![]() ![]() His Christmas album ‘A Christmas Gift For You From Philles Records’, later retitled ‘Phil Spector’s Christmas Album’, gathered the stars of the label together to sing festive standards and became a classic of the form, producing several seasonal ‘60s favourites such as The Crystals’ ‘Santa Claus Is Coming To Town’ and The Ronettes’ ‘Frosty The Snowman’. Spector’s sound drew acts including The Righteous Brothers, Ike & Tina Turner and The Ronettes to Philles Records, producing landmark hits such as ‘You’ve Lost The Lovin’ Feeling’, ‘Unchained Melody’, ‘Be My Baby’, ‘Baby, I Love You’ and ‘River Deep – Mountain High’. There weren’t combinations of sound and, with the advent of Phil Spector, we find sound combinations.” ‘Listen to this string section now.’ It was all a definite sound. Brian Wilson, who was hugely influenced by the technique, claimed: “In the ’40s and ’50s, arrangements were considered, ‘OK here – listen to that French Horn’, or. ![]() “I was looking for a sound so strong that if the material was not the greatest, the sound would carry the record,” Spector said. Created using a conglomerate of session musicians known as The Wrecking Crew, the sound exploited all the possibilities of early ‘60s studio recording and sounded great on primitive radio. ![]() With The Crystals’ ‘He’s A Rebel’ (actually recorded by the uncredited girl group the Blossoms) topping the charts in 1962, Philles Records became a fount of hits utilising Spector’s ‘wall of sound’ technique – what he called “a Wagnerian approach to rock’n’roll”, featuring dense, rich orchestration and powerful beats. He crafted hits with the likes of Billy Storm, Ray Peterson, Connie Francis, Curtis Lee, the Paris Sisters and The Crystals, the first signing to his own label Philles Records. At the same time he studied production at Gold Star Studios in Hollywood and, following further success with his co-write on Ben E King’s ‘Spanish Harlem’, began working as apprentice to songwriting and production duo Leiber and Stoller, launching his production career in the early 1960s. His forays into pop music began in the late ‘50s as a member of vocal group The Teddy Bears, who gave him his first US number one in 1958 with the million-selling ‘To Know Him Is To Love Him’, a phrase that was carved on his father’s gravestone. Spector – who died today aged 81 – was born Harvey Phillip Spector in New York in 1939. Yet a long history of abusive and manipulative behaviour, including threatening gunplay, culminated in the 2009 conviction of the murder of actor Lana Clarkson, which saw him die in prison and will justifiably overshadow his many achievements. As the creator of the ‘wall of sound’ production style, Phil Spector‘s influence on the foundations of pop music undoubtedly rivals that of the very top tier of pop’s most legendary figures. ![]()
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