phil spector

not sure if this will garner much of a response, but ive sort of been developing more of an interest in phil spector as of late, and i guess maverick 60s producers in general.. i knew about reports of his extreme megalomania, and of course theres the prison term hes currently serving for murder, but after watching this bbc doc i was really shocked at the extent of his madness. im not surprised at the situation he currently finds himself in. i mean, i dont doubt for a second he actually killed that woman.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=93XogOjc3t4

but man i love his production work from the early 60s, as well as the stuff he did with john lennon. i even dig the ill fated leonard cohen collab 'death of a ladies man'.. i guess you really have to completely forget that the guys an utter psycho, which would be really hard to do if the work wasnt so strong.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2TE5cd5Z4y8

apparently he completely threw out the original vocal tracks from the crystals and overdubbed session singers. the group then had to go on tv and mime to vocals that werent actually theirs. fucking brilliant track none the less.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=USWLHcRIdBU

my favorite tune from the bizarre cohen album (no idea whats up with the visuals)

He was a bit of a genius yeah. You should check out David Axelrod for a slightly-less-psychotic but equally brilliant '60s producer.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WHOPqwZ0q4I&feature=related

Brian Wilson could be considered in the same category but his insanity seems directed inwards rather than out at other people.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vHNjiwXXYF8

axelrod does indeed have some amazing tracks. got into his stuff through dj shadow..

yeah, i agree, wilson is similar in ways, but thats partially due to spectors huge influence on him. but both had an innate talent for production work..

couple other eccentric 60s producers that spring to mind-

lee hazlewoods stuff is amazing-

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sb-SVPJM4L4

im not super familiar with joe meek (havent heard much beyond 'telstar') but i was intrigued by this documentary. another tragic figure.. man, a lot of crazy, brilliant producers came out of the 60s.. i suppose thats when the pop world started to realize that you could treat the studio itself as an instrument. thus the 'producer as mad auteur' trend..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hTrkQeIyeZU

Some Velvet Morning is fantastic!!!!!! Loved that song for years!!!! It's so bipolar!

yeah man, 'some velvet mornong' is about as perfect as a song can get. been on a bit of a hazlewood kick as of late (as my avatar would suggest..)

check out 'requiem for an almost lady' if you havent already. not as bombastic as his other productions but probably some of his best songwriting. i remember reading a quote from kim gordon somewhere describing hazlewoods stuff as "cowboy exotica", and i think thats probably the perfect description..

this phil spector's demons documentary is way interesting. thanks for that.

i have been fascinated by spector for many news cycles. he forces me to conclude that vodka and cocaine have a price

there's a documentary that came out last year which a lot of interviews and stuff during the first murder trial http://www.imdb.com/video/screenplay/vi2006189593/

the guy is 100% batshit insane and am glad he's going to die in prison

yeah i was trying to track down a copy of that, i really want to see it.

im not going to say im glad that hes going to die in prison, but hes certainly where he deserves to be. the guy caused a lot of pain to a lot of people.

  On 7/30/2010 at 1:35 AM, chax said:

the guy is 100% batshit insane