Phil Spector

Phil Spector
Spector in 1965
Background information
Birth nameHarvey Philip Spector
Born(1939-12-26)December 26, 1939
New York City, U.S.
OriginLos Angeles, California, U.S.
DiedJanuary 16, 2021(2021-01-16) (aged 81)
French Camp, California, U.S.
Genres
Occupations
  • Record producer
  • songwriter
  • musician[1]
Works
Years active1958–2009
Labels
Formerly of
  • The Teddy Bears
  • The Spectors Three
Spouses
Annette Merar
​
​
(m. 1963; div. 1966)​
    Ronnie Bennett
    ​
    ​
    (m. 1968; div. 1974)​
      Rachelle Short
      ​
      ​
      (m. 2006; div. 2018)​
      Children5
      Websitephilspector.com

      Harvey Phillip Spector (December 26, 1939 – January 16, 2021) was an American record producer and songwriter who is best known for pioneering recording practices in the 1960s, followed by his trials and the 2009 conviction for murder. Spector developed the Wall of Sound, a production technique involving a densely textured sound created through layering tone colors, resulting in a compression[2] and chorusing effect not replicable through electronic means.[3] Considered the first auteur of the music industry,[4]: 23  he is widely regarded as one of the most influential figures in pop music history[5][6] and one of the most successful producers of the 1960s.[7]: 1 

      Born in the Bronx, Spector relocated to Los Angeles as a teenager and co-founded the Teddy Bears in 1958, writing their chart-topping single "To Know Him Is to Love Him". Mentored by Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller, by 1960, he co-established Philles Records, becoming the youngest U.S. label owner at the time.[8] Dubbed the "First Tycoon of Teen",[4]: 5 [9] he exerted unprecedented control over recording sessions, collaborating with arranger Jack Nitzsche and engineer Larry Levine. His studio band, later known as the Wrecking Crew, rose to industry prominence through his success with acts like the Ronettes, the Crystals, and Ike & Tina Turner. In the early 1970s, he produced the Beatles' Let It Be and numerous other albums by John Lennon and George Harrison. By 1980, following one-off productions for Dion DiMucci (Born to Be with You), Leonard Cohen (Death of a Ladies' Man), and the Ramones (End of the Century), Spector entered a period of semi-retirement.[10] He had produced eighteen U.S. Top 10 singles, including number-ones by the Righteous Brothers ("You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'"), the Beatles ("The Long and Winding Road"), and Harrison ("My Sweet Lord").

      Spector influenced the role of the studio as an instrument,[11]: 38  the integration of pop art aesthetics into music (art pop),[12] and the art rock[4]: 25  and dream pop music genres.[13] 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.[14] In 2004, Spector was ranked number 63 on Rolling Stone's list of the greatest artists in history.[15]

      After the 1980s, Spector remained largely inactive amid a lifestyle of seclusion, drug use, and increasingly erratic behavior.[16] In 2009, he was convicted of murdering actress Lana Clarkson in 2003 and sentenced to 19 years to life in prison, where he died in 2021.

      1. ^ Hodgkinson, Will (January 19, 2021). "Phil Spector — a musical appreciation". The Times. Retrieved October 10, 2024.
      2. ^ Vickers, Earl (November 4, 2010). "A Brief History of the Loudness War". The Loudness War: Background, Speculation, and Recommendations (PDF). 129th Audio Engineering Society Convention. San Francisco: Audio Engineering Society. 8175. Archived (PDF) from the original on January 17, 2021. Retrieved November 17, 2020.
      3. ^ Granata, Charles L. (2003). Wouldn't it Be Nice: Brian Wilson and the Making of the Beach Boys' Pet Sounds. Chicago Review Press. p. 148. ISBN 978-1-55652-507-0.
      4. ^ a b c Cite error: The named reference williams was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
      5. ^ Cite error: The named reference Wood21 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
      6. ^ Spillius, Alex (April 13, 2009). "Phil Spector guilty of murdering actress Lana Clarkson". The Daily Telegraph. Archived from the original on February 11, 2018. Retrieved April 2, 2018.
      7. ^ Brown, Mick (2007). Tearing Down the Wall of Sound: The Rise and Fall of Phil Spector. London: Bloomsbury. ISBN 978-1-4000-4219-7.
      8. ^ Brown, Mick (February 4, 2003). "Pop's lost genius". The Daily Telegraph. Archived from the original on September 10, 2018. Retrieved September 10, 2018.
      9. ^ Wolfe, Tom (January 3, 1965). "First Tycoon of Teen". New York Magazine, published as a supplement to the New York Herald Tribune. (This appears in the microfilm edition of the Herald Tribune but apparently not in the online database)
      10. ^ Unterberger, Richie. "Phil Spector". AllMusic. Archived from the original on May 2, 2020. Retrieved April 21, 2020.
      11. ^ Bannister, Matthew (2007). White Boys, White Noise: Masculinities and 1980s Indie Guitar Rock. Ashgate Publishing. ISBN 978-0-7546-8803-7.
      12. ^ Holden, Stephen (February 28, 1999). "Music; They're Recording, but Are They Artists?". The New York Times. Archived from the original on November 30, 2016. Retrieved July 17, 2013.
      13. ^ Wiseman-Trowse, Nathan (September 30, 2008). Performing Class in British Popular Music. Springer. pp. 148–154. ISBN 978-0-230-59497-5. Archived from the original on September 13, 2021. Retrieved January 18, 2021.
      14. ^ "Phil Spector". Songwriters Hall of Fame. Archived from the original on October 3, 2021. Retrieved January 19, 2021.
      15. ^ See:
      16. ^ Sevigny, Catherine (May 5, 2007). "Wall of silence". The Guardian. Archived from the original on January 24, 2019. Retrieved January 24, 2019.
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