189-657: Cocteau Twins were a Scottish rock band active from 1979 to 1997. They were formed in Grangemouth on the Firth of Forth by Robin Guthrie (guitars, drum machine ) and Will Heggie (bass), adding Elizabeth Fraser (vocals) in 1981. In 1983, Heggie was replaced with multi-instrumentalist Simon Raymonde . The group earned critical praise for their ethereal, effects -laden sound and the soprano vocals of Fraser, whose lyrics often eschew any recognisable language. They pioneered
378-464: A 4 time signature using a verse–chorus form , but the genre has become extremely diverse. Like pop music , lyrics often stress romantic love but also address a wide variety of other themes that are frequently social or political. Rock was the most popular genre of music in the U.S. and much of the Western world from the 1950s to the 2010s. Rock musicians in the mid-1960s began to advance
567-542: A recluse , he withdrew temporarily from the public eye, marrying Veronica "Ronnie" Bennett , lead singer of the Ronettes, in 1968. Spector emerged briefly for a cameo as himself in an episode of I Dream of Jeannie (1967) and as a drug dealer in the film Easy Rider (1969). In 1969, Spector made a brief return to the music business by signing a production deal with A&M Records . A Ronettes single, "You Came, You Saw, You Conquered" flopped, but Spector returned to
756-539: A 4AD band, Cocteau Twins signed a major-label contract with Capitol Records in 1988 for distribution in the United States, and released their fifth album, Blue Bell Knoll , that September. The US promotional only single " Carolyn's Fingers " was heavily played on the U.S. radio stations, peaking at No. 2 on Billboard 's Alternative Songs chart. The group released Heaven or Las Vegas in early 1990. The most commercially successful of their many recordings,
945-460: A 55-date world tour, which would have paid him £1.5 million. In 2005 4AD released a limited edition of 10,000 compilation box set titled Lullabies to Violaine , a 4-disc set that includes every single and EP released from 1982 to 1996. This was shortly followed up by two 2-disc sets of the same names, known as Volume 1 and Volume 2. Since March 2007 the band has started podcasts of exclusive material. On 6 October 2008 Cocteau Twins were awarded
1134-403: A Ladies' Man . This angered many devout Cohen fans who preferred his stark acoustic sound to the orchestral and choral wall of sound that the album contains. The recording was fraught with difficulty. After Cohen had laid down practice vocal tracks, Spector mixed the album in studio sessions, rather than allowing Cohen to take a role in the mixing, as Cohen had previously done. Cohen remarked that
1323-721: A U.S. number-one hit. In 1960, after working as an apprentice to Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller , Spector co-founded Philles Records , and at the age of 21, he became the youngest-ever U.S. label owner at the time. Dubbed the " First Tycoon of Teen ", Spector came to be considered the first auteur of the music industry, for the unprecedented control he had over every phase of the recording process. He produced acts such as The Ronettes , The Crystals , and Ike & Tina Turner , and typically collaborated with arranger Jack Nitzsche and engineer Larry Levine . The musicians from his de facto house band , later known as " The Wrecking Crew ", rose to industry fame through his hit records. In
1512-529: A bonus disc of rare and previously unreleased material. Fraser and Guthrie had a daughter, Lucy Belle, born in 1989. The couple ended their 13-year relationship in 1993. The band's seventh LP, Four-Calendar Café , their first since Fraser and Guthrie's separation, was released in late 1993. The band explained that Four-Calendar Café was a response to the turmoil that had engulfed them in the intervening years, with Guthrie entering rehab and quitting alcohol and drugs, and Fraser undergoing psychotherapy. 1995 saw
1701-514: A certain degree doesn't care if it's popular. — Bill Wyman in Vulture (2016) The sound of rock is traditionally centered on the amplified electric guitar, which emerged in its modern form in the 1950s with the popularity of rock and roll. It was also greatly influenced by the sounds of electric blues guitarists. The sound of an electric guitar in rock music is typically supported by an electric bass guitar, which pioneered jazz music in
1890-578: A cover version using Darlene Love and the Blossoms on lead vocals. The record was released on Philles, attributed to the Crystals, and quickly rose to the top of the charts. By the time "He's a Rebel" went to number 1, Lester Sill was out of the company, and Spector had Philles all to himself. He created a new act, Bob B. Soxx & the Blue Jeans , featuring Darlene Love, Fanita James (a member of
