. Johnny Ramone
Johnny Ramone
John William Cummings , better known by his stage name Johnny Ramone, was an American guitarist and songwriter, best known for being the guitarist for the punk rock band the Ramones. He was a founding member of the band, and remained a member throughout the band's entire career...
remembered a meeting at Spector's home in which the producer became upset when they tried to leave. "And then he reaches into his jacket pocket and well, he pulls out a gun, puts it on the table right in front of us, and says, 'You guys don't really have to go yet, do you?'" Drummer Marky Ramone
Marky Ramone
Marky Ramone is an American musician. He is best known for being the drummer for the Ramones, but has also played in other notable bands like Dust, Wayne County and the Backstreet Boys, Richard Hell & The Voidoids, and the Misfits.Although he is not the original drummer , Marky is the only living...
recalled in 2008, "They (guns) were there but he had a license to carry. He never held us hostage. We could have left at any time".
Spector worked with Yoko Ono
Yoko Ono
is a Japanese artist, musician, author and peace activist, known for her work in avant-garde art, music and filmmaking as well as her marriage to John Lennon...
in 1981, and co-produced Season of Glass
Season of Glass
Season of Glass is a 1981 album by Yoko Ono, her first solo recording after the murder of her husband John Lennon. The album was released less than six months after Lennon's death and deals with it directly in songs such as "Goodbye Sadness" and "I Don't Know Why".The front cover features Lennon's...
, her first work after the death of her husband, John Lennon
John Lennon
John Winston Lennon, MBE was an English musician and singer-songwriter who rose to worldwide fame as one of the founding members of The Beatles, one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music...
.
Since 2000
Spector remained inactive throughout most of the 1980s, 1990s, and early 2000s. He attempted to work with Céline DionCeline Dion
Céline Marie Claudette Dion, , , is a Canadian singer. Born to a large family from Charlemagne, Quebec, Dion emerged as a teen star in the French-speaking world after her manager and future husband René Angélil mortgaged his home to finance her first record...
on her album Falling Into You
Falling into You
Falling into You is an album by Canadian singer Céline Dion, released on March 8, 1996. It is her fourth English-language album and twenty-first overall...
, but that fell through. His most recent released project has been Silence Is Easy
Silence Is Easy
Silence Is Easy is the second studio album by indie rock group Starsailor, released in September 2003. The album cover is loosely based on Echo & the Bunnymen's Heaven Up Here. The song Some of Us was featured in an episode of Bones entitled A Boy in a Bush and in the closing credits of the Belgian...
by Starsailor
Starsailor (band)
Starsailor is an English post-britpop band, formed in Leigh, Warrington and Greater Manchester. By 2009, they had four charting albums and ten Top 40 singles in the UK since 2001.-Early history:...
, released in 2003. He was originally supposed to produce the entire album, but was fired owing to personal and creative differences — however, one of the two Spector-produced songs on the album was a UK top 10 single.
Spector produced singer-songwriter Hargo's track, "Crying For John Lennon", which originally appears on Hargo's 2006 album In Your Eyes, but on a visit to Spector's mansion for an interview for the John Lennon tribute movie, Strawberry Fields, Hargo played Spector the song and asked him to produce it. Spector and former Paul McCartney drummer Graham Ward
Graham Ward
Graham Ward is a professional footballer, currently playing for Conference North side Worcester City, where he plays as a Defender.- Playing career :...
produced it in the classic Wall of Sound
Wall of Sound
The Wall of Sound is a music production technique for pop and rock music recordings developed by record producer Phil Spector at Gold Star Studios in Los Angeles, California, during the early 1960s...
style on nights after his first murder trial.
In December 2007, the song "B Boy Baby
B Boy Baby
"B Boy Baby" is a song written by Phil Spector, Ellie Greenwich, Jeff Barry, and Angela Hunte. It was produced by Salaam Remi for Mutya Buena's debut album, Real Girl, and was released as the fourth and final single from the album.-Background:...
" by Mutya Buena
Mutya Buena
Rosa Isabel Mutya Buena is an English recording artist who rose to fame as a member of girl group the Sugababes. With the Sugababes, Buena had four UK number one singles, an additional six top-ten hits and three multi-platinum albums. After leaving the group in December 2005, she released her...
and Amy Winehouse
Amy Winehouse
Amy Jade Winehouse was an English singer-songwriter known for her powerful deep contralto vocals and her eclectic mix of musical genres including R&B, soul and jazz. Winehouse's 2003 debut album, Frank, was critically successful in the UK and was nominated for the Mercury Prize...
featured melodic and lyrical passages heavily influenced by the Ronettes song "Be My Baby
Be My Baby
"Be My Baby" is a 1963 single written by Phil Spector, Jeff Barry, and Ellie Greenwich, performed by The Ronettes and produced by Spector. When released as a single, the song reached #2 on the U.S. Billboard Pop Singles Chart and #4 on the UK's Record Retailer...
". As a result, Spector was given a songwriting credit on the single. The sections from "Be My Baby" are sung by Winehouse, not directly sampled from the mono single. Winehouse had made reference to her admiration of Spector's work with 1960s girl groups. She often performed Spector's first hit song, "To Know Him Is to Love Him
To Know Him Is to Love Him
"To Know Him Is to Love Him" is a song written by Phil Spector, inspired by words on his father's tombstone. It was first recorded by his first vocal group, the only one of which he was a member, the Teddy Bears. Their recording went to number one on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart in 1958...
".
Also in December 2007, Spector attended the funeral for Ike Turner
Ike Turner
Isaac Wister Turner was an American musician, bandleader, songwriter, arranger, talent scout, and record producer. In a career that lasted more than half a century, his repertoire included blues, soul, rock, and funk...
whom he previously produced in the mid-late 1960s with his then-wife Tina Turner
Tina Turner
Tina Turner is an American singer and actress whose career has spanned more than 50 years. She has won numerous awards and her achievements in the rock music genre have led many to call her the "Queen of Rock 'n' Roll".Turner started out her music career with husband Ike Turner as a member of the...
