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‘The Essential Phil Spector’ Gets Five Stars
Ever since a 17-year-old Spector produced his own composition, “To Know Him Is To Love Him,” for the Teddy Bears in 1958, record production has never been the same. This 34-song collection is arranged chronologically (1958-1969) and revisits Spector’s peak as a hit maker. If this is not enough Spector for you, then get the 87-track Phil Spector Presents the Philles Albums Collection, a 7-CD box that includes all six 1962-64 albums from the Philles label, which until now had never been released in its entirety on CD.
Read more at the San Antonio Current.
‘The Philles Album Collection’ – Sound & Vision Review
There have been many collections of producer Phil Spector’s vintage work, always focusing on the same three dozen tracks. Here, finally, is the rest of the story: Six original albums as released on his Philles label from 1962 to ’64, plus a newly created disc of B-sides. Collectors will rejoice, as few of these were ever on albums, let alone CDs.
Read more at Sound + Vision.
The Second Disc Reviews New Phil Spector Collections
Expertly produced by Rob Santos and copiously annotated by Mick Patrick, The Philles Album Collection belongs on the shelf of anyone with more than a passing interest in American pop music. (Patrick’s notes consist of a terrific essay plus track-by-track commentary on the bonus disc.) … Vic Anesini has remastered the entire collection, and the songs sound better than ever. Anesini did the same for the other Philles release which has just arrived from Legacy, The Essential Phil Spector (Phil Spector Records/Legacy 88697 86422-2). This 2-CD, 35-track anthology features all of the hits you know and love. … Each track on The Essential Phil Spector has already been released on ABKCO’s now out-of-print Back to Mono box set (7118-2, 1991), but those familiar with that box will note the superior sound on The Essential brings more clarity to these mono singles.
Read more at TheSecondDisc.com.
‘Be My Baby’ On TIME Magazine List Of 100 All-Time Songs
TIME Magazine critics have selected “Be My Baby,” produced by Phil Spector, as one of the 100 most extraordinary pop recordings in music history. The magazine writes:
“The Wall of Sound was a fuzzy, congested, massive sonic assault designed for 45-r.p.m. record players and AM car radios. Summoning an army of musicians — backup singers, guitarists, a few horn men, percussionists with their castanets, maracas and tambourines, plus three or four pianists banging away simultaneously and maybe a string section — to his cramped, beloved Gold Star studio in L.A., the producer would keep noodling and cajoling until he heard the magic that was already in his head. By the time he was done, the number exploded with a sound so dense and intense that a record needle could literally jump out of the grooves. Spector’s target audience of adolescents got the same vinyl jolt. Even today, it’s impossible to listen to “Da Doo Ron Ron,” “He’s a Rebel,” “Then He Kissed Me,” “Not Too Young to Get Married” — or “Be My Baby” — without feeling elated, intoxicated and 15.”