2079-566: A drummer, toured extensively to support the album, their last for Mercury/Fontana. A new song, "Touch Upon Touch", which debuted during the live shows and was recorded later in 1996 was also one of the two songs written and arranged by Fraser, Guthrie and Raymonde for Chinese pop singer Faye Wong for her Mandarin album Fuzao released in June 1996, the other being "Tranquil Eye" from Violaine released in October 1996. In 1997 while recording what
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#17327733905102268-519: A fondness for a good beat, a meaningful lyric with some wit, and the theme of youth, which holds an "eternal attraction" so objective "that all youth music partakes of sociology and the field report ." Writing in Christgau's Record Guide: The '80s (1990), he said this sensibility is evident in the music of folk singer-songwriter Michelle Shocked , rapper LL Cool J , and synth-pop duo Pet Shop Boys —"all kids working out their identities"—as much as it
2457-578: A former promotion man who was a mentor to Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller . Sill and his partner, Lee Hazlewood supported Spector's next project, the Spectors Three. In 1960, Sill arranged for Spector to work as an apprentice to Leiber and Stoller in New York. Spector co-wrote the Ben E. King Top 10 hit " Spanish Harlem " with Leiber and also worked as a session musician, playing the guitar solo on
2646-481: A foundation of simple syncopated rhythms in a 4 meter , with a repetitive snare drum back beat on beats two and four. Melodies often originate from older musical modes such as the Dorian and Mixolydian , as well as major and minor modes. Harmonies range from the common triad to parallel perfect fourths and fifths and dissonant harmonic progressions. Since the late 1950s, and particularly from
2835-628: A frequent addition to the established rock format of guitars, bass, and drums in subsequent progressive rock. Instrumentals were common, while songs with lyrics were sometimes conceptual, abstract, or based in fantasy and science fiction. The Pretty Things ' SF Sorrow (1968), the Kinks' Arthur (Or the Decline and Fall of the British Empire) (1969), and the Who 's Tommy (1969) introduced
3024-531: A fuller sound. Spector himself called his technique "a Wagnerian approach to rock & roll: little symphonies for the kids". 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 . He delegated arrangements to Jack Nitzsche and had Sonny Bono oversee
3213-630: A key feature of psychedelia. Psychedelic rock reached its apogee in the last years of the decade. 1967 saw the Beatles release their definitive psychedelic statement in Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band , including the controversial track " Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds ", the Rolling Stones responded later that year with Their Satanic Majesties Request , and Pink Floyd debuted with The Piper at
3402-573: A loud amplified sound, often centered on the electric guitar, based on the Chicago blues , particularly after the tour of Britain by Muddy Waters in 1958, which prompted Cyril Davies and guitarist Alexis Korner to form the band Blues Incorporated . The band involved and inspired many of the figures of the subsequent British blues boom, including members of the Rolling Stones and Cream , combining blues standards and forms with rock instrumentation and emphasis. The other key focus for British blues
3591-587: A mainstream audience with hits including " Blowin' in the Wind " (1963) and " Masters of War " (1963), which brought " protest songs " to a wider public, but, although beginning to influence each other, rock and folk music had remained largely separate genres, often with mutually exclusive audiences. Early attempts to combine elements of folk and rock included the Animals' " House of the Rising Sun " (1964), which
3780-495: A major element of progressive rock. From about 1967 bands like Cream and the Jimi Hendrix Experience had moved away from purely blues-based music into psychedelia . By the 1970s, blues rock had become heavier and more riff-based, exemplified by the work of Led Zeppelin and Deep Purple , and the lines between blues rock and hard rock "were barely visible", as bands began recording rock-style albums. The genre
3969-705: A major influence on Spector's production style. In 1958, the Teddy Bears recorded the 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. At their next session, they recorded another song Spector had written—this one inspired by the epitaph on Spector's father's tombstone. Released on Era's subsidiary label, Dore Records, " To Know Him Is to Love Him " reached number one on Billboard Hot 100 singles chart on December 1, 1958, selling over