. While delivering a eulogy, Spector lashed out at Tina and stated that "Ike made Tina the jewel she was. When I went to see Ike play at the Cinegrill in the 90s…there were at least five Tina Turners on the stage performing that night, any one of them could have been Tina Turner." Spector then lashed out at Oprah Winfrey
Oprah Winfrey
Oprah Winfrey is an American media proprietor, talk show host, actress, producer and philanthropist. Winfrey is best known for her self-titled, multi-award-winning talk show, which has become the highest-rated program of its kind in history and was nationally syndicated from 1986 to 2011...
for promoting Tina Turner's autobiography that "demonized and vilified Ike."
In mid-April 2008, BBC 2 broadcast a special entitled Phil Spector: The Agony and The Ecstasy. It consists of Spector's first screen interview — breaking a long period of media silence. During the conversation, images from the murder court case are juxtaposed with live appearances of his tracks on television programs from the 1960s and 1970s, along with subtitles giving critical interpretation of some of his song production values. While he does not directly try to clear his name, the court case proceedings shown try to give further explanation of the facts surrounding the murder charges that were leveled against him. He also speaks about the musical instincts that led him to create some of his most enduring hit records, from "You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'
You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'
"You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin" is a 1964 song by The Righteous Brothers which became a number-one hit single in the United States and the United Kingdom the following year. In 1999, the performing-rights organization Broadcast Music, Inc. ranked the song as having had more radio and television...
" to "River Deep, Mountain High", as well as The Beatles
The Beatles
The Beatles were an English rock band, active throughout the 1960s and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. Formed in Liverpool, by 1962 the group consisted of John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr...
album Let It Be, along with criticisms he feels he has had to deal with throughout his life.
Influence
Many producers have tried to emulate the Wall of Sound, and Brian WilsonBrian Wilson
Brian Douglas Wilson is an American musician, best known as the leader and chief songwriter of the group The Beach Boys. Within the band, Wilson played bass and keyboards, also providing part-time lead vocals and, more often, backing vocals, harmonizing in falsetto with the group...
of the Beach Boys—a fellow adherent of mono recording—considered Spector his main competition as a studio artist, going so far as to name the acclaimed Pet Sounds
Pet Sounds
Pet Sounds is the eleventh studio album by the American rock band The Beach Boys, released May 16, 1966, on Capitol Records. It has since been recognized as one of the most influential records in the history of popular music and one of the best albums of the 1960s, including songs such as "Wouldn't...
album using Spector's initials. Bruce Springsteen
Bruce Springsteen
Bruce Frederick Joseph Springsteen , nicknamed "The Boss," is an American singer-songwriter who records and tours with the E Street Band...
emulated the Wall of Sound technique in his recording of "Born to Run
Born to Run (song)
"Born to Run" is a song by American singer songwriter Bruce Springsteen, and the title song of his album Born to Run.- Songwriting :Written at in Long Branch, New Jersey in early 1974, the song was Bruce Springsteen's last-ditch effort to make it big. The prior year, Springsteen had released two...
". Shoegazing
Shoegazing
Shoegazing is a subgenre of alternative rock that emerged from the United Kingdom in the late 1980s. It lasted there until the mid 1990s, with a critical zenith reached in 1990 and 1991...
, a British musical movement in the late 1980s and mid 1990s, was heavily influenced by the Wall of Sound. British band Wizzard
Wizzard
Wizzard was a Birmingham-based band formed by Roy Wood, former member of The Move and co-founder of Electric Light Orchestra. The Guinness Book of 500 Number One Hits states, "Wizzard was Roy Wood just as much as Wings were Paul McCartney."-Biography:...
led by Roy Wood
Roy Wood
Roy Adrian Wood is an English singer-songwriter and musician. He was particularly successful in the 1960s and 1970s as member and co-founder of the bands The Move, Electric Light Orchestra, and Wizzard. As a songwriter, he contributed a number of hits to the repertoire of these bands.-Career:Wood...
back in 1973 had 3 heavily Spector influenced hits with See My Baby Jive (UK #1), Angel Fingers (UK #1) and I Wish It Could Be Christmas Everyday (UK #4), the latter becoming a perennial Christmas hit.
For his contributions to the music industry, Spector was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum is a museum located on the shore of Lake Erie in downtown Cleveland, Ohio, United States. It is dedicated to archiving the history of some of the best-known and most influential artists, producers, engineers and others who have, in some major way,...
in 1989. In 1997, he was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame
Songwriters Hall of Fame
The Songwriters Hall of Fame is an arm of the National Academy of Popular Music. It was founded in 1969 by songwriter Johnny Mercer and music publishers Abe Olman and Howie Richmond. The goal is to create a museum but as of April, 2008, the means do not yet exist and so instead it is an online...
. In 2004, Rolling Stone magazine ranked him #63 on their list of the "Greatest Artists of All Time".
Spector's early musical influences included Latin music in general, and Latin percussion
Latin percussion
The term Latin percussion refers to any number of a large family of musical percussion instruments used in Latin music, which in turn is a very loosely related group of musical styles, mainly from the Latin American region, and ultimately having roots or influences in African tribal...
in particular. This is keenly perceptible in many, if not all, of Spector's recordings from the percussion in many of his hit songs: shakers, güiros (gourds), and maracas in "Be My Baby," and the son montuno
Son montuno
The son montuno is a style of the Cuban son, but exactly what it means is not an easy question to answer. The son itself is the most important genre of Cuban popular music. In addition, it is perhaps the most flexible of all forms of Latin-American music...
in "You've Lost That Lovin' Feeling," heard clearly in the song's bridge played by session bassist Carol Kaye
Carol Kaye
Carol Kaye is an American musician, best known as one of the most prolific and widely heard bass guitarists in history, playing on an estimated 10,000 recording sessions in a 55 year career....
while the same repeating refrain is played on harpsichord by keyboardist Larry Knechtel
Larry Knechtel
Lawrence William "Larry" Knechtel was an American keyboard player and bassist, best known for his work as a session musician with such artists as Simon & Garfunkel, Duane Eddy, The Beach Boys, The Mamas & the Papas, The Partridge Family, The Doors, and Elvis Presley, and as a member of the 1970s...
. Spector would visit Spanish Harlem
Spanish Harlem
East Harlem, also known as Spanish Harlem and El Barrio, is a section of Harlem in the northeastern part of the New York City borough of Manhattan. East Harlem is one of the largest predominantly Latino communities in New York City. It includes the area formerly known as Italian Harlem, in which...
clubs and schools to hone his listening and practical skills.
