Phil Spector Dead at 81

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He worked on The Ramones record in the late 70s, “End of the Century.” According to Dee Dee Ramone, after speaking to Phil Spector at his home about the record they were going to work on, and seeing his house, they got tired and wanted to go home. Phil Spector allegedly pulled a gun on them and made them stay. It’s an interesting Ramones record, but it didn’t give the Ramones the fame or radio play they had hoped for.
 
I thought this was kind of funny, from the Wall of Sound Wiki page:
Spector was vehemently opposed to stereo releases, claiming that it took control of the record's sound away from the producer in favor of the listener, resulting in an infringement of the Wall of Sound's carefully balanced combination of sonic textures as they were meant to be heard.[18]Brian Wilson agreed, stating: "I look at sound like a painting, you have a balance and the balance is conceived in your mind. You finish the sound, dub it down, and you’ve stamped out a picture of your balance with the mono dubdown. But in stereo, you leave that dubdown to the listener—to his speaker placement and speaker balance. It just doesn't seem complete to me."
 
One of my favorite movies is Phantom of the Paradise, 1974. In it Paul Williams plays an evil music producer named Swan whose only passions are greed & power. He literally has a deal with the devil. Williams & director De Palma based the character on Phil Spector. Even way back then his reputation
paul-williams-as-swan 2.jpg
was legendary, not always in a good way.
 
One of my favorite movies is Phantom of the Paradise, 1974. In it Paul Williams plays an evil music producer named Swan whose only passions are greed & power. He literally has a deal with the devil. Williams & director De Palma based the character on Phil Spector. Even way back then his reputationView attachment 61841 was legendary, not always in a good way.

I can't resist: To Know, Know, Know Him was Not to Love, Love, Love Him.
 
Boy you guys are a hard crowd here. :(
Phil brought some of the best rock-soul-blues recorded to music lovers over 3 or 4 decades.
A very eccentric person who lost his lives direction to drugs and alcohol just like so many others in
the industry. Really don't understand the negativity towards him here, I could quickly name a dozen
others who have gone down similar paths that many here idolize.
RIP Phil. Thanks for all the great music and times I grew up with.
 
from listening to the stereo xmas record, however, i can sorta see why he was PO'ed over the stereo versions circulating, it is a pretty hole-ey presentation, but still have much more clarity [which he seemed to not care for] compared to the "wall of mud" mono original.
 
i heard what he did compared to the "naked" version of "let it be," and i must say i like spector's version better. as john lennon [paraphrased] said, "it was a shitty record with a shitty feel, and he [spector] made something good of it." i know he is hugging his papa ["to know him is to love him" which was about dear old dad] in heaven now.
 
Boy you guys are a hard crowd here. :(
Phil brought some of the best rock-soul-blues recorded to music lovers over 3 or 4 decades.
A very eccentric person who lost his lives direction to drugs and alcohol just like so many others in
the industry. Really don't understand the negativity towards him here, I could quickly name a dozen
others who have gone down similar paths that many here idolize.
RIP Phil. Thanks for all the great music and times I grew up with.

That's true! While Phil Spector will be remembered for the the records that he produced, he'll also be remembered as someone who messed up some of the people that he worked with (and for serving time in prison for murder).
 
He worked on The Ramones record in the late 70s, “End of the Century.” According to Dee Dee Ramone, after speaking to Phil Spector at his home about the record they were going to work on, and seeing his house, they got tired and wanted to go home. Phil Spector allegedly pulled a gun on them and made them stay. It’s an interesting Ramones record, but it didn’t give the Ramones the fame or radio play they had hoped for.
I'd read that same story. It certainly is a departure from the sound of the earlier Ramones LPs! The wall of sound was in full play. AND the strings of all things. As for the sound of the wall of sound, it can sound muddy. Its not so much muddy, in reality as incredibly dense. I find that using enhance on the Audionics Tate improves it greatly since it spreads it out to a wider field.
As for flaming out at the end, he really went nuts about 20 years ago. Apparently shot the woman in the restaurant etc. etc. Not. Good.
 
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