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#17327733905104158-429: A major influence on subsequent electronic rock . With the advent of punk rock and technological changes in the late 1970s, progressive rock was increasingly dismissed as pretentious and overblown. Many bands broke up, but some, including Genesis, ELP, Yes, and Pink Floyd, regularly scored top ten albums with successful accompanying worldwide tours. Some bands which emerged in the aftermath of punk, such as Siouxsie and
4347-456: A million copies by year's end. Following the success of their debut, the group signed with Imperial Records . Their next single, "I Don't Need You Anymore", reached number 91. They released several more recordings, including an album, The Teddy Bears Sing! , but failed to reach the top 100 in US sales. The group disbanded in 1959. While recording the Teddy Bears' album, Spector met Lester Sill ,
4536-410: A more basic form of rock and roll that incorporated its original influences, particularly blues, country and folk music, leading to the creation of country rock and Southern rock. In 1966 Bob Dylan went to Nashville to record the album Blonde on Blonde . This, and subsequent more clearly country-influenced albums, such as Nashville Skyline , have been seen as creating the genre of country folk ,
4725-486: A multibillion-dollar industry and doubling its market while, as Christgau noted, suffering a significant "loss of cultural prestige". "Maybe the Bee Gees became more popular than the Beatles, but they were never more popular than Jesus ", he said. "Insofar as the music retained any mythic power, the myth was self-referential – there were lots of songs about the rock and roll life but very few about how rock could change
4914-589: A national phenomenon. It is often argued that the surf music craze and the careers of almost all surf acts was effectively ended by the arrival of the British Invasion from 1964, because most surf music hits were recorded and released between 1960 and 1965. By the end of 1962, what would become the British rock scene had started with beat groups like the Beatles , Gerry & the Pacemakers and
5103-411: A preacher, prosecutions of Jerry Lee Lewis and Chuck Berry and the breaking of the payola scandal (which implicated major figures, including Alan Freed, in bribery and corruption in promoting individual acts or songs), gave a sense that the rock and roll era established at that point had come to an end. Rock quickly spread out from its origins in the US, associated with the rapid Americanization that
5292-444: A prog rock influence and while ranking among the most commercially successful acts of the 1970s, heralding the era of pomp or arena rock , which would last until the costs of complex shows (often with theatrical staging and special effects), would be replaced by more economical rock festivals as major live venues in the 1990s. The instrumental strand of the genre resulted in albums like Mike Oldfield 's Tubular Bells (1973),
5481-446: A rigidly delineated musical definition." In the opinion of music journalist Robert Christgau , "the best rock jolts folk-art virtues—directness, utility, natural audience—into the present with shots of modern technology and modernist dissociation ". Rock and roll was conceived as an outlet for adolescent yearnings ... To make rock and roll is also an ideal way to explore intersections of sex, love, violence, and fun, to broadcast
5670-721: A route pursued by a number of largely acoustic folk musicians. Other acts that followed the back-to-basics trend were the Canadian group the Band and the California-based Creedence Clearwater Revival , both of which mixed basic rock and roll with folk, country and blues, to be among the most successful and influential bands of the late 1960s. The same movement saw the beginning of the recording careers of Californian solo artists like Ry Cooder , Bonnie Raitt and Lowell George , and influenced
5859-676: A sister named Shirley, who was six years his senior; she died in 2004 in Hemet, California , at the age of 70. In April 1949, Spector's father, who was deeply in debt, died by suicide; on his gravestone were inscribed the words "Ben Spector. Father. Husband. To Know Him Was To Love Him". In 1953, Spector's mother moved the family to Los Angeles where she found work as a seamstress. Spector attended John Burroughs Junior High School (now John Burroughs Middle School) on Wilshire Boulevard, then in 1955 attended Fairfax High School . Having learned to play guitar, Spector performed " Rock Island Line " in
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6048-481: A slogan one only began to hear in 1972 or so, mobilized all those eager to believe that idealism had become passe, and once they were mobilized, it had. In popular music, embracing the '70s meant both an elitist withdrawal from the messy concert and counterculture scene and a profiteering pursuit of the lowest common denominator in FM radio and album rock . Rock saw greater commodification during this decade, turning into