The Beach Boys
The Beach Boys
The Beach Boys are an American rock band, formed in 1961 in Hawthorne, California. The group was initially composed of brothers Brian, Dennis and Carl Wilson, their cousin Mike Love, and friend Al Jardine. Managed by the Wilsons' father Murry, The Beach Boys signed to Capitol Records in 1962...
paid tribute to Spector in the lyrics of their song "Mona": "Come on/Listen to 'Da Doo Ron Ron
Da Doo Ron Ron
"Da Doo Ron Ron" is a 1963 hit single by The Crystals, produced by Phil Spector in his Wall of Sound style. The song was written by Jeff Barry, Ellie Greenwich and Spector. The drummer was Hal Blaine....
,' now/Listen to 'Be My Baby
Be My Baby
"Be My Baby" is a 1963 single written by Phil Spector, Jeff Barry, and Ellie Greenwich, performed by The Ronettes and produced by Spector. When released as a single, the song reached #2 on the U.S. Billboard Pop Singles Chart and #4 on the UK's Record Retailer...
'/I know you're gonna love Phil Spector".
The character of Ronnie "Z-Man" Barzell in Beyond the Valley of the Dolls
Beyond the Valley of the Dolls
Beyond the Valley of the Dolls is a 1970 American schlock melodrama film starring Dolly Read, Cynthia Myers, Marcia McBroom, John LaZar, Michael Blodgett and David Gurian...
, a 1970 Russ Meyer
Russ Meyer
Russell Albion "Russ" Meyer was a U.S. motion picture director, producer, screenwriter, cinematographer, editor, actor and photographer....
film, is based upon Spector, though neither Meyer nor screenwriter Roger Ebert
Roger Ebert
Roger Joseph Ebert is an American film critic and screenwriter. He is the first film critic to win a Pulitzer Prize for Criticism.Ebert is known for his film review column and for the television programs Sneak Previews, At the Movies with Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert, and Siskel and Ebert and The...
had met him.
In Brian De Palma
Brian De Palma
Brian Russell De Palma is an American film director and writer. In a career spanning over 40 years, he is probably best known for his suspense and crime thriller films, including such box office successes as the horror film Carrie, Dressed to Kill, Scarface, The Untouchables, and Mission:...
's film Phantom of the Paradise
Phantom of the Paradise
Phantom of the Paradise is a 1974 musical film written and directed by Brian De Palma. The story is a loosely adapted mixture of The Phantom of the Opera, The Picture of Dorian Gray and Faust and also briefly references Frankenstein and The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari...
(1974), the villainous character Swan (played by Paul Williams
Paul Williams (songwriter)
Paul Hamilton Williams, Jr. is an Academy Award-winning American composer, musician, songwriter, and actor. He is perhaps best known for popular songs performed by a number of acts in the 1970s including Three Dog Night's "An Old Fashioned Love Song", Helen Reddy's "You and Me Against the World",...
) was purportedly inspired by Spector. A music producer and head of a record label, Swan was named "Spectre" in original drafts of the film's screenplay.
The character of Harv Stevens in the 2009 independent short film A Reasonable Man was reportedly based on Phil Spector. The film examines his relationship with John Lennon.
Murder of Lana Clarkson
On February 3, 2003, actress Lana ClarksonLana Clarkson
Lana Jean Clarkson was an American actress and fashion model. Clarkson was a native of Los Angeles County. She played roles in science fiction and fantasy movies. She was murdered by songwriter and producer Phil Spector, who was convicted of the crime on April 13, 2009.-Early life:Born in Long...
was found dead, killed by a firearm
Firearm
A firearm is a weapon that launches one, or many, projectile at high velocity through confined burning of a propellant. This subsonic burning process is technically known as deflagration, as opposed to supersonic combustion known as a detonation. In older firearms, the propellant was typically...
, in Spector's mansion in Alhambra, California
Alhambra, California
Alhambra is a city located in the western San Gabriel Valley region of Los Angeles County, California, United States, which is approximately eight miles from the Downtown Los Angeles civic center. As of the 2010 census, the population was 83,089, down from 85,804 at the 2000 census. The city's...
. Spector stated that Clarkson's death was an "accidental suicide
Suicide
Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Suicide is often committed out of despair or attributed to some underlying mental disorder, such as depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, alcoholism, or drug abuse...
" and that she "kissed the gun". The emergency call from Spector's home, made by Spector's driver Adriano De Souza, quotes Spector as saying, "I think I've killed someone." According to some women who were said to have met Spector, there would come a point when they wanted to leave Spector's home, whereupon he would hold them at gunpoint. The prosecution argued that the testimony of the other women was important in order to demonstrate a "common plan or scheme". The defense sought to prevent the women from providing such testimony. Though the law in California and other states generally forbids the introduction of evidence showing a defendant's previous bad acts, the judge sided with the prosecutors and ruled that the testimony of the other women "can be used to show lack of accident or mistake".
Prior to and during the first trial, Spector went through at least three sets of attorneys. Defense attorney Robert Shapiro represented Spector at the arraignment
Arraignment
Arraignment is a formal reading of a criminal complaint in the presence of the defendant to inform the defendant of the charges against him or her. In response to arraignment, the accused is expected to enter a plea...
and early pretrial hearings and achieved his release on $1 million bail. Bruce Cutler
Bruce Cutler
Bruce Cutler is an American criminal defense lawyer known for defending organized-crime defendants, and for media appearances as an actor, a legal commentator, and a reality-show attorney....
represented him during the 2007 trial, but withdrew on August 27, 2007, claiming "a difference of opinion between Mr. Spector and me on strategy." Attorney Linda Kenney Baden then became lead lawyer for closing arguments.
First trial
Spector remained free on $1 million bail while awaiting trial. The trial began on March 19, 2007. Presiding judge Larry Paul Fidler allowed the trial to be televised. At the start of the trial, the defense's forensic expert Henry Lee was accused of hiding crucial evidence which the District AttorneyDistrict attorney
In many jurisdictions in the United States, a District Attorney is an elected or appointed government official who represents the government in the prosecution of criminal offenses. The district attorney is the highest officeholder in the jurisdiction's legal department and supervises a staff of...
's office claimed could prove Spector's guilt. On September 26, 2007, Judge Fidler declared a mistrial because of a hung jury
Hung jury
A hung jury or deadlocked jury is a jury that cannot, by the required voting threshold, agree upon a verdict after an extended period of deliberation and is unable to change its votes due to severe differences of opinion.- England and Wales :...
