He collaborated with the greatest, revolutionized music with his “wall of sound”, but it is the reasons for his imprisonment that we remember from Phil Spector’s life. However, a journalist had fun changing the end of the story.
A true musical genius, Phil Spector revolutionized music in the 1960s with his famous “wall of sound”, a technique aimed at giving depth to a pop musical arrangement. He produced and wrote for the greatest voices: Tina Turner, the Ronettes, the Beatles, Leonard Cohen and Celine Dion. Unfortunately it is for the reason for his stay in prison, the murder of Lana Clarkson in 2003, that he is often recognized. He died in the prison hospital in 2021.
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Be my Baby, simply
Well, that’s the official version. The journalist Francois Julien decides to rewrite, in his first novel Spectorama published by Erick Bonnierthe end of the story of this murderous genius, without erasing the murder: “The murder is very important. He even produced his last wife’s record, which was a carbon copy of Lana Clarkson. I changed the ending so that there would be a new life in music for him.”.
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Phil Spector, famous music producer, dies in prison
Phil Spector and the Beatles: a story of disenchantment!
First a musician (an excellent guitarist), he will become one of the most popular producers and will make life hell by confronting some of the biggest stars of the time with his famous wall of sound whose Beatles : “When Spector came to England in 1964, he wanted to work with the Beatles, but they already had a producer and record companies.”.
He will be recalled later to work on a cult song : “They tell him ‘the boys can’t finish ‘Let It Be’. They tell him to come to London, all expenses paid. But it’s all done behind McCartney’s back, who takes it very, very badly because Spector adds violins, echo, strings,…”.
Ghost collaboration with Celine Dion
If he collaborated well with Celine Diononly a few excerpts are available for music lovers. A few years before his marriage to René Angelilwhen he was only his manager, Phil Spector fell in love with Celine Dion’s voice. “He does everything he can and manages to contact René Angélil. René is happy. He thinks that maybe there is something to do. And Celine Dion records with Spector in Los Angeles. But it doesn’t go well. He worked like he was in a factory, redoing the take 30 or 40 times. There were a few pieces that were put in the can but never saw the light of day.”.
Result: no Spector song on the album! And even a revenge with a cover of one of the producer’s hits River Deep, Mountain High.
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Emilie Mazoyer invites you to dive into the life of Phil Spector with François Julien in the Décibels podcast.
