Phil Spector!
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Phil Spector a nice guy
He seemed to feel at ease around me and I credited it to the fact that I never said anything stupid to Phil Spector as Phil Spector was used to having most people approach Phil Spector in the wrong way. I always speak to famous people in the present tense no matter when I became a fan. You can't go wrong that way!Phil Spector a close call
I had heard of Phil Spectors well known temper and that Phil Spector could fly off the handle in a split second. One day while in the studio producing the "Let It Be" album for The Beatles Phil Spector became frustrated with their antics. So, to get their attention, Phil Spector pulled a gun out and fired a round into the ceiling. Paul said, "Please, Phil, don't hit any of the musicians we need them for this session."Phil Spector I stepped in
One night, at Dan Tana's, Phil Spector got out of his booth and was heading for the restroom. As Phil Spector passed the bar someone something stupid like, "Hey, Phil, you used to be the greatest." Phil was right behind me when Phil Spector stopped in his tracks. Phil Spector turns toward this fellow and I could tell that Phil Spector was going into a rage. I spun around and interrupted him. I said, "Hey, Phil, fans will fumble". Phil Spector thought for a moment, smiled and nodded. Phil Spector shook my hand and continued his was to the bathroom. The next time I saw Phil Spector I was sitting at the bar when his entourage filing behind me. Phil Spector tapped my on the shoulder, gave me a big hug and declared to his posse, "Now this is a great guy! How you doing Kip? We exchanged pleasantries and his party slid into their booth. I couls over hear Phil telling them about what I had said to Phil Spector (Fans will fumble) and felt pretty good about myself.Phil Spector drinking again
Then, I saw Phil Spector with Lana Clarkson an on again, off again actress (This was on the last evening of her life). Phil had just picked Lana up at The House of Blues where, she was working as a hostess. They sat in Phil's usual booth and seemed to be having a good time. But there was something different about Phil Stector that night. Phil Spector was drinking! Something I had never seen Phil Spector do. (He had stopped drinking years before! Phil's waiter was surprised and even asked Phil to repeat himself to be sure Phil Spector had heard Phil Spector correctly. Phil and Lana threw down a few and left. Phil left his usual five hundred dollar tip.Phil Spector indicted For Murder
The next morning it was all over the media. Lana Clarkson was dead from a gunshot to the head. A few days later Phil Spector was indicted for Murder. Phil's story is that Phil Spector was showing her a gun (He was a collector) when she took it from him, pointed it at herself and pulled the trigger. Phil Spector could be lying but I believe his story. I believe that Lana Clarkson got drunk and probably high and, in a depression over her career, shot herself. Phil Spector is now awaiting trial and Phil Spector must feel confident in it's outcome because Phil Spector has recently purchased quarter of a million dollar Rolls Royce. -- Kip AddottaHarvey Phillip Spector (born December 26, 1939) is an American musician, songwriter, and record producer.
Coming to prominence in the early 1960s, Spector became one of the most distinctive producers in the history of popular music. He was hailed in his heyday by Tom Wolfe as the "Tycoon of Teen." The originator of the famous "Wall of Sound" production technique, Spector was a pioneer of the 1960s girl group sound. Later he worked with various artists, including Ike and Tina Turner, the Beatles, and the Ramones. In 1989 he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a non-performer.
In later years, he increasingly became known for eccentric outbursts, litigiousness, and a reclusive temperament. In 2003, Spector returned to the public eye when he was arrested on suspicion of Murdering 40-year-old actress Lana Clarkson. His trial began March 19, 2007, with opening statements commencing on April 25, 2007.
Phil Spector Early life
Spector was born into a Jewish family in the Bronx, New YorkFollowing his father's death by suicide in 1949, Spector and his mother and sister moved to Los Angeles, California in 1953, where he became involved with music, learning the guitar. At 16, he performed Lonnie Donegan's "Rock Island Line" at a talent show at Fairfax High School. While there at Fairfax, he joined a loosely knit community of young aspirants, including Lou Adler, Bruce Johnston, and Sandy Nelson, the last of whom played drums on Spector's first record release, "To Know Him Is To Love Him."
Phil Spector The Teddy Bears
With three friends from high school, Marshall Lieb, Harvey Goldstein, and singer Annette Kleinbard, Spector formed a group, the Teddy Bears. During this period Spector also began hanging out at local recording studios, and he eventually managed to win the confidence of Stan Ross, co-owner 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 the spring of 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's Hot 100 singles chart, selling over a million copies by year's end.
