“To know him is to love him” was the epitaph on the grave of Philip Spector’s father and probably the title of the song that has made him the world renowned song writer that he is and arguably rock and roll’s most distinctive legend. Phil Spector took the 1950’s and 60’s by storm with his influence over just about every performer of that period.

Born in The Bronx, New York on December 26^th 1939 his early years were difficult with the suicide of his father when he was nine years old at which point his mother moved both Spector and his sister to Los Angeles, California in 1953.

In Los Angeles he attended Fairfax School where he took guitar lessons and became involved with the young aspirants of the music community.

Phil formed his first group along with three school friends, Marshall Lieb, Harey Goldstein and singer Annette Kleinbard and named it The Teddy Bears. At this time he met Stan Ross, the co-owner of Gold Star Studios and he became Phil’s mentor in the field of record production.

By 1958 Spector and his band had enough cash to make a recording in a studio and the track of choice was,” Don’t You Worry My Little Pet” which helped them secure a deal with Era Records. Their next recording was inspired by the epitaph on his father’s grave. “To Know him is to Love Him” which went to number one on the Billboard’s Hot 100 and sold over one million copies in that year.

Following the success of their previous single the band signed with Imperial Records but never again made the big time and went their separate ways after the lack of success of their last single “I Dont Need You Anymore” in 1959.

Phil Spector was not deterred by this and went on to explore his talent as a songwriter and producer when in 1960 Spector became an apprentice at Leiber and Stroller in New York.

While in New York he found some success when he co-wrote the Ben E King top ten hit, “Spanish Harlem” and playing solo guitar with the Drifter’s “On Broadway”.

Spector’s next project was the developing of another new record label with Lester Sill and naming it after both himself and Sill, Philles Records. With the new label Spector continued to have hits with the all girl group The Crystals, among the hits were “There’s No Other Like My Baby” and “Uptown” which made number thirteen in the charts.

In 1962 Phil heard a song written by Gene Pitney, for whom he had produced a number 41 chart hit “Every Breath I Take”. The song was “He’s a Rebel” and was quickly recorded by Darlene Love on lead vocals and Phil attributed it to The Crystals which helped it rise to the top of the charts. In 1963 he released the number two hit single on his Philles Record label by the Ronettes, “Be My Baby”.

Spector, over the years, developed his own technique of musical sound by mixing instruments not generally used for ensemble playing and layered the sounds and called it 'the wall of sound'. Phil Spector worked at this time with Glen Campbell and Sonny Bono and gained a reputation for being quirky and often working with unconventional recording techniques.

For most of his time as a producer Spector concentrated on singles but broke with tradition in 1963 when he felt he could produce an L.P. that would be a success for Christmas 1963, “A Christmas Gift for You”. The L.P was released to shops on the day of the John F Kennedy assassination, November 22 1963. It was thought that the sales of the L.P, due to the country’s feeling of sadness at that time, were a result of the record’s lack of success.

In 1964 Phil was to team up with The Righteous Brothers and produced their first hit after they left Moonglow Records, “You’ve Lost That Loving Feeling” which became Philles records second number one hit single.

The hit single, “Unchained Melody” which had been a hit in the 1950’s gained a new wave of popularity when it was used 25 years later in the movie “Ghost” starring Demi Moore and Patrick Swayze. This was also to result in putting Spector back in the top 40 since his last record involvement with John Lennon in the making of “Imagine” in 1971.

In 1966 Phil signed the husband and wife duo Ike Turner and Tina Turner to his label and recorded “River Deep Mountain High” but the single only made it to number 88 in the American charts but was a runaway success in the British charts reaching number 3.

By 1968 Spector became a recluse, withdrawing from the public eye when he married Veronica Bennett the lead singer from the Ronettes in. The marriage only lasted from 1969 until Veronica filed for divorce in 1972. His next appearance was when he made a cameo in Easy Rider with Peter Fonda.

In 1970 Spector would meet up with the Beatles and put his trade mark musical production technique to the album Let It Be which was met with approval by John Lennon and George Harrison but was said to have infuriated Paul McCartney. Spector went on to put his mark on the Lennon Christmas single, “Happy Christmas War is Over”. 

Spector was not prominent on the music scene in the 1980’s and 1990’s but almost had a come back when he attempted to work with Celine Dion but the project fell through.

Many subsequent artists have used the Spector approach to music production including Bruce Springsteen on his hit “Born to Run”.

 In later years it was revealed by his ex-wife and his son that during Spector's years as a recluse he would exhibit very strange behaviour, locking both of them in the house and forbidding Veronica to tour with the Rolling Stones and the Beatles for fear of losing her. He kept the house in darkness to avoid acknowledgment of his balding head. Spector was once described as “a little man with lifts in his shoes, the wig on top of his head and four guns”. Together the couple had adopted three children. Spector also had a son who was born in 1982 and died the same year.

Spector has more recently catapulted into the public eye in a high profile murder case where he was indicted for the murder of a forty year old would-be- Hollywood actress, Lana Clarkson, on February 3^rd 2003. Spector’s defense has tried to have his initial response to the 911 call suppressed to the jury, when he allegedly said  "I didn't mean to shoot her."

However the judge has ruled that it may be used. Opening statements in the trial for second-degree murder in which he could receive a 15-year to life sentence began April 25, 2007 in Los Angeles. 

So far Spector has gone through three attorneys. The high profile defense attorney Robert Shapiro who was part of the OJ Simpson "dream team". Shapiro was later replaced by Leslie Abramson and Marcia Morrissey. They, in turn, were later replaced by Bruce Cutler, the former longtime lawyer of New York City mafia boss John Gotti. 

The trial is expected to attract the same media attention as the Simpson, Robert Blake and Michael Jackson trials.

ABB