76 Facts About Phil Spector

1.

Phil Spector is widely regarded as one of the most influential figures in pop music history and one of the most successful producers of the 1960s.

2.

In 1960, after working as an apprentice to Leiber and Stoller, Spector co-founded Philles Records, and at the age of 21 became the youngest ever US label owner to that point.

3.

Phil Spector helped establish the role of the studio as an instrument, the integration of pop art aesthetics into music, and the genres of art rock and dream pop.

4.

Phil Spector's honors include the 1973 Grammy Award for Album of the Year for co-producing Harrison's Concert for Bangladesh, a 1989 induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and a 1997 induction into the Songwriters Hall of Fame.

5.

In 2004, Phil Spector was ranked number 63 on Rolling Stones list of the greatest artists in history.

6.

Phil Spector later added a second "l" to his middle name, which he preferred over "Harvey".

7.

Phil Spector's parents were Benjamin and Bertha Spector, a first-generation immigrant Russian-Jewish family in the Bronx, New York City.

8.

The similarities in name and background of the grandfathers led Phil Spector to believe that his parents were first cousins.

9.

Phil Spector had a sister named Shirley, who was six years his senior; she died in 2004 in Hemet, California, at the age of 70.

10.

In 1953, Phil Spector's mother moved the family to Los Angeles where she found work as a seamstress.

11.

Phil Spector attended John Burroughs Junior High School on Wilshire Boulevard, then in 1954 attended Fairfax High School.

12.

Phil Spector joined a loose-knit community of aspiring musicians, including Lou Adler, Bruce Johnston, Steve Douglas, and Sandy Nelson.

13.

Phil Spector formed a group, the Teddy Bears, with Nelson and three other friends, Marshall Leib, Harvey Goldstein and Annette Kleinbard.

14.

In 1958, the Teddy Bears recorded the Phil Spector-penned "Don't You Worry My Little Pet", and then signed a two to three singles recording deal with Era Records, with the promise of more if the singles did well.

15.

Leiber and Stoller recommended Phil Spector to produce Ray Peterson's "Corrine, Corrina", which reached number 9 in January 1961.

16.

In late 1961, Phil Spector formed a record company with Sill, who by this time had ended his business partnership with Hazlewood.

17.

The first two signed with other companies, but Phil Spector managed to secure the Crystals for his new label.

18.

The first time Spector put the same amount of effort into an LP as he did into 45s was when he utilized the full Philles roster and the Wrecking Crew to make what he felt would become a hit for the 1963 Christmas season.

19.

The deal did not materialize, and Phil Spector subsequently lost enthusiasm for his label and the recording industry.

20.

Phil Spector emerged briefly for a cameo as himself in an episode of I Dream of Jeannie and as a drug dealer in the film Easy Rider.

21.

Phil Spector went to work using many of his production techniques, making significant changes to the arrangements and sound of some songs.

22.

For Harrison's multiplatinum album All Things Must Pass, Phil Spector helped provide a symphonic ambience, although his health issues meant that after recording the basic tracks, he was absent from the project until the mixing stage.

23.

That same year, Phil Spector co-produced Lennon's Plastic Ono Band, a stark-sounding album devoid of any Wall of Sound extravagance.

24.

Phil Spector held the post for only a year, during which he co-produced Lennon's 1971 single "Power to the People" and his chart-topping album Imagine.

25.

The latter was recorded for Ronnie's intended solo album on Apple Records, a project that stalled due to the same erratic, alcohol-fueled behavior from Phil Spector that had hindered work on All Things Must Pass.

26.

Phil Spector was convinced that the Harrison-written single would be a major hit, and its poor commercial performance was one of the biggest disappointments of his career.

27.

That same year Phil Spector oversaw the live recording of the Harrison-organized Concert for Bangladesh shows in New York City, which resulted in the number 1 triple album The Concert for Bangladesh.

28.

Harrison and Phil Spector started work on Harrison's Living in the Material World album in October 1972, but Phil Spector's unreliability soon led to Harrison dismissing him from the project.

29.

In late 1973, Phil Spector produced the initial recording sessions for what became Lennon's 1975 covers album Rock 'n' Roll.

30.

The sessions were held in Los Angeles, with Lennon allowing Phil Spector free rein as producer for the first time, but were characterized by substance abuse and chaotic arrangements.

31.

Amid the party atmosphere, Phil Spector brandished his handguns and at one point fired a shot while Lennon was recording.

32.

Phil Spector was almost killed, and it was only because the attending police officer detected a faint pulse that Phil Spector was not declared dead at the scene.

33.

Records, which undertook new Phil Spector-produced recordings with Cher, Darlene Love, Danny Potter, and Jerri Bo Keno, in addition to several reissues.

34.

The majority of Spector's classic Philles recordings had been out of print in the US since the original label's demise, although Spector had released several Philles Records compilations in Britain.

35.

Phil Spector began to reemerge later in the decade, producing and co-writing a controversial 1977 album by Leonard Cohen, titled Death of a Ladies' Man.

