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Number One On This Date
November 9: Fifty years ago the number one song in the United States was “He’s A Rebel” by the Crystals. Produced, of course, by Phil Spector and sung, of course, by Darlene Love, “Rebel” is one of the crowning glories of the Spector Wall Of Sound and one of the greatest songs in the Sony Music library. Here’s the cover to the original Philles Records LP named after this masterpiece.
‘George Harrison: Living In The Material World’ Available Now
Martin Scorsese’s documentary, “George Harrison: Living In The Material World” is now available on two-disc DVD and single-disc Blu-ray. The film includes a rare interview with Phil Spector.
Phil Spector One Of The Greatest Producers Of All Time – NME
NME has compiled a list of the Top 50 music producers of all time, and has ranked Phil Spector at #5 on that list. The magazine writes, “His CV stretches from The Ronettes to The Beatles’ ‘Let It Be’, Tina Turner’s ‘River Deep Mountain High’, ‘Imagine’ and ‘Happy Xmas (War Is Over’) but his true legacy is of course his pioneering ‘wall of sound’ technique, what he referred to as ‘a Wagnerian approach to rock ‘n’ roll’, a devasting sonic approach that’s influenced everyone from Springsteen to the shoegazers. It’s precisely that kind of creative approach that elevates a producer from knob-twidldler to a key member of the band, whoever the band might be.”
Read more at NME.com.
Bruce Springsteen: Phil Spector’s ‘Wall Of Sound’ Created Symphonies
During his recent keynote speech at South By Southwest, Bruce Springsteen discussed his numerous influences, including Phil Spector, whom he said created “symphonies.” For Spector’s famed “Wall of Sound” production style, Springsteen scatted, “Boom, boom boom” into the microphone with his hands cupped around it. “Phil’s greater lesson was that sound, sound, sound is its own language.”
Read more at USATODAY.