6237-829: A stark-sounding album devoid of any Wall of Sound extravagance. Through Harrison, he also produced the debut single by Derek and the Dominos , " Tell the Truth ", but the band disliked the sound and had the record withdrawn. Spector was made head of A&R for Apple Records . He held the post for only a year, during which he co-produced Lennon's 1971 single " Power to the People " (number 11) and his chart-topping album Imagine . The album's title track hit number 3. With Harrison, Spector co-produced Harrison's " Bangla Desh " (number 23)—rock's first charity single —and wife Ronnie Spector's " Try Some, Buy Some " (number 77). The latter
6426-483: A symphonic ambience, although his health issues meant that after recording the basic tracks, he was absent from the project until the mixing stage. Rolling Stone ' s reviewer lauded the album's sound, calling it " Wagnerian , Brucknerian , the music of mountain tops and vast horizons". The triple LP yielded two major hits: " My Sweet Lord " (number 1) and " What Is Life " (number 10). That same year, Spector co-produced Lennon's Plastic Ono Band (number 6),
6615-517: A talent show at Fairfax High. He joined a loose-knit community of aspiring musicians, including Lou Adler , Bruce Johnston , Steve Douglas , and Sandy Nelson . Spector formed a group, the Teddy Bears , with Nelson and three other friends, Marshall Leib , Harvey Goldstein and Annette Kleinbard . During this period, record producer Stan Ross—co-owner of Gold Star Studios in Hollywood —began to tutor Spector in record production and exerted
6804-464: A variety of directions, including Dylan and the Byrds, who began to develop country rock . However, the hybridization of folk and rock has been seen as having a major influence on the development of rock music, bringing in elements of psychedelia, and helping to develop the ideas of the singer-songwriter, the protest song, and concepts of "authenticity". Psychedelic music's LSD -inspired vibe began in
6993-529: A variety of sources such as the Tin Pan Alley pop tradition, folk music , and rhythm and blues . Christgau characterizes rock lyrics as a "cool medium" with simple diction and repeated refrains, and asserts that rock's primary "function" "pertains to music, or, more generally, noise ." The predominance of white, male, and often middle class musicians in rock music has often been noted, and rock has been seen as an appropriation of Black musical forms for
7182-633: A visit to Spector's mansion for an interview for the Lennon tribute film Strawberry Fields , Hargo played Spector the song and asked him to produce it. On March 19, 2007, Spector's murder trial began. Presiding Judge Larry Paul Fidler allowed the proceedings in Los Angeles Superior Court to be televised. On September 26, Fidler declared a mistrial because of a hung jury (ten to two for conviction). Released in December 2007,
7371-501: A young, white and largely male audience. As a result, it has also been seen to articulate the concerns of this group in both style and lyrics. Christgau, writing in 1972, said in spite of some exceptions, "rock and roll usually implies an identification of male sexuality and aggression". Since the term "rock" started being used in preference to "rock and roll" from the late-1960s, it has usually been contrasted with pop music, with which it has shared many characteristics, but from which it
7560-499: Is a complete record of the band's appearances on UK radio programs from 1982 to 1996, with rare and unreleased material included. In 2000 4AD released Stars and Topsoil , a compilation chosen by the band members that had been released during their years with 4AD; all recordings had been digitally remastered by Guthrie. In 2003 4AD released digitally remastered versions of the first six Cocteau Twins LPs . In January 2005 Cocteau Twins announced that they would be reforming to perform at
7749-532: Is characterized for its diffusion of tone colors and dense orchestral sound, which he described as a " Wagnerian " approach to rock and roll . He is widely regarded as one of the most influential figures in pop music history and one of the most successful producers of the 1960s. Born in the Bronx , Spector moved to Los Angeles as a teenager and began his career in 1958, as a founding member of The Teddy Bears , for whom he penned, " To Know Him Is to Love Him ",
