Phil Spector
Harvey Phillip Spector (December 26, 1939 – January 16, 2021) was an American record producer and songwriter best known for his innovative recording practices and entrepreneurship in the 1960s and his two trials and conviction for murder in the 2000s. Spector developed the Wall of Sound, a production style that is characterized for its diffusion of tone colors and dense orchestral sound, which he described as a "Wagnerian" approach to rock and roll. He is widely regarded as one of the most influential figures in pop music history[2][3] and one of the most successful producers of the 1960s.[4]
For the 2013 film, see Phil Spector (film).
Phil Spector
Harvey Philip Spector[1]
Harvey Phillip Spector
December 26, 1939
New York City, U.S.
Los Angeles, California, U.S.
January 16, 2021 (aged 81)
French Camp, California, U.S.
- Record producer
- songwriter
1958–2009
- The Teddy Bears
- The Spectors Three
Born in the Bronx, Spector moved to Los Angeles as a teenager and began his career in 1958, as a founding member of The Teddy Bears, for whom he penned, "To Know Him Is to Love Him", a U.S. number-one hit. In 1960, after working as an apprentice to Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller, Spector co-founded Philles Records, and at the age of 21, he became the youngest-ever U.S. label owner at the time.[5] Dubbed the "First Tycoon of Teen",[6][7] Spector came to be considered the first auteur of the music industry, for the unprecedented control he had over every phase of the recording process.[8] He produced acts such as The Ronettes, The Crystals, and Ike & Tina Turner, and typically collaborated with arranger Jack Nitzsche and engineer Larry Levine. The musicians from his de facto house band, later known as "The Wrecking Crew", rose to industry fame through his hit records.
In the early 1970s, Spector produced the Beatles' Let It Be and several solo records by John Lennon and George Harrison. By the mid-1970s, Spector had produced eighteen U.S. Top 10 singles, for various artists. His chart-toppers included the Righteous Brothers' "You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'", the Beatles' "The Long and Winding Road", and Harrison's "My Sweet Lord". Spector helped establish the role of the studio as an instrument,[9] the integration of pop art aesthetics into music (art pop),[10] and the genres of art rock[11] and dream pop.[12] His honors include the 1973 Grammy Award for Album of the Year, for co-producing Harrison's Concert for Bangladesh, a 1989 induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and a 1997 induction into the Songwriters Hall of Fame.[13] In 2004, Spector was ranked number 63 on Rolling Stone's list of the greatest artists in history.[14]
Following one-off productions for Leonard Cohen (Death of a Ladies' Man), Dion DiMucci (Born to Be with You), and the Ramones (End of the Century), from the 1980s on, Spector remained largely inactive, amid a lifestyle of seclusion, drug use, and increasingly erratic behavior.[15] In 2009, after two decades in semi-retirement,[16] he was convicted of the 2003 murder of actress Lana Clarkson and sentenced to 19 years to life in prison, where he died, in 2021.
Biography[edit]
1939–1959: Background and the Teddy Bears[edit]
Harvey Philip Spector was born on December 26, 1939.[17][nb 1] He later added a second "l" to his middle name, which he preferred over "Harvey".[19] His parents were Benjamin (1903–1949)[20] and Bertha (1911–1995)[21] Spector, a first-generation immigrant Russian-Jewish family in the Bronx, New York City.[22][23] Bertha had been born in France to Russian migrants George and Clara Spektor, who brought her to America in 1911 aged 9 months,[18] while Benjamin was born as Baruch (later changed to Benjamin) in the Russian Empire to George and Bessie Spektus or Spektres, and brought to America by his parents in 1913 aged 10.[24] Both families anglicized their last names to "Spector" on their naturalization papers, both of which were witnessed by the same man, Isidore Spector.[18] The similarities in name and background of the grandfathers led Spector to believe that his parents were first cousins. He had a sister named Shirley, who was six years his senior; she died in 2004 in Hemet, California, at the age of 70.[25]
Legacy and influence[edit]
According to guitarist Stevie Van Zandt of the E Street Band, Spector was a "genius irredeemably conflicted". On Twitter, he wrote: "[Spector] was the ultimate example of the art always being better than the artist... [He] made some of the greatest records in history based on the salvation of love while remaining incapable of giving or receiving love his whole life."[134]
Spector is often called the first auteur among musical artists[9][135] for acting not only as a producer, but also the creative director, writing or choosing the material, supervising the arrangements, conducting the vocalists and session musicians, and masterminding all phases of the recording process.[8] He helped pave the way for art rock,[11] and helped inspire the emergence of aesthetically oriented genres such as shoegaze[9] and noise music.[136] PopMatters editor John Bergstrom credits the start of dream pop to Spector's collaboration with George Harrison on All Things Must Pass.[137]
