In music production Phil Spector was second to none. At the beginning, however, he dreamed of leading a musical band – that's how it was born Teddy Bearswhich launched a hit “To Know Him Is To Love Him” (listen!). The producer, who had big dreams from the beginning, at the age of only 21 (in 1961) founded the music label Philles Records, which became a stop for many rising music stars – including: The Righteous Brothers (listen!) Whether Ike and Tina Turner and The Ronettes.
What was unique about his work? It was he who popularized the so-called “wall of sound”which he created together with Larry Levine. Recording the instruments multiple times, layering them and multiplying their sound produced a strong, “fleshy” sound never seen before. Moreover, his arrangements were quite austere, often full of space. This made each song sound monumental.
This effect can be heard in iconic songs like “Be My Baby”, “Ebb Tide” or “River Deep” by Ike and Tina Turner.
Spector was highly appreciated and, at the same time, known in the music world as an exceptional eccentric. He was the one who allegedly came to the studio with a loaded revolver during recording sessions. One time a gun went off during a recording session with John Lennon. Another day, the producer was allegedly threatened with a gun Leonard Cohen. Everyone knew how unpredictable he was.
Yet they clung to him like moths to the light, because he provided the visionary ear that guaranteed hit after hit. Phil Spector's achievements also include producing albums “Imagine” the already mentioned Lennon, “All Things Must Pass” by George Harrisonor finally “Let It Be” by The Beatles. In 1989, Spector was inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame. In 1971, the musician won his only Grammy Award for his collaboration on Harrison's album “Concert In Bangladesh”.
The greatest commercial success released under his name turned out to be the extremely popular Christmas album in the USA, “A Christmas Gift For You From Philles Records”which Rolling Stone magazine included in its list of the 500 albums of all time in 2003.
Phil Spector was self-centered and megalomaniacal – this only intensified his aggressive attitude towards people who did not do what he wanted. Ronnie Spector, one of the singers in The Ronettes, and for six years (1968-1974) the producer's wife, admitted years later that her husband used manipulative techniques towards her and belittled her achievements just to make her feel worse. One way to abuse her was to force her to watch the movie “Citizen Kane” over and over again. He then allegedly added that without Spector's participation she would be nothing. In addition, he took her shoes (so she couldn't leave the house), locked her in it, and threatened her with death.
As the 1970s came, Spector became increasingly lonely. In 1974, he had a very serious car accident, which – according to his biographer Dave Thompson – he survived only because the policeman at the scene felt a slight pulse in him. The producer then fell through the windshield of the car, and his head injuries required immediate surgery. The numerous stitches (there were reports of up to 300 on his face and 400 on the back of his head) made him try harder to hide them by wearing strange wigs, which remained a part of his life until the end.
He produced the album Cohen's “Death of A Ladies' Man”and in the late 1970s also an album Ramones “End Of The Century”. After John Lennon's death, he helped Yoko Ono produce an album “Season of Glass” (1981) and faded into obscurity. Literally, because for almost the entire 1980s and 1990s he was almost completely absent – neither artistically nor in public.
When Tina Turner inducted him into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1989, he behaved strangely, telling stories from the stage about George H. W. Bush, and jumping to the rhythm of “Be My Baby”. Later, security intervened and took him off the stage. A few years later, he opted not to allow The Ronettes to join the deserved group of distinguished bands because – in his opinion – “they did not contribute much with their work”.
Phil Spector explained his behavior several times because of bipolar disorder. “Lack of sleep, depression, changes, mood swings, it's hard to live with it, it's hard to concentrate, it's just hard – it's hard to go through life when I've been called a genius and I think genius isn't there all the time and is somewhere on the borderline.” madness,” he said.
It was a new millennium and it seemed the world had forgotten about Phil Spector for good. The then 63-year-old producer enjoyed the fame of a strange, eccentric man and at the same time a genius. However, he did nothing that could bring him back to the first league of producers. In 2003, he produced part of the British group's album Starsailor. Before the album could be released, Spector became a suspect in a murder case.
On February 3, 2003, the United States was shocked by the scandal regarding the murder of a 40-year-old actress. Lana Clarkson. Her body was found in the producer's home in Los Angeles. The cause of death was a gunshot to the mouth. In July of the same year, Spector explained that Clarkson wanted to “kiss the gun” and accidentally shot herself.
Meanwhile, his driver called the emergency phone from the manufacturer's house, Adriano de Souza, who confessed that Spector said, “I think I killed someone.” He also allegedly saw him leaving the house with a gun in his hand. Later, however, doctors and police technicians concluded that it was murder.
The case was on the minds of the entire United States, and while awaiting trial, Spector was released on $1 million bail. He then tried to return to work and produced the song Hargo Khalsy. Finally, in 2007, the artist went to court. Consent was obtained to broadcast the trial on television, which made the entire event very media-friendly, and every step was commented on in American homes. Shortly thereafter, the jury was hung and the trial was quashed.
Despite everything, justice came to the brilliant producer quite quickly. Between the two trials, he managed to say goodbye to his old friend, Ike Turner, who is remembered as the one who abused his wife, Tina Turner – just as Spector abused his wife, Ronnie. The musician even managed to accuse Tina of distorting the image of a good husband as if I were Ike. “Ike made Tina the gem that she was. When I went to see Ike play at Cinegrill in the '90s, there were at least five 'Tin Turners' on stage, any one of them could have been Tina Turner,” he belittled her, as he usually had in custom.
In 2008, he gave his last television interview, when he became the star of a documentary program “Phil Spector: The Agony and the Ecstasy”. It was divided into parts – one talked about his artistic achievements, and the other talked about the murder case, which – at that time – still remained without a verdict.
On October 20, 2008, a new trial began, but it did not appear on TV screens. Played in the privacy of a courtroom, it ended April 13, 2009 – Phil Spector was sentenced to life in prison with the possibility of applying for parole after serving 19 years. In 2011, 2012 and 2016 he tried to obtain them, but to no avail.
Phil Spector died on January 16, 2021 at San Joaquin Hospital in French Camp, California. The cause of death was coronavirus infection.
Spector's story has been recalled many times in the media. There was even a film in which he played the role of producer Al Pacino. It provided entry into the hermetic world of an artist who lived in a slightly different reality.
In November 2022, a four-episode documentary “Spector” was released, which talked about “the most tragic crime in Hollywood”. Its creators talked not only to Phil Spector's relatives, but also to the family of the murdered Lana Clarkson.