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Phil spectre dies8/10/2023 ![]() ![]() Ike & Tina Turner, “River Deep – Mountain High”Ī song that sounds exactly like its title, “River Deep – Mountain High” crests and dips like a majestic bird of prey swooping through the Great Smokies, with Tina Turner – perhaps the greatest vocalist of her era, period – alternately mining her rich lower range and flaunting her effortless vocal peaks on this strange melange of gospel, doo-wop and classical. Spector is also listed as producer on their equally iconic “Unchained Melody,” though the duo’s Bill Medley insists his involvement was minimal on that one. 1 and enduring karaoke favorite, “Feelin'” verges on histrionics but sticks the landing. A slow, somber number that delicately builds to a thunderous, widescreen chorus, “You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feelin'” finds the blue-eyed soul duo drenched in soul-wrenching, Sirkian drama. If Spector’s girl group hits demonstrated brevity and restraint, his work with the Righteous Brothers allowed him to indulge his more operatic compositional inclinations. Righteous Brothers, “You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feelin'” (1964) The result is one of the loveliest odes to the way a simple kiss can lead to a lifetime – and even if you don’t really believe in that, you will for the two minutes and forty seconds of this song. As always on Spector’s finest productions, the strings swoop in at just the right moment and make a quiet exit before overwhelming the honesty of the lead vocal with forced sentimentality. LaLa Brooks’ vocal expertly builds from romantic indifference to head-over-heels devotion as that sweetly optimistic guitar tone rings out and a gentle, unshakable rhythm percolates beneath Spector’s mini orchestra. If there was ever a pop song that could make you believe in happily ever after for two teenage sweethearts, this is the one. Heck, some might even say it’s the greatest girl group song of all time. The essential ingredient is Ronnie Spector, whose deft negotiation between romantic infatuation and restraint ensured that “Be My Baby” would give birth to countless pop chart descendants. While a different producer might have approached this as an austere or saccharine ballad, Spector’s layered production – punctuated by that decisive, oft-imitated drum beat from Hal Blaine – makes “Be My Baby” feel like a dance song despite the easy-going pace. Part of the appeal and brilliance of the Wall of Sound approach was that it worked not only for propulsive pop-rockers like the aforementioned Crystals tune, but it injected the simmering, irrepressible energy of teenage hormones into songs such as this game-changer. With Dolores “LaLa” Brooks on lead, the Crystals spat out admittedly silly adolescent declarations like this one as if nothing else in the world mattered except for the moment a cute boy or girl caught your eye the snowballing energy of the recording rips you along for the ride whether you’re ready for romance or not. ![]() Phil Spector was a major exception to that rule in the U.S., however, and the Crystals’ “Da Doo Ron Ron” is a perfection distillation of musical approach: a simple, lyrically uncomplicated song delivered with a youthful enthusiasm from a group of young African American females, augmented by an impenetrable wall of orchestral pop at a breakneck pace (courtesy his group of studio pros known as the Wrecking Crew). Phil Spector, Music Producer and Convicted Murderer, Dies at 81Īfter many of the first-wave American rock ambassadors dropped off the scene temporarily (such as Little Richard and Elvis Presley) or permanently (such as Buddy Holly and Ritchie Valens), it seemed there wasn’t much innovation in rock until the Beatles arrived. ![]()
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