His influence has been claimed by performers such as the Beatles, the Beach Boys,[138] and the Velvet Underground[139] alongside latter-day record producers such as Brian Eno and Tony Visconti.[140][141] Alternative rock performers Cocteau Twins,[142] My Bloody Valentine,[138] and the Jesus and Mary Chain[138] have all cited Spector as an influence. Shoegaze, a British musical movement in the late 1980s to mid-1990s, was heavily influenced by the Wall of Sound. Jason Pierce of Spiritualized has cited Spector as a major influence on his Let It Come Down album. Bobby Gillespie of Primal Scream and the Jesus and Mary Chain has enthused about Spector, with the song "Just Like Honey" opening with an homage of the famous "Be My Baby" drum intro.[143]
Many have tried to emulate Spector's methods, and Brian Wilson of the Beach Boys—a fellow adherent of mono recording—considered Spector his main competition as a studio artist. In the 1960s, Wilson thought of Spector as "the single most influential producer. He's timeless. He makes a milestone whenever he goes into the studio."[144] Wilson's fascination with Spector's work has persisted for decades, with many different references to Spector and his work scattered around Wilson's songs with the Beach Boys and even his solo career. Of Spector-related productions, Wilson has been involved with covers of "Be My Baby", "Chapel of Love", "Just Once in My Life", "There's No Other (Like My Baby)", "Then He Kissed Me", "Talk to Me", "Why Don't They Let Us Fall in Love", "You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'", "Da Doo Ron Ron", "I Can Hear Music", and "This Could Be the Night".[145]
Johnny Franz's mid-1960s productions for Dusty Springfield and the Walker Brothers also employed a layered, symphonic "Wall of Sound" arrangement-and-recording style, heavily influenced by the Spector sound.[146] Another example is the Forum, a studio project of Les Baxter, which produced a minor hit in 1967 with "The River Is Wide". Sonny Bono, a former associate of Spector's, developed a jangly, guitar-laden variation on the Spector sound, which is heard mainly in mid-1960s productions for his then-wife Cher, notably "Bang Bang (My Baby Shot Me Down)".
Bruce Springsteen emulated the Wall of Sound technique in his recording of "Born to Run".[11] In 1973, the British band Wizzard, led by Roy Wood, had three Spector-influenced hits with "See My Baby Jive", "Angel Fingers (A Teen Ballad)", and "I Wish It Could Be Christmas Everyday", the latter becoming a perennial Christmas hit.[11] Other contemporaries influenced by Spector include George Morton, Sonny & Cher, the Rolling Stones, the Four Tops, Mark Wirtz, the Lovin' Spoonful, and the Beatles.[147] Swedish pop group ABBA cited Spector as an influence, and used similar Wall of Sound techniques in their early songs, including "Ring Ring", "Waterloo", and "Dancing Queen".[148] The Los Angeles-based new wave band Wall of Voodoo takes their name from Spector's Wall of Sound.[149] Spector's influence is also felt in other areas of the world, especially Japan. City pop musician Eiichi Ohtaki has been influenced by Spector and the Wall of Sound.[150][151]
Personal life[edit]
Relationships and children[edit]
Spector's first marriage was in 1963 to Annette Merar, lead vocalist of the Spectors Three, a 1960s pop trio formed and produced by Spector. He named a record company after Merar, Annette Records.[152] Spector and Merar divorced in 1966.[153] While still married to Merar, he began having an affair with Ronnie Bennett, later known as Ronnie Spector.[154] Bennett was the lead singer of the girl group the Ronettes (another group Spector managed and produced). They married in 1968 and adopted a son, Donté Phillip Spector.[155] As a Christmas present, Spector surprised her by adopting twins Louis Phillip Spector and Gary Phillip Spector.[155][156]
In her 1990 memoir, Be My Baby: How I Survived Mascara, Miniskirts And Madness, Bennett alleged that Spector had imprisoned her in his California mansion and subjected her to years of psychological torment. According to Bennett, Spector sabotaged her career by forbidding her to perform. She escaped from the mansion barefoot with the help of her mother in 1972.[156][157] In their 1974 divorce settlement, she forfeited all future record earnings and surrendered custody of their children. She alleged that this was because Spector threatened to hire a hitman to kill her.[158]
Spector's sons Gary and Donté both stated that their father "kept them captive" as children, and that they were "forced to perform simulated intercourse" with his girlfriend. According to Gary, "I was blindfolded and sexually molested. Dad would say, 'You're going to meet someone,' and it would be a 'learning experience'."[159][160] Donté described himself as coming "from a very sick, twisted, dysfunctional family".[159]
In 1982, Spector had twin children with his girlfriend Janis Zavala: Nicole Audrey Spector and Phillip Spector Jr. Phillip Jr. died of leukemia in 1991.[155][161] On September 1, 2006, while on bail and awaiting trial, Spector married his third wife Rachelle Short, who was 26 at the time. Spector filed for divorce in April 2016, claiming irreconcilable differences.[162] They divorced in 2018.[163]