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.
Phil Spector 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 Sill, 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. Though it reaped little commercial reward, Sill in 1960 arranged for Spector to work as an apprentice to Leiber and Stoller in New York.Having perfect pitch, 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' "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.
Phil Spector Philles Records
In the fall of 1961 Spector formed a record company with Sill, who by this time had ended his business partnership with Hazlewood. Philles Records 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," did even better, making 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 60's he briefly worked with Atlantic Records' R & B artists Ruth Brown and LaVerne Baker. Ahmet Ertegun 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 Vicki Carr, but Spector rushed into Gold Star Studios and recorded a cover version using Darlene Love 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 and the Blue Jeans, featuring Darlene Love 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 Others 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 did release a few albums, one of which was the perennial seller A Christmas Gift for You in 1963.
Phil Spector The Wall of Sound
It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with Wall of Sound. (Discuss) Spector's trademark during that era was the so-called Wall of Sound, a production technique yielding a dense, layered effect that reproduced well on AM radio and jukeboxes. 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, Steve Douglas, Carol Kaye, 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, 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 for compositions.
A Christmas Gift for You from Phil SpectorSpector was already known as a temperamental and quirky personality with strong, often unconventional ideas about musical and recording techniques. Despite the trend towards multi-channel 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 also greatly preferred singles to albums, describing LPs as "two hits and ten pieces of junk".
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 arrived in the shops the day of the assassination of President Kennedy, 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.
Phil Spector The mid-Sixties
In 1964 the Ronettes appeared at the Cow Palace in 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" (#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".Spector, in character, in the film Easy RiderThe 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 hit movie Ghost. A re-release of the single recharted 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 Top 40 charts for the first time since his last appearance in 1971 with John Lennon's "Imagine."
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.
Phil Spector Comeback
In 1969 Spector made a brief return to the music business by signing a production deal with A&M Records. 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. Although the record reached #13, the A&M deal was short-lived.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 yielded a #1 single, 'The Long and Winding Road." Although viewed as a major creative comeback for Spector, it may also have contributed to the contentious Beatles breakup, as Spector added what many considered inappropriate choir and orchestral arrangements to Lennon's "Across the Universe" and Harrison's "I Me Mine". 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.
However, both 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 multi-platinum 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, spare and raw sound.
In 1971 Spector was named director of A&R for Apple Records. He only held the post for 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, including the #3 title track. With George Harrison, Spector co-produced Harrison's "Bangla-Desh" (a #23 hit), Ronnie Spector's "Try Some, Buy Some" (which made it to #77), and the music for the #1 triple album The Concert For Bangla Desh.
Lennon retained Spector for the 1971 Christmas single "Happy Xmas (War Is Over)," the poorly-reviewed 1972 album Some Time In New York City (#48) and the 1973 sessions for the album Rock 'n' Roll (#6). Spector's relationship with Lennon ended during these sessions; 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 behaviour of Lennon and his entourage. After several months, Lennon retrieved the tapes and finished the album himself.
Phil Spector Later years
In 1974 Spector established the Warner-Spector label 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.The majority of Spector's classic Philles recording 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.
As the seventies progressed, Spector became a recluse. Proabably the single most significant reason for his withdrawal -- recently revealed by biographer Dave Thompson -- was that Spector was seriously injured when he was thrown through the windscreen 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 admitted to the UCLA Medical Centre on the night of 31 March 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.
Spector began to re-emerge in the late 1970s, producing a controversial album by Leonard Cohen (Death of a Ladies' Man, 1977) and the much-publicised Ramones album End of the Century, 1980. He also offered to work with Yoko Ono in 1981 and co-produce Season of Glass, her first work after her husband's death, but Ono eventually declined the offer.
Spector remained inactive throughout most of the 1980s, 1990s and early 2000s. He attempted to work with Céline Dion 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 because of personal and creative differences. Plans to work with The Vines were halted due to his Murder trial.
Phil Spector Influence
Many producers have tried to emulate the Wall of Sound, and Brian Wilson of the Beach Boys a fellow adherent of mono recording considered Spector his main competition as a studio artist. 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 early 1990s, was heavily influenced by the Wall of Sound.For his contributions to the music industry, Spector was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1989. In 2004, Rolling Stone Magazine ranked him #63 on their list of the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time.