(10 to 2 for conviction).
During the trial, defense expert Dr. Vincent DiMaio asserted that Spector may be suffering from Parkinson's disease
Parkinson's disease
Parkinson's disease is a degenerative disorder of the central nervous system...
, stating: "Look at Mr. Spector. He has Parkinson's features. He trembles."
Second trial
The retrial of Spector for murder in the second degree began on October 20, 2008, with Judge Fidler again presiding; this time it was not televised. The case went to the jury on March 26, 2009, and nineteen days later, on April 13, the jury returned a guilty verdict. In addition, he was found guilty of using a firearm in the commission of a crime. Spector was immediately taken into custody and was formally sentenced on May 29, 2009, to 19 years to life in the California state prison systemCalifornia Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation
The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation is responsible for the operation of the California state prison and parole systems. CDC&R is the second largest law enforcement or police agency in the United States behind the New York City Police Department which employs approximately...
.
The California Court of Appeal
California Court of Appeal
The California Courts of Appeal are the state intermediate appellate courts in the U.S. state of California. The state is geographically divided into six appellate districts...
affirmed Spector's conviction in May 2011 and denied his request for a rehearing of the appeal shortly thereafter. On August 17, 2011 the California Supreme Court refused to review the Court of Appeal's decision to affirm his conviction. (S193961 Petition for review denied).
Spector is serving his sentence at the California Substance Abuse Treatment Facility and State Prison
California Substance Abuse Treatment Facility and State Prison, Corcoran
California Substance Abuse Treatment Facility and State Prison, Corcoran is a male-only state prison located in the city of Corcoran, in Kings County, California...
(SATF) in Corcoran, California
Corcoran, California
Corcoran is a city in Kings County, California, United States. Corcoran is located south-southeast of Hanford, at an elevation of 207 feet . It is part of the Hanford–Corcoran, Metropolitan Statistical Area...
. Although it is in Corcoran, it is a separate facility from California State Prison, Corcoran
California State Prison, Corcoran
California State Prison, Corcoran is a male-only state prison located in the city of Corcoran, in Kings County, California. Also known as Corcoran State Prison, CSP-C, CSP-COR, CSP-Corcoran, and Corcoran I, it should not be confused with the newer California Substance Abuse Treatment Facility and...
. Spector will be 88 years old before becoming eligible for parole.
Family
Spector's first marriage was to Annette Merar, lead vocalist of the Spectors Three (a 1960s pop trio formed and produced by Spector).Spector's second and final marriage was to Veronica Bennett, later known as Ronnie Spector
Ronnie Spector
Veronica Yvette "Ronnie" Spector is an American rock and roll and popular music vocalist, and was the lead singer of the 1960s hit-making girl group, The Ronettes, who were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2007. She is known as the "original bad girl of rock and roll."-Personal...
. The marriage lasted from 1966 to 1974. Ronnie Spector
Ronnie Spector
Veronica Yvette "Ronnie" Spector is an American rock and roll and popular music vocalist, and was the lead singer of the 1960s hit-making girl group, The Ronettes, who were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2007. She is known as the "original bad girl of rock and roll."-Personal...
was the lead singer of the girl group
Girl group
A girl group is a popular music act featuring several young female singers who generally harmonise together.Girl groups emerged in the late 1950s as groups of young singers teamed up with behind-the-scenes songwriters and music producers to create hit singles, often featuring glossy production...
, the Ronettes
The Ronettes
The Ronettes were a 1960s girl group from New York City, best known for their work with producer Phil Spector. The group consisted of lead singer Veronica Bennett ; her older sister, Estelle Bennett; and their cousin Nedra Talley...
(another group Spector managed and produced). The two adopted three children: twins Louis Phillip Spector and Gary Phillip Spector (born May 12, 1966; adopted at age 5) and Donté Phillip Spector (born March 23, 1969; adopted at age 8 months).
In 1982, Spector had twins with then-girlfriend, Janis Zavala: Nicole Audrey Spector and Phillip Spector, Jr. (born October 18, 1982). Phillip Spector, Jr. died of leukemia
Leukemia
Leukemia or leukaemia is a type of cancer of the blood or bone marrow characterized by an abnormal increase of immature white blood cells called "blasts". Leukemia is a broad term covering a spectrum of diseases...
on Christmas Day, 1991
Albums
- 1959: The Teddy Bears Sing – The Teddy Bears
- 1963: A Christmas Gift for You from Philles Records – Various Artists
- 1963: Twist Uptown – The CrystalsThe CrystalsThe Crystals are an American vocal group based in New York, considered one of the defining acts of the girl group era of the first half of the 1960s. Their 1961–1964 chart hits, including "Uptown", "He's a Rebel", "Da Doo Ron Ron " and "Then He Kissed Me", featured three successive female lead...
- 1963: He's A Rebel – The Crystals
- 1963: Zip-A Dee-Doo-Dah - Bob B. Soxx and the Blue Jeans
- 1964: Presenting the Fabulous Ronettes Featuring VeronicaPresenting the Fabulous Ronettes Featuring VeronicaPresenting the Fabulous Ronettes Featuring Veronica is an album by the girl group The Ronettes, produced by Phil Spector, Philles 4006 , and 4006S , released in 1964...
– The RonettesThe RonettesThe Ronettes were a 1960s girl group from New York City, best known for their work with producer Phil Spector. The group consisted of lead singer Veronica Bennett ; her older sister, Estelle Bennett; and their cousin Nedra Talley... - 1965: Ronettes – The Ronettes
- 1966: River Deep - Mountain HighRiver Deep Mountain High (album)River Deep Mountain High is a studio album by the American R&B duo Ike & Tina Turner and is produced and arranged by legendary producer Phil Spector...
– Ike and Tina Turner - 1970: Let It Be – The BeatlesThe BeatlesThe Beatles were an English rock band, active throughout the 1960s and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. Formed in Liverpool, by 1962 the group consisted of John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr...
- 1970: All Things Must PassAll Things Must PassAll Things Must Pass is a triple album by George Harrison, recorded and released in 1970. The original vinyl release featured two LPs of rock songs as well as Apple Jam, a third LP of informal jams...