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7938-540: Is credited with first using the phrase "rock and roll" to describe the music. Four years later, Bill Haley 's " Rock Around the Clock " (1954) became the first rock and roll song to top Billboard magazine's main sales and airplay charts, and opened the door worldwide for this new wave of popular culture. Other artists with early rock and roll hits included Chuck Berry , Bo Diddley , Fats Domino , Little Richard , Jerry Lee Lewis , and Gene Vincent . Soon rock and roll
8127-423: Is far more interested in the way the guitar is recorded than in the actual notes being played; he later said that his reliance on effects and layering was initially due to his own technical limitations). Guthrie has cited Phil Spector 's wall of sound as "an obvious influence" on his sound. In 1983 the band participated in 4AD's This Mortal Coil project, which spawned a cover version of Tim Buckley 's " Song to
8316-472: Is generally agreed that garage rock peaked both commercially and artistically around 1966. By 1968 the style largely disappeared from the national charts and at the local level as amateur musicians faced college, work or the draft . New styles had evolved to replace garage rock. Although the first impact of the British Invasion on American popular music was through beat and R&B based acts,
8505-555: Is in the music of Chuck Berry , the Ramones , and the Replacements . The foundations of rock music are in rock and roll, which originated in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s, and quickly spread to much of the rest of the world. Its immediate origins lay in a melding of various black musical genres of the time, including rhythm and blues and gospel music , with country and western . Debate surrounds
8694-411: Is often distanced by an emphasis on musicianship, live performance, and a focus on serious and progressive themes as part of an ideology of authenticity that is frequently combined with an awareness of the genre's history and development. According to Simon Frith , rock was "something more than pop, something more than rock and roll" and "[r]ock musicians combined an emphasis on skill and technique with
8883-428: Is perceptible in many if not all of Spector's recordings, from the percussion in many of his hit songs: shakers, güiros ( gourds ), and maracas in "Be My Baby" and the son montuno in "You've Lost That Lovin' Feeling" (heard clearly in the song's bridge, played by session bassist Carol Kaye , while the same repeating refrain is played on harpsichord by Larry Knechtel ). Spector's trademark during his recording career
9072-399: Is termed as a rock band or a rock group. Furthermore, it typically consists of between three (the power trio ) and five members. Classically, a rock band takes the form of a quartet whose members cover one or more roles, including vocalist, lead guitarist, rhythm guitarist, bass guitarist, drummer, and often keyboard player or another instrumentalist. Rock music is traditionally built on
9261-469: Is the Band." Phil Spector Harvey Phillip Spector (December 26, 1939 – January 16, 2021) was an American record producer , songwriter , and convicted murderer. He is best known for his innovative recording practices and entrepreneurship in the 1960s along with his two trials and conviction for the murder of Lana Clarkson in the 2000s. Spector developed the Wall of Sound , a production style that
9450-535: The Billboard Hot 100 . The British Invasion greatly influenced garage bands, providing them with a national audience, leading many (often surf or hot rod groups) to adopt a British influence, and encouraging many more groups to form. Thousands of garage bands were extant in the United States and Canada during the era and hundreds produced regional hits. Despite scores of bands being signed to major or large regional labels, most were commercial failures. It
9639-524: The American folk music revival had grown to a major movement, using traditional music and new compositions in a traditional style, usually on acoustic instruments. In America the genre was pioneered by figures such as Woody Guthrie and Pete Seeger and often identified with progressive or labor politics . In the early sixties figures such as Joan Baez and Bob Dylan had come to the fore in this movement as singer-songwriters. Dylan had begun to reach
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#17327733905109828-484: The B-side of which was "Tired of Trying", written by DuShon. In 1962, Spector briefly took a job as an A&R producer for Liberty Records. It was while working at Liberty that he heard a song written by Gene Pitney , for whom he had produced a number 41 hit, "Every Breath I Take", a year earlier. " He's a Rebel " was due to be released on Liberty by Vikki Carr , but Spector rushed into Gold Star Studios and recorded
