Phil Spector And The Wall Of Sound

by Pat Jacobs

He's brilliant. He's troubled. And he's also one of the greatest producers in rock-and roll history, if not THE greatest. (For you newbies, yes, unfortunately, this is the same one who's been in the news recently.)

Born Harvey Philip Spector in the Bronx, New York, (His father, under severe stress because of the family's financial condition, committed suicide in 1949. His mother relocated to Los Angeles in 1953.)

The youngster was always a loner, but excelled in music, studying piano, guitar, drums, bass, and French horn in high school, and began writing songs with classmate Marshall Lieb.

Spector was drawn to the LA music scene and began hanging around the studios.

He officially entered the music business in 1958 as the songwriter, guitarist, backup singer, and producer for the group, The Teddy Bears, with "To Know Him Is To Love Him."

The song and title was about his late father. The grave's inscription-"To Know Him Was To Love Him." (The group consisted of Spector, Lieb, and another high school friend, Annette Kleinbard.)

The song became a No. 1 smash and the group appeared on several TV shows, including "Bandstand", but were unable to follow up with another hit.

And there were also royalty problems with the record company.

The Teddy Bears soon disbanded, only to resurface as The Spectors Three, but the "new group" was unsuccessful; the trio broke up for good.

Annette Kleinbard became a successful songwriter. (You may know her better by the name Carol Conners). She co-wrote "The Night The Lights Went Out In Georgia" (by Vicki Lawrence in 1973 and then Reba McEntire in 1992), co-wrote "Hey Little Cobra" by The Ripchords and "Gonna Fly Now", the first Rocky movie theme.

She helped write the theme songs for Sophie's Choice and Mr. Mom. She's been nominated for two Academy Awards and four Emmys. Not bad!

Spector worked for a while with independent producers Lester Sill (an old friend; I told you before: connections DO help!) and Lee Hazelwood (yes, THE Lee Hazelwood) who sent Spector back to New York in 1960.

In 1961 Spector and Sill formed the New York-based Philles Records, which Spector fully owned by 1962. ("There's No Other (Like My Baby)" by the Crystals was the first release.)
And another important chapter of rock-and roll history was made.

Spector co-wrote and produced "Spanish Harlem" with Jerry Leiber (of the equally legendary Leiber and Stoller) a Top Ten smash for Ben E. King. He also produced "Only Love Can Break A Heart" and "Every Little Breath I Take" by Gene Pitney, "Pretty Little Angel Eyes"-Curtis Lee, "I Love How You Love Me"-The Paris Sisters, "He's A Rebel" - The Crystals, and other hits, primarily for them, The Ronettes, Darlene Love, and Bobb B. Soxx and The Blue Jeans.

Spector became renowned for "The Wall Of Sound", which involved multiple instrumentation, heavy on the orchestration, overdubbing, double drummers or guitar players, and lots of background singers. (Sonny and Cher evolved from this.

Sonny Bono was a session man, fledgling producer, and jack-of-all-trades; Cher started by singing background vocals.) Legend has it that Spector's favorite composer was Richard Wagner (pronounced vawg-ner). He has often said that his sound is "little symphonies for the kids."

He was also often referred to as a mad genius because of his erratic and tempermental behavior. But it was always overlooked and validated because of the successful results, which in turn, made millions for himself and other executives, writers, and producers (The singers and groups themselves didn't fare as well financially).

Spector was aware of the British Invasion before it even hit the U.S., becoming friends with The Rolling Stones. But this didn't help him to maintain his status quo, for the entire current music industry was rocked upside down.

Many bands were writing their own material and on different issues. "Will Johnny still love me and take me to the prom?"-type songs were becoming outdated.

Nevertheless, he went on to produce "You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin," "Unchained Melody", and "Ebb Tide" by The Righteous Brothers and the classic "River Deep, Mountain High" by Ike and Tina Turner.

(Yes, this is a classic. Why? Because it's a great song, a great production, and a great rendition by Tina Turner. This was actually done solo by her.) "River" went to No. 1
in England and many other countries, but bombed in the U.S.

This failure affected Spector, hurting him deeply. He semi-retired to a mansion(!) and married (Veronica) Ronnie Bennett, the Ronettes' lead singer.

He re-emerged in the late '60s and early '70s doing post-production work on The Beatles' "Let It Be" album, and producing George Harrison's "All Things Must Pass" and John Lennon's "Plastic Ono Band" albums. (If you listen to "Let It Be" and "The Long And Winding Road" in particular, don't they sound like a Phil Spector production?

Many critics and Paul McCartney himself, always thought the "Let It Be" album was overdone and overblown. Have you ever heard these two songs without the orchestration? They're much more powerful actually. Sometimes simplicity IS more.)

From time to time, he produced Cher, The Ramones, Duran Duran, Dion, and Leonard Cohen.

Spector's musical style has been an inspiration to The Beach Boys (particularly Brian Wilson) and Sonny and Cher, among others. Listen to "California Girls", "Help Me Rhonda", and particularly "Be True To Your School", "Good Vibrations", "Darlin", "Do It Again", and "Wouldn't It Be Nice." Listen to "I Got You Babe", "Baby Don't Go", "Just You", "What Now My Love", "All
I Really Want To Do", "Bang Bang", and "Alfie". (Yes, that's right. Cher had recorded a version of this song BEFORE Dionne Warwick. And it's very good! Don't these songs remind you of a Phil Spector production?)

He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1989, and deservingly so.

PLEASE NOTE: Now I'm not excusing his recent actions at all; the fact remains that Phil Spector is an important part of 1960s music and of rock-and-roll history.

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