(co-producer) – George HarrisonGeorge HarrisonGeorge Harrison, MBE was an English musician, guitarist, singer-songwriter, actor and film producer who achieved international fame as lead guitarist of The Beatles. Often referred to as "the quiet Beatle", Harrison became over time an admirer of Indian mysticism, and introduced it to the other... - 1970: Plastic Ono BandJohn Lennon/Plastic Ono BandJohn Lennon/Plastic Ono Band was received with high critical praise upon release. Critic Greil Marcus remarked, "John's singing in the last verse of 'God' may be the finest in all of rock." In early 1971, the album reached number eight on the UK and went to number six in the US, spending eighteen...
(co-producer) – John LennonJohn LennonJohn Winston Lennon, MBE was an English musician and singer-songwriter who rose to worldwide fame as one of the founding members of The Beatles, one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music...
and The Plastic Ono BandThe Plastic Ono BandThe Plastic Ono Band is a conceptual supergroup formed by John Lennon and Yoko Ono in 1969 before the dissolution of the Beatles. Among the various other members of the band were Eric Clapton, artist Klaus Voormann, future Yes drummer Alan White, Delaney and Bonnie Bramlett, & friends, the Who's... - 1971: ImagineImagine (album)Imagine is the second album by John Lennon. Recorded and released in 1971, the album tended toward songs that were gentler, more commercial and less avant-garde than those on his critically acclaimed previous album, John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band. The album is considered the most popular of his works...
(co-producer) – John Lennon and The Plastic Ono Band with the Flux Fiddlers - 1971: The Concert for BangladeshThe Concert for BangladeshThe Concert for Bangladesh was the name for two benefit concerts organised by George Harrison and Ravi Shankar, held at noon and at 7 PM on August 1, 1971, playing to a total of 40,000 people at Madison Square Garden in New York City...
(co-producer) – George Harrison and friends - 1972: Some Time in New York CitySome Time in New York CitySome Time in New York City was released in 1972 and is John Lennon's third post-Beatles album, fifth with Yoko Ono, and third with producer Phil Spector...
(co-producer) – John Lennon and Yoko Ono with Elephant's MemoryElephant's MemoryElephant's Memory was a New York band, most notable for backing John Lennon and Yoko Ono during 1972 on a pair of albums, and a handful of TV and live appearances, including the John Lennon "One To One Concert", with two performances the 30th of August 1972 to benefit the Willowbrook School for...
plus Invisible Strings - 1975: Rock N' RollRock 'n' Roll (John Lennon album)Rock 'n' Roll is a 1975 album of late 1950s and early 1960s songs covered by John Lennon. Recording the album was problematic and spanned a year. Though critically derided, it reached #6 in both the United Kingdom and the United States.-History:...
(co-producer) – John Lennon - 1975: Born To Be With YouBorn to Be with You (album)- Production credits :* Phil Gernhard - Producer* Pete Romano - Engineer* Phil Spector - Producer-External links:* on Radio3Net a radio channel of Romanian Radio Broadcasting Company...
– DionDion DiMucciDion Francis DiMucci , better known as Dion, is an American singer-songwriter whose work has incorporated elements of doo-wop, pop oldies music, rock and R&B styles.... - 1977: Death of a Ladies' ManDeath of a Ladies' ManDeath of a Ladies' Man is the fifth of Leonard Cohen's albums. Produced and co-written by the storied Phil Spector, it was a surprise to some fans when the voice of typically minimalist Cohen was surrounded, some critics said submerged completely, by Spector's Wall of Sound, which included multiple...
– Leonard CohenLeonard CohenLeonard Norman Cohen, is a Canadian singer-songwriter, musician, poet and novelist. Cohen published his first book of poetry in Montreal in 1956 and his first novel in 1963. His work often explores religion, isolation, sexuality and interpersonal relationships... - 1980: End of the CenturyEnd of the CenturyT. Donald Guarisco of Allmusic notes that the "entire album is pretty controversial in the world of Ramones fandom".Dee Dee recalled hearing a song from the album on the radio, perhaps "I'm Affected": "I couldn't believe how awful it sounded. It was horrible. I hated "Baby, I Love You"...
– RamonesRamonesThe Ramones were an American rock band that formed in the New York City neighborhood of Forest Hills, Queens, in 1974. They are often cited as the first punk rock group... - 1981: Season of GlassSeason of GlassSeason of Glass is a 1981 album by Yoko Ono, her first solo recording after the murder of her husband John Lennon. The album was released less than six months after Lennon's death and deals with it directly in songs such as "Goodbye Sadness" and "I Don't Know Why".The front cover features Lennon's...
(co-producer) – Yoko OnoYoko Onois a Japanese artist, musician, author and peace activist, known for her work in avant-garde art, music and filmmaking as well as her marriage to John Lennon... - 1986: Menlove Ave.Menlove Ave.Menlove Ave. is a 1986 album by English rock musician John Lennon. It is the second posthumous release of Lennon's music, having been recorded during the sessions from his albums, Walls and Bridges and Rock 'n' Roll...
(co-producer) – John Lennon - 1991: Back to Mono (1958-1969)Back to Mono (1958-1969)Back to Mono is a box set four-disc compilation of the recorded work of record producer Phil Spector, during the decade of the 1960s, released in 1991 by ABKCO as #7118-2. The first track, "To Know Him Is to Love Him," presents the only exception as it was released in 1958, featuring Spector as...
(box set compilation) – Various Artists - 2003: Silence Is EasySilence Is EasySilence Is Easy is the second studio album by indie rock group Starsailor, released in September 2003. The album cover is loosely based on Echo & the Bunnymen's Heaven Up Here. The song Some of Us was featured in an episode of Bones entitled A Boy in a Bush and in the closing credits of the Belgian...
(co-producer) – Starsailor
Singles
- "To Know Him Is to Love HimTo Know Him Is to Love Him"To Know Him Is to Love Him" is a song written by Phil Spector, inspired by words on his father's tombstone. It was first recorded by his first vocal group, the only one of which he was a member, the Teddy Bears. Their recording went to number one on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart in 1958...
" – The Teddy Bears (12/01/58, #1) - "Corrina, CorrinaCorrina, Corrina (song)"Corrine, Corrina" is a 12 bar country blues song in the AAB form. "Corrine, Corrina" was first recorded by "Bo Carter" Chatmon . However, it was not copyrighted until 1932 by Chatmon and his publishers, Mitchell Parish and J. Mayo Williams...