36.

Phil Spector produced the much-publicized Ramones album End of the Century in 1979.

37.

Rumors circulated for years that Phil Spector had threatened members of the Ramones with a gun during the sessions.

38.

Dee Dee Ramone claimed that Phil Spector once pulled a gun on him when he tried to leave a session.

39.

Phil Spector remained inactive throughout most of the 1980s, 1990s, and early 2000s.

40.

In 1994, Phil Spector wrote a letter to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's nominating committee to oppose the Ronettes being considered for induction.

41.

Phil Spector argued that the group was not a proper recording act and did not contribute enough to music to merit an induction.

42.

Phil Spector attempted to work with Celine Dion on her album Falling into You but fell out with her production team.

43.

Phil Spector's last released project was Silence Is Easy by Starsailor, in 2003.

44.

Phil Spector was originally supposed to produce the entire album, but was fired owing to personal and creative differences.

45.

One of the two Phil Spector-produced songs on the album, the title track, was a UK top 10 single.

46.

On February 3,2003, Phil Spector shot actress Lana Clarkson in the mouth while in his mansion in Alhambra, California.

47.

Phil Spector's body was found slumped in a chair with a single gunshot wound to her mouth.

48.

That same month, Phil Spector attended the funeral of Ike Turner.

49.

Phil Spector speaks about the musical instincts that led him to create some of his most enduring hit records, from "You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'" to "River Deep, Mountain High", as well as Let It Be, along with criticisms he feels he has had to deal with throughout his life.

50.

Phil Spector was represented by attorney Jennifer Lee Barringer.

51.

Additionally, Phil Spector was found guilty of using a firearm in the commission of a crime, which added four years to the sentence.

52.

Phil Spector directed the overall sound of his recordings, using a core group that became known as the Wrecking Crew, including session players such as Hal Blaine, Larry Knechtel, Steve Douglas, Carol Kaye, Roy Caton, Glen Campbell, and Leon Russell.

53.

Phil Spector delegated arrangements to Jack Nitzsche and had Sonny Bono oversee the performances, viewing these two as his "lieutenants".

54.

Phil Spector frequently used songs from songwriters employed at the Brill Building and at 1650 Broadway, such as the teams of Ellie Greenwich and Jeff Barry, Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil, and Gerry Goffin and Carole King.

55.

Phil Spector often worked with the songwriters, receiving co-credit and publishing royalties for compositions.

56.

Phil Spector greatly preferred singles to albums, describing LPs as "two hits and ten pieces of junk", reflecting both his commercial methods and those of many other producers at the time.

57.

Phil Spector is often called the first auteur among musical artists for acting not only as a producer, but the creative director, writing or choosing the material, supervising the arrangements, conducting the vocalists and session musicians, and masterminding all phases of the recording process.

58.

Phil Spector helped pave the way for art rock, and helped inspire the emergence of aesthetically oriented genres such as shoegaze and noise music.

59.

Phil Spector's influence has been claimed by performers such as the Beatles, the Beach Boys, and the Velvet Underground alongside latter-day record producers such as Brian Eno and Tony Visconti.

60.

Phil Spector makes a milestone whenever he goes into the studio.

61.

Sonny Bono, a former associate of Phil Spector's, developed a jangly, guitar-laden variation on the Phil Spector sound, which is heard mainly in mid-1960s productions for his then-wife Cher, notably "Bang Bang ".

62.

Phil Spector's influence is felt in other areas of the world, especially Japan.

63.

Phil Spector named a record company after Merar, Annette Records.

64.

Phil Spector escaped from the mansion barefoot with the help of her mother in 1972.

65.

Phil Spector alleged that this was because Spector threatened to hire a hitman to kill her.

66.

In 1982, Spector had twin children with his girlfriend Janis Zavala: Nicole Audrey Spector and Phillip Spector Jr.

67.

On September 1,2006, while on bail and awaiting trial, Phil Spector married his third wife Rachelle Short, who was 26 at the time.

68.

Phil Spector filed for divorce in April 2016, claiming irreconcilable differences.

69.

California Department of Corrections photos from 2013 show evidence of a progressive deterioration in Phil Spector's health, according to observers.

70.

Phil Spector had been an inmate at the California Health Care Facility in Stockton since October 2013.

71.

In September 2014, it was reported that Phil Spector had lost his ability to speak, owing to laryngeal papillomatosis.

72.

Phil Spector was taken to San Joaquin General Hospital in French Camp, California, on December 31, and intubated in January 2021.

73.

Phil Spector would have been eligible for parole in 2024.

74.

Some media outlets that reported on Phil Spector's death were subject to controversy for reportedly downplaying his murder conviction.

75.

Examples given were the obituaries in The New York Times and Rolling Stone, which originally stated, respectively, that Phil Spector's legacy "was marred by a murder conviction" and that his "life was upended" after being sentenced.

76.

Phil Spector is one of a handful of producers to have number one records in three consecutive decades.