He was one of the most creative and influential producers in the history of rock \u2018n\u2019 roll. Today, Phil Spector resides at the California Substance Abuse Treatment Facility and State Prison in Corcoran, California. He will be eligible for parole at the age of 88.<\/p>\n
While he would produce albums by The Beatles, John Lennon, George Harrison, The Ramones, Dion, and others, it was his early and mid-\u201860s work that made Spector a producing legend. His technique was called The Wall Of Sound and it included a dense layered sound in which he recorded the instrumental parts over and over again before combining them together, adding in the use of echo chambers and reverb. While these techniques are now a part of accepted recording techniques, back in the early 1960\u2019s, they were inventive and cutting-edge.<\/p>\n
As Spector\u2019s music continues to reach the 50 year mark, it is being re-released in all sorts of configurations. There are artist compilation albums, there are reissues of original albums, there is a massive box set, and then there is the subject of this review, the two disc The Essential Phil Spector. <\/i>If you are unfamiliar with his work or want just a taste of some of the best music of the early rock \u2018n\u2019 roll era, then this is an album for you.<\/p>\n
The 35 tracks that comprise The Essential Phil Spector <\/i>were well-chosen, as they not only cover some of his well-known productions but also present a number of his forgotten hits as well. <\/p>\n
Many of his pre-Phillies label singles included a number of styles and sounds and one can discern his growing expertise and experimentation. \u201cCorinne Corrina\u201d by Ray Peterson, \u201cSpanish Harlem\u201d by Ben E. King, \u201cPretty Little Angel Eyes\u201d by Curtis Lee, \u201cEvery Breath I Take\u201d by Gene Pitney, and \u201cI Love How You Love Me\u201d by The Paris Sisters find Spector in the formative stages of his career as a writer and producer.<\/p>\n
Anyone interested in the history of early rock \u2018n\u2019 roll is probably familiar with his work with The Ronettes (\u201cBe My Baby,\u201d \u201cBaby I Love You,\u201d \u201cWalking In The Rain,\u201d and \u201cDo I Love You\u201d), The Crystals (\u201cThere\u2019s No Other Like My Baby,\u201d \u201cThen He Kissed Me,\u201d \u201cHe\u2019s A Rebel,\u201d and \u201cHe\u2019s Sure The Boy I Love\u201d), Darlene Love (\u201cWait Til\u2019 My Bobby Gets Home,\u201d \u201cToday I Met The Boy I\u2019m Gonna Marry,\u201d \u201cA Fine Fine Boy,\u201d and \u201cStumble and Fall\u201d) , and The Righteous Brothers (\u201cYou\u2019ve Lost That Lovin\u2019 Feeling,\u201d \u201cUnchained Melody,\u201d and \u201cEbb Tide.\u201d)<\/p>\n
Throw in the epic \u201cRiver Deep, Mountain High\u201d by Ike & Tina Turner, the smooth \u201cBlack Pearl\u201d by Sonny Charles and The Checkmates LTD, and the obscure \u201cThis Could Be The Night\u201d by The Modern Folk Quartet, and you have the makings of a interesting and in many ways essential listening experience.<\/p>\n
It is tragic that Phil Spector will not be around for the half-century celebrations of his music. The Essential Phil Spector <\/i>is a nice overview of his early career and should be required listening for anyone even remotely interested in the history and development of rock \u2018n\u2019 roll.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":59,"featured_media":30770,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"artist":[8752],"rating":[5613],"class_list":["post-42444","review","type-review","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","artist-phil-spector","rating-rating-a-minus"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/42444","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/review"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/59"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=42444"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/42444\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/30770"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=42444"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"artist","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/artist?post=42444"},{"taxonomy":"rating","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rating?post=42444"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}