" – Ray PetersonRay PetersonRay Peterson was an American pop music singer who was best remembered for singing "Tell Laura I Love Her" and "Corrine, Corrina" in the 1960s.-Career:...
(1/09/61, #9) - "Pretty Little Angel Eyes" – Curtis LeeCurtis LeeCurtis Lee is an American singer of the early 1960s, who twice over was one of the beneficiaries of 1961 productions by Phil Spector. These were "Pretty Little Angel Eyes" and "Under the Moon of Love" Curtis Lee (born October 28, 1941, Yuma, Arizona, U.S.) is an American singer of the early...
(8/07/61, #7) - "Every Breath I Take" – Gene PitneyGene PitneyEugene Francis Alan Pitney, known as Gene Pitney , was an American singer-songwriter, musician and sound engineer. Through the mid-1960s, he enjoyed success as a recording artist on both sides of the Atlantic and was among the group of early 1960s American acts who continued to enjoy hits after the...
(9/11/61, #42) - "I Love How You Love Me" – The Paris SistersThe Paris SistersThe Paris Sisters were a 1960s girl group from San Francisco, best known for their work with producer Phil Spector. The group consisted of lead singer Priscilla Paris; her older sister, Albeth Paris; and their middle sister Sherrell Paris...
(10/30/61, #5) - "Under the Moon of LoveUnder the Moon of Love"Under the Moon of Love" was a popular hit single by Showaddywaddy.Written by Tommy Boyce and Curtis Lee and produced by Phil Spector in 1961 for Curtis Lee, "Under the Moon of Love" was a minor hit in the U.S. reaching #46 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart.Fifteen years later the song was...
" – Curtis Lee (11/27/61, #46) - "There's No Other (Like My Baby)" – The CrystalsThe CrystalsThe Crystals are an American vocal group based in New York, considered one of the defining acts of the girl group era of the first half of the 1960s. Their 1961–1964 chart hits, including "Uptown", "He's a Rebel", "Da Doo Ron Ron " and "Then He Kissed Me", featured three successive female lead...
(1/22/62, #20) - "I Could Have Loved You So Well" – Ray Peterson (1/27/62, #57)
- "Uptown" – The Crystals (3/03/62, #13)
- "He Knows I Love Him Too Much" – The Paris Sisters (3/10/62, #34)
- "Let Me Be the One" – The Paris Sisters (5/26/62, #87)
- "Second Hand Love" – Connie FrancisConnie FrancisConnie Francis is an American pop singer of Italian heritage and the top-charting female vocalist of the 1950s and 1960s. Although her chart success waned in the second half of the 1960s, Francis remained a top concert draw...
(6/09/62, #7) - "He's A RebelHe's a Rebel"He's a Rebel" is a pop song credited to the girl group The Crystals, reaching #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 charts in November 1962. Written by Gene Pitney and produced by Phil Spector, it is considered one of the definitive examples of the Spector-produced girl group sound.In 2004, the song was...
" – The Crystals (11/03/62, #1) - "Zip-a-Dee-Doo-DahZip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah"Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah" is a song from the Disney 1946 live action and animated movie Song of the South, sung by James Baskett. With music by Allie Wrubel and lyrics by Ray Gilbert, "Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah" won the Academy Award for Best Original Song...
" – Bob B. Soxx & the Blue JeansBob B. Soxx & the Blue JeansBob B. Soxx & the Blue Jeans was an early 1960s vocal group produced by Phil Spector, and was initially conceived as a vehicle for the lead vocals of Bobby Sheen, who took the stage name Bob B. Soxx...
(1/12/63, #8) - "He's Sure the Boy I Love" – The Crystals (1/19/63, #11)
- "Puddin N’ Tain (Ask Me Again, I’ll Tell You the Same)" – The Alley Cats (2/16/63, #43)
- "Why Do Lovers Break Each Other’s Hearts" – Bob B. Soxx and the Blue Jeans (3/30/63, #38)
- "(Today I Met) The Boy I’m Gonna Marry" – Darlene LoveDarlene LoveDarlene Love is an American popular music singer and actress. She gained prominence in the 1960s for the song "He's a Rebel," a #1 American single in 1962, and was part of the Phil Spector stable that produced a celebrated Christmas album in 1963....
(5/11/63, #39) - "Da Doo Ron Ron (When He Walked Me Home)Da Doo Ron Ron"Da Doo Ron Ron" is a 1963 hit single by The Crystals, produced by Phil Spector in his Wall of Sound style. The song was written by Jeff Barry, Ellie Greenwich and Spector. The drummer was Hal Blaine....
" – The CrystalsThe CrystalsThe Crystals are an American vocal group based in New York, considered one of the defining acts of the girl group era of the first half of the 1960s. Their 1961–1964 chart hits, including "Uptown", "He's a Rebel", "Da Doo Ron Ron " and "Then He Kissed Me", featured three successive female lead...
(6/08/63, #3) - "Not Too Young to Get Married" – Bob B. Soxx and the Blue Jeans (7/13/63, #63)
- "Then He Kissed MeThen He Kissed Me"Then He Kissed Me" is a song written by Phil Spector, Ellie Greenwich and Jeff Barry. The song was released as a single in September 1963 by The Crystals. It is a narrative of a young woman's encounter, romance, and eventual marriage with a fellow youth. The single is one of The Crystals' most...
" – The Crystals (8/17/63, #6) - "Wait ’Til My Bobby Gets Home" – Darlene Love (9/07/63, #26)
- "Be My BabyBe My Baby"Be My Baby" is a 1963 single written by Phil Spector, Jeff Barry, and Ellie Greenwich, performed by The Ronettes and produced by Spector. When released as a single, the song reached #2 on the U.S. Billboard Pop Singles Chart and #4 on the UK's Record Retailer...
" – The RonettesThe RonettesThe Ronettes were a 1960s girl group from New York City, best known for their work with producer Phil Spector. The group consisted of lead singer Veronica Bennett ; her older sister, Estelle Bennett; and their cousin Nedra Talley...