10017-496: The Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival on 30 April, and later indicated that additional tour dates would be added. On 16 March, the reunion was cancelled after Fraser announced that she would not take part. In a 2009 interview Fraser said she could not go through the pain of sharing the stage with her former lover Guthrie, the issue behind the band's 1997 breakup. Raymonde revealed that the band had also booked
10206-1061: The Mercury Prize nominated album The End of History by Fionn Regan . In his role running Bella Union, he has discovered such artists as Laura Veirs , Fleet Foxes , Midlake , Lift to Experience , the Low Anthem , I Break Horses , the Czars and John Grant . Raymonde picked up the Independent Record Company of the Year award at the Music Week Awards (as voted by UK independent retailers) in 2010, 2012 and 2014. Guthrie has released six solo albums – Imperial , Continental , Carousel , Emeralds , Fortune , and Pearldiving – and eight EPs. He toured extensively with his band Violet Indiana, which included ex-Cocteau Twins guitarist Mitsuo Tate. He has also scored
10395-673: The Q Awards Inspiration Award, which they accepted in a rare collective live appearance. In 2022 Fraser, Guthrie and Raymonde were awarded with the Visionary Award by The Ivors Academy . Fraser and Guthrie attended the award ceremony in London in May 2022. The former members of Cocteau Twins have remained active musically in the years since the band's demise. In addition to forming Bella Union, Guthrie and Raymonde have produced releases from new bands signed to that label. Raymonde released
10584-540: The UK Indie Chart . Raymonde, who was called in to work on the second album by This Mortal Coil, did not participate in the recording of the fourth Cocteau Twins LP, Victorialand (1986), a predominantly acoustic record which featured only Guthrie and Fraser. Raymonde returned to the group for The Moon and the Melodies (1986), a collaboration with ambient composer Harold Budd , which was not released under
10773-669: The Warner-Spector label with Warner Bros. Records , which undertook new Spector-produced recordings with Cher , Darlene Love, Danny Potter, and Jerri Bo Keno, in addition to several reissues. A similar relationship with Britain's Polydor Records led to the formation of the Phil Spector International label in 1975. When the Cher and Keno singles (the latter's recordings were only issued in Germany) foundered on
10962-422: The garage rock / post-punk revival in the 2000s. Since the 2010s, rock has lost its position as the pre-eminent popular music genre in world culture, but remains commercially successful. The increased influence of hip-hop and electronic dance music can be seen in rock music, notably in the techno-pop scene of the early 2010s and the pop-punk-hip-hop revival of the 2020s. Rock has also embodied and served as
11151-417: The protest song , rock music has been associated with political activism , as well as changes in social attitudes to race, sex, and drug use, and is often seen as an expression of youth revolt against adult consumerism and conformity . At the same time, it has been commercially highly successful, leading to accusations of selling out . A good definition of rock, in fact, is that it's popular music that to
11340-454: The 1950s saw the growth in popularity of the electric guitar, and the development of a specifically rock and roll style of playing through such exponents as Chuck Berry, Link Wray , and Scotty Moore . The use of distortion , pioneered by Western swing guitarists such as Junior Barnard and Eldon Shamblin was popularized by Chuck Berry in the mid-1950s. The use of power chords , pioneered by Francisco Tárrega and Heitor Villa-Lobos in
11529-401: The 1970s progressed, Spector became increasingly reclusive. The most probable and significant reason for his withdrawal, according to biographer Dave Thompson , was that in 1974 he was seriously injured when he was thrown through the windshield of his car in a crash in Hollywood . Spector was almost killed, and it was only because the attending police officer detected a faint pulse that Spector
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#173277339051011718-480: The 1980s alternative subgenre of dream pop and helped define what would become shoegaze . In 1982, the band signed with the record label 4AD and released their debut album Garlands . The addition of Raymonde in 1983 solidified their best-known lineup, which soon produced the No. 29 UK hit " Pearly-Dewdrops' Drops ", their highest-charting UK single. The trio crystallised their "swelling, euphoric" dream pop style on
11907-493: The 1980s, 1990s, and early 2000s. In early 1981, shortly after the death of John Lennon, he temporarily re-emerged to co-produce Yoko Ono 's Season of Glass . In 1989, Tina Turner inducted Spector into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a non-performer. Rolling Stone reported, "Spector hit the stage bopping madly to the strains of the Ronettes' "Be My Baby", flanked by three beefy bodyguards who practically elbowed Tina out of
