Track #1
People are complicated. If I’ve learned anything in my time on this planet is that people are filled with virtues, ambition, and flaws. Phil Spektor was a spectacular producer, but he became addicted to tons of drugs and murdered an actress. Here’s to hoping your flaws do not end up in homicide.
The first track is arguably the best, this is the track that spawned the name of Phil Spektor’s production style, “Wall of Sound”. The song is “You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feeling’” by The Righteous Brothers. Also, one of the background singers in this song is Cher who was just a teenager and unknown at the time.
Track #2
Here’s a song you’ve probably heard but couldn’t name the artist. To Know Him Is To Love Him by The Teddy Bears was the first group / album Phil Spector produced. Phil graduated high school and a couple months later convinced a recording studio to record this song for $75. They were all kids, Phil “The Producer” and the girls singing were still in high school. In about two months it became a huge hit and went on to be popular across the globe. 37 years after this song became a huge hit (1958) the lead singer, Annette Kleinbard testified at the O.J. Simpson trial in 1995 to say she saw hum a charity event the night before the murder.
Track #3
Singer Veronica Bennett was the “Ronnie”, lead singer of the Ronettes. They were a band who routinely performed across NYC but struggled to achieve the fame they desired. Ronnie reached out to Phil Spector and got the chance to audition for him, hoping he could take their band to new heights. Phil delivered on the promise and produced amazing songs for them including “Be My Baby” and “Baby I Love You”. Ronnie and Phil got married and things ultimately fell apart in their marriage and for their band as Phil got distracted doing other things (Beatles & drugs).
Track #4
Guapo can’t tell a lie. I had never heard this song before working on this playlist. Upon researching Phil Spector’s recording career, it listed this album and I decided to give it a listen. Dion had a number of hits earlier in his career including, Runaround Sue and The Wanderer, but his career began to sputter and so he dialed up Phil for some help. Unfortunately for Dion, Phil was deeply into drugs and alcohol at this time and the album flopped, Dion ultimately hated the album, saying it sounded like funeral music, but I think this song stands up well.
Track #5
12 years after his initial success producing The Teddy Bears, Phil Spector was a big deal. He had a ton of hits under his belt and was the go to producer to turn lead into gold. Remarkably, The Beatles were in shambles at this time with a lot of lot of half-baked recordings, they tried to piece them together to get one last album out the door but nothing seemed to work so they picked up the phone and gave Phil Spector a call. The album was released, contained several amazing songs, but Paul McCartney never liked it and years later released a “naked” version of the same album.
Track #6
If it wasn’t enough for Phil Spector to be producing The Beatles, he was simultaneously working on solo albums for John Lennon and George Harrison. Here’s John Lennon’s Instant Karma. Yoko Ono has a strong performance in the music video below.
Track #7
On George Harrison’s album, All Things Must Pass, Phil Spector was tapped to help produce. Isn’t It A Pity was a song written by George for the Beatles, but the Beatles passed on it so George put it on his solo album. This song never got the same airtime as My Sweet Lord or What Is Life, probably because the song is over 7 minutes long, but it really is a masterful production and a beautiful song.
Track #8
Look, not too much to say about this other than, Phil Spector wrote this song for Sonny Charles and The Checkmates, and it’s incredibly catchy!
Track #9
Did you know Rolling Stone magazine ranked River Deep — Mountain High #33 on the list of 500 greatest songs of all time? Phil Spector put a lot of his soul into this song and it did not get the initial reception he hoped for, some say this is where he started to go into his decline, disappearing from music and turning to drugs and alcohol. Tina Turner got to see Phil’s obsessive nature when getting the track exactly how he wanted it, she was quoted as saying, “”I must have sung that 500,000 times. I was drenched with sweat. I had to take my shirt off and stand there in my bra to sing.” Maybe that was Phil’s plan all along. Really encourage you to listen to the song a couple times, listening to the different layers, pretty remarkable song. Tina is impressive as always.
Track #10
Another hit from a relatively obscure band, Bob B. Soxx and The Blue Jeans. This was still early in his career, but just an absolutely perfect pop song.
Track #11
Phil Spector wrote this song and didn’t produce it, so a bit of a detour from the wall of sound, but just another amazing song to have under his credits. Chapel of Love was co-written by Jeff Barry and Ellie Greenwich who had recently married, so the topic was very near to their hearts, they divorced 3 years later, but this song will be forever.
Track #12
Phil Spector also wrote and produced songs for The Crystals in the early 1960s, one of their most popular hits was “Da Doo Ron Ron”. The title “Da Doo Ron Ron” was supposed to be a placeholder until the real lyrics were written, but Spector liked it so much that he kept it.
Track #13
Phil Spector also gave us one of the greatest Christmas albums of all time featuring the bands he was producing. It is a masterpiece of Christmas music, produced by a guy who seemed to always border on insanity. For now, let’s just enjoy Christmas (Baby, Please Come Home) by Darlene Love who was in his talented stable of singers.