(10/12/63, #2) - "A Fine Fine Boy" – Darlene Love (11/23/63, #53)
- "Christmas (Baby, Please Come Home)" – Darlene Love
- "Baby, I Love YouBaby, I Love You"Baby, I Love You" is a pop song written by Jeff Barry, Ellie Greenwich, and Phil Spector, produced by Spector, and originally recorded in 1963 by The Ronettes...
" – The RonettesThe RonettesThe Ronettes were a 1960s girl group from New York City, best known for their work with producer Phil Spector. The group consisted of lead singer Veronica Bennett ; her older sister, Estelle Bennett; and their cousin Nedra Talley...
(2/01/64, #24) - "(The Best Part of) Breakin' Up" – The Ronettes (5/16/64, #39)
- "Do I Love You?" – The Ronettes (8/01/64, #34)
- "Walking In the RainWalking in the Rain (The Ronettes song)"Walking in the Rain" is a song written by Barry Mann, Phil Spector, and Cynthia Weil and was recorded by The Ronettes in 1964. The song reached #23 on The Billboard Hot 100 in 1964. The song also reached #28 on the R&B Singles chart in 1965. The song is the only Phil Spector produced song to win...
" – The Ronettes (12/05/64, #23) - "You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'"You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin" is a 1964 song by The Righteous Brothers which became a number-one hit single in the United States and the United Kingdom the following year. In 1999, the performing-rights organization Broadcast Music, Inc. ranked the song as having had more radio and television...
" – The Righteous BrothersThe Righteous BrothersThe Righteous Brothers were the musical duo of Bill Medley and Bobby Hatfield. They recorded from 1963 through 1975, and continued to perform until Hatfield's death in 2003...
(2/06/65 #1, UK #1) - "Just Once in My LifeJust Once in My Life"Just Once in My Life" is a song written by Gerry Goffin, Carole King and Phil Spector. The most popular version of the song was performed by The Righteous Brothers.The Righteous Brothers released their version as a single in 1965...
" – The Righteous Brothers (5/15/65, #9) - "Unchained MelodyUnchained Melody"Unchained Melody" is a 1955 song with music by Alex North and lyrics by Hy Zaret. It has become one of the most recorded songs of the 20th century, by some counts having spawned over 500 versions in hundreds of different languages....
" – The Righteous Brothers (8/28/65, #4) - "Ebb Tide" – The Righteous Brothers (1/08/66, #5)
- "River Deep - Mountain HighRiver Deep - Mountain High"River Deep – Mountain High" is a 1966 single by Ike & Tina Turner. Considered by producer Phil Spector to be his best work, the single was successful in Europe, peaking at #3 in the United Kingdom, though it flopped on its original release in the United States...
" – Ike and Tina Turner (6/18/66, #88 UK #3) - "Love Is All I Have to Give" – The Checkmates, Ltd. (5/03/69, #65)
- "Black Pearl" – The Checkmates, Ltd. (7/05/69, #13)
- "Proud Mary" – The Checkmates, Ltd. (11/01/69, #69)
- "Instant Karma (We All Shine On)" – John LennonJohn LennonJohn Winston Lennon, MBE was an English musician and singer-songwriter who rose to worldwide fame as one of the founding members of The Beatles, one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music...
(3/28/70, #3) - "The Long and Winding RoadThe Long and Winding Road"The Long and Winding Road" is a ballad written by Paul McCartney that originally appeared on The Beatles' album Let It Be. It became The Beatles' 20th and last number-one song in the United States on 23 May 1970, and was the last single released by the quartet...
"/"For You BlueFor You Blue"For You Blue" is a Beatles song written by George Harrison. It was the B-side to "The Long and Winding Road" and the eleventh track on the Beatles' final LP release, Let It Be...
" – The BeatlesThe BeatlesThe Beatles were an English rock band, active throughout the 1960s and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. Formed in Liverpool, by 1962 the group consisted of John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr...
(6/13/70, #1) - "My Sweet LordMy Sweet Lord"My Sweet Lord" is a song by former Beatles lead guitarist George Harrison from his UK number one hit triple album All Things Must Pass. The song was written in praise of the Hindu god Krishna...
" – George HarrisonGeorge HarrisonGeorge Harrison, MBE was an English musician, guitarist, singer-songwriter, actor and film producer who achieved international fame as lead guitarist of The Beatles. Often referred to as "the quiet Beatle", Harrison became over time an admirer of Indian mysticism, and introduced it to the other...
(12/26/70, #1) - "What Is LifeWhat Is Life"What Is Life" is a song by George Harrison and is the first track on side two of his 1970 solo album All Things Must Pass. It was released as the second single from that album in the United States on February 15, 1971 with another album track, "Apple Scruffs," as the B-side...
" – George Harrison (3/27/71, #10) - "Power To The PeoplePower to the People (song)"Power to the People" is a song written by John Lennon, released as a single in 1971 by John Lennon and the Plastic Ono Band on Apple Records, catalogue Apple R5892 in the United Kingdom and Apple 1830 in the United States. It peaked at #11 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #7 on the British singles chart...
" – John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band (5/15/71, #11) - "Try Some, Buy SomeTry Some, Buy Some"Try Some, Buy Some" is a song written by George Harrison and released on his Living in the Material World in 1973. It was initially recorded by Ronnie Spector in 1971 and co-produced by Phil Spector. Harrison re-used the same backing track for his own version.The original Ronnie Spector version...
" – Ronnie SpectorRonnie SpectorVeronica Yvette "Ronnie" Spector is an American rock and roll and popular music vocalist, and was the lead singer of the 1960s hit-making girl group, The Ronettes, who were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2007. She is known as the "original bad girl of rock and roll."-Personal...
(5/22/71, #77) - "Bangla-Desh" – George Harrison (9/11/71, #23)
- "ImagineImagine (song)"Imagine" is a song written and performed by the English musician John Lennon. It is the opening track on his album Imagine, released in 1971...
" – John Lennon (11/13/71, #3) - "Rock 'n' Roll High SchoolRock 'n' Roll High School (song)"Rock 'n' Roll High School" is a song by the punk rock group the Ramones from the soundtrack album Rock 'n' Roll High School. The single did not chart in the U.S. but peaked at number 67 on the UK Singles Chart....
" – RamonesRamonesThe Ramones were an American rock band that formed in the New York City neighborhood of Forest Hills, Queens, in 1974. They are often cited as the first punk rock group...
(8/04/79, UK #67) - "Baby, I Love YouBaby, I Love You"Baby, I Love You" is a pop song written by Jeff Barry, Ellie Greenwich, and Phil Spector, produced by Spector, and originally recorded in 1963 by The Ronettes...
" – Ramones (2/04/80, UK #8) - "Do You Remember Rock 'n' Roll Radio?Do You Remember Rock 'n' Roll Radio?"Do You Remember Rock 'n' Roll Radio?" was the second single by American punk rock band the Ramones from their fifth studio album, End of the Century. It was released on May 16, 1980. This song and the album itself marked a complete change in the Ramones' sound...
" – Ramones (5/16/80, #54) - "To Know Him Is To Love HimTo Know Him Is to Love Him"To Know Him Is to Love Him" is a song written by Phil Spector, inspired by words on his father's tombstone. It was first recorded by his first vocal group, the only one of which he was a member, the Teddy Bears. Their recording went to number one on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart in 1958...
" - Trio: Linda Ronstadt, Dolly Parton, Emmylou Harris (5/16/87, C&W #1) - "Unchained MelodyUnchained Melody"Unchained Melody" is a 1955 song with music by Alex North and lyrics by Hy Zaret. It has become one of the most recorded songs of the 20th century, by some counts having spawned over 500 versions in hundreds of different languages....
– The Righteous Brothers (10/20/90 Reissue, #13) - "Silence Is EasySilence Is Easy (song)"Silence Is Easy" is the first single from the album of the same name by British pop band Starsailor. The song reached number nine in the UK, which is the band's highest position in the UK singles charts so far. It was one of two songs on the album that was produced by Phil Spector.- Music video...
" – StarsailorStarsailor (band)Starsailor is an English post-britpop band, formed in Leigh, Warrington and Greater Manchester. By 2009, they had four charting albums and ten Top 40 singles in the UK since 2001.-Early history:...
(01/09/03, UK #8)
Television
- I Dream of JeannieI Dream of JeannieI Dream of Jeannie is a 1960s American sitcom with a fantasy premise. The show starred Barbara Eden as a 2,000-year-old genie, and Larry Hagman as an astronaut who becomes her master, with whom she falls in love and eventually marries...
(Himself)
Season 3, episode 6 "Jeannie, the Hip Hippie"
Director: Hal Cooper
Writer: Christopher Golato (a pen-name used by Sidney Sheldon)
October 17, 1967
Dr. Bellows cancels Tony's camping vacation when his wife cannot find a band to play at a function. Jeannie picks 4 guys (played by Boyce and Hart along with William Lewis and Steve O'Reilly) and uses her magic to make them play. Phil Spector, who is credited in this episode as "Steve Davis", guest stars as himself. Boyce and Hart also perform the tune, "Out and About", which reached number 39 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1967.
Further reading
- Tearing Down the Wall of SoundTearing Down the Wall of SoundTearing Down the Wall of Sound is a biography of sixties record producer Phil Spector, written by Mick Brown. Between 1961 and 1966, Spector's so-called "Wall of Sound" made him the most successful pop-record producer in the world, with more than twenty hits by artists such as The Righteous...
: The Rise and Fall of Phil Spector, by Mick BrownMick Brown (journalist)Mick Brown is a journalist who has written for several British newspapers, including The Guardian and The Sunday Times and for international publications. For many years he has contributed regularly to The Telegraph...
, ISBN 0-7475-7243-7 - He's a Rebel: The Truth About Phil Spector – Rock and Roll's Legendary Madman, by Mark Ribowsky (biography). ISBN 0-306-81471-4.
- "The First Tycoon of Teen", Tom WolfeTom WolfeThomas Kennerly "Tom" Wolfe, Jr. is a best-selling American author and journalist. He is one of the founders of the New Journalism movement of the 1960s and 1970s.-Early life and education:...
(magazine article reprinted in The Kandy-Kolored Tangerine-Flake Streamline BabyThe Kandy-Kolored Tangerine-Flake Streamline BabyThe Kandy-Kolored Tangerine-Flake Streamline Baby is the title of Tom Wolfe's first collected book of essays, published in 1965...
, ISBN 0-553-38058-3, and in the Back to Mono liner notes.) - Out of His Head, by Richard Williams (biography). ISBN 0-7119-9864-7
- Wall of Pain: The Biography of Phil Spector, by Dave Thompson. ISBN 1-86074-543-1
- Always Magic in the Air: The Bomp and Brilliance of the Brill Building Era, by Ken Emerson, (ISBN 0-670-03456-8)
- Fuel-Injected Dreams (novel whose central character is based on Phil Spector), by James Robert BakerJames Robert BakerJames Robert Baker was an American author of sharply satirical, predominantly gay-themed transgressional fiction. A native Californian, his work is set almost entirely in Southern California. After graduating from UCLA, he began his career as a screenwriter, but became disillusioned and started...
. ISBN 0-452-25815-4
External links
- In pictures: Phil Spector. Los Angeles Times photo gallery of Phil Spector during the Clarkson trials and through the decades. May 29, 2009
Music-related
- Phil-Spector.com - Legendary Rock 'n' Roll Producer
- - Spector Tapes Mick Brown- Daily Telegraph
- Spector biographer Mick Brown on public radio program The Sound of Young AmericaThe Sound of Young AmericaThe Sound of Young America is a public radio program and podcast based in Los Angeles, California and distributed by Public Radio International...
- [ ] at Allmusic
- A select guide to Phil Spector compact discs
- Snopes article: "(Let's Dance) The Screw"
- History of Rock
- Phil Spector featured on Where The Action Was rock history tour
- Phil Spector interview recorded 8.1.1968 http://www.library.unt.edu/resolveuid/4cc65566ba40054b35e4348f2eece755 on the Pop Chronicles
Legal-related
- Complete Phil Spector murder case coverage from Court TV
- Tabloid Column news about Phil Spector
- Search warrant and affidavit at The Smoking GunThe Smoking GunThe Smoking Gun is a website that posts legal documents, arrest records, and police mugshots on a daily basis. The intent is to bring to the public light information that is damning, shocking, outrageous, or amazing, yet also somewhat obscure or unreported by more mainstream media sources...
. - CrimeLibrary.com - Phil Spector: The "mad genius" of Rock'n'Roll
- Ronettes' Profits Limited by 1963 Contract, New York Law Journal, October 21, 2002