Spector's early musical influences included Latin music in general, and Latin percussion in particular. This is apparent from the percussion in many of his hit songs: shakers, guiros (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. Phil would visit Spanish Harlem clubs and schools to hone his listening and practical skills. He'd ask his pre-teen coffee boy from "El Barrio", Roberto Tirado, to borrow his parent's best Puerto Rican recordings in order to listen to these at odd times. Unknowingly, Phil instilled some of his musical influence on little Roberto as he also became enmeshed in the music field later as an adult. But the Latin influence is keenly perceptible in many, if not all, of Spector's recordings. Session bassist Carol Kaye plays the haunting son montuno in "You've Lost That Loving Feeling" while the same repeating refrain is played on harpsichord by keyboardist Larry Knechtel.
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 Phil Spector.
Phil Spector Eccentricity
Spector has had many conflicts, sometimes bizarre, with the artists, songwriters and promoters he worked with. Describing the dissolution of their Philles Records partnership, Lester Sill said, "I sold out for a pittance. It was shit, ridiculous, around $60,000. I didn't want to but I had to. Let me tell you, I couldn't live with Phillip . . . I just wanted the fuck out of there. If I wouldn't have, I would have killed him. It wasn't worth the aggravation."As a peevish farewell gesture, shortly after Lester Sill's departure from Philles Records, Spector wrote, and had The Crystals record, a single entitled "(Let's Dance) The Screw". Six minutes long and completely lacking Spector's customary Wall of Sound production techniques, "The Screw" was neither releasable (by 1963 music industry standards) nor intended for general release. Indeed, only a handful of copies of the single were pressed, one of which Spector had delivered to Sill as a parting shot at his former partner. (Legend has it that the recording of "The Screw" served a second purpose: to cheat Sill out of royalties due him from sales of the next Philles recording. However, this claim is considered unlikely.).It has also been said that Spector brought one of his own lawyers into the recording studio to yell out the chorus of the song ( "--do the screw!")
Spector's domineering attitude toward Ronnie Spector led to the dissolution of their marriage. Ronnie Spector has claimed that Spector showed her a gold coffin with a glass top in his basement, promising to kill and display her should she ever choose to leave him; he had earlier forbidden her from speaking to the Rolling Stones or touring with the Beatles for fear of infidelity. During Spector's reclusive period in the late 1960s, he reportedly kept his wife locked inside their mansion. She claimed he also hid her shoes to dissuade her from walking outside, and kept the house dark because he didn't want anyone to see his balding head. Spector's son later claimed that he was kept locked inside his room, with a pot in the corner to be used as a toilet. Ronnie Spector did leave the producer and filed for divorce in 1972. She wrote a book about her experiences, and said years later, "I can only say that when I left in the early '70s, I knew that if I didn't leave at that time, I was going to die there." In 1998, Ronnie Spector and the other Ronettes sued Phil Spector for allegedly cheating them of royalties and licensing fees, winning a $3 million judgment; however, an appeals court later reversed the decision, upholding the terms of the group's 1963 contract as binding. In 2007, Ronnie Spector discussed her Ronettes' much-delayed entry into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame: "He wrote the Hall of Fame to tell them not to put me in. He did everything he could to stop me. He's bitter that I left him. He wants everyone to think he's the mastermind. He thought everything was because of him."
Stories of Phil Spector's gunplay mounted over the years, including his discharging a firearm while in the studio with John Lennon during the recording of his cover album Rock 'n' Roll, placing a loaded pistol at Leonard Cohen's head during the sessions for Death of a Ladies' Man, and forcing Dee Dee Ramone to play bass guitar to Spector's specifications at gunpoint. Cohen told "Rolling Stone" magazine in 1978 that "Phil couldn't resist annihilating me. I don't think he can tolerate any other shadows in his darkness."
The Ramones reportedly had to play the opening chord to the song "Rock and Roll High School" for eight hours straight; Years later, Johnny Ramone described Spector as "a little man with lifts in his shoes, the wig on top of his head and four guns." But he also described the session philosophically: "It was a positive learning experience. And that chord does sound really good." Marky Ramone said, "A lot of these things were overblown, and a lot of these things were alcohol-induced."
Spector was ridiculed in the Angry Samoans song "Get off the Air", an anti-Rodney Bingenheimer rant.
It's been said that Spector is the only Hollywood personality whose bodyguards are around to protect other people from him, instead of the other way around.