12096-452: The 1984 album Treasure , which became the band's first UK Top 40 album. In 1988, Cocteau Twins signed with Capitol Records in the United States, distributing their fifth album Blue Bell Knoll through a major label in the country. After the 1990 release of their most commercially successful album, Heaven or Las Vegas , the band left 4AD for Fontana Records , where they released their final two albums. After nearly 20 years together,
12285-467: The 19th century and later on by Willie Johnson and Pat Hare in the early 1950s, was popularized by Link Wray in the late 1950s. Commentators have traditionally perceived a decline of rock and roll in the late 1950s and early 1960s. By 1959, the death of Buddy Holly, the Big Bopper and Ritchie Valens in a plane crash, the departure of Elvis for the army, the retirement of Little Richard to become
12474-832: The B-side of "Hung on You"), and " Ebb Tide " (number 5). Despite having hits, he lost interest in producing the Righteous Brothers and sold their contract and all their master recordings to Verve Records . However, the sound of the Righteous Brothers' singles was so distinctive that the act chose to replicate it after leaving Spector, notching a second number 1 hit in 1966 with the Bill Medley –produced " (You're My) Soul and Inspiration ". During this period, Spector formed another subsidiary label, Phi-Dan Records , partly created to keep promoter Danny Davis occupied. The label released singles by artists including Betty Willis ,
12663-477: The Banshees , Ultravox , and Simple Minds , showed the influence of progressive rock, as well as their more usually recognized punk influences. In the late 1960s, jazz-rock emerged as a distinct subgenre out of the blues-rock, psychedelic, and progressive rock scenes, mixing the power of rock with the musical complexity and improvisational elements of jazz. AllMusic states that the term jazz-rock "may refer to
12852-582: The Beatles' abandoned Let It Be recording sessions into a usable album. He went to work using many of his production techniques, making significant changes to the arrangements and sound of some songs. Released a month after the Beatles' break-up, the album topped the U.S. and UK charts. It also yielded the number 1 U.S. single " The Long and Winding Road ". Spector's overdubbing of "The Long and Winding Road" infuriated its composer, Paul McCartney . In addition to McCartney, several music critics also criticized Spector's work on Let It Be . Spector claimed this
13041-572: The Beatles, demonstrating "to the rock generation in general that an album could be a major standalone statement without hit singles", such as on The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan (1963). Folk rock particularly took off in California, where it led acts like the Mamas & the Papas and Crosby, Stills, and Nash to move to electric instrumentation, and in New York, where it spawned performers including
13230-469: The Blossoms), and Bobby Sheen, a singer he had worked with at Liberty. The group had hits with " Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah " (number 8), " Why Do Lovers Break Each Other's Heart " (number 38), and " Not Too Young to Get Married " (number 63). Spector also released solo material by Darlene Love in 1963. In the same year, he released " Be My Baby " by the Ronettes , which went to number 2. The first time Spector put
13419-617: The Byrds ' shift from folk to folk rock from 1965. The psychedelic lifestyle, which revolved around hallucinogenic drugs, had already developed in San Francisco and particularly prominent products of the scene were Big Brother and the Holding Company , the Grateful Dead and Jefferson Airplane . The Jimi Hendrix Experience 's lead guitarist, Jimi Hendrix did extended distorted, feedback-filled jams which became
13608-431: The Byrds adopted rock instrumentation, including drums and 12-string Rickenbacker guitars, which became a major element in the sound of the genre. Later that year Dylan adopted electric instruments, much to the outrage of many folk purists, with his " Like a Rolling Stone " becoming a US hit single. According to Ritchie Unterberger , Dylan (even before his adoption of electric instruments) influenced rock musicians like
13797-477: The Cocteau Twins name, instead being credited to all four participating musicians alphabetically. In 1985 4AD signed an agreement with Relativity Records for distribution of Cocteau Twins releases in the US and other territories. To commemorate the event, the compilation The Pink Opaque (1985) was released as a way of introducing the new, broader audience to the band's back catalogue. While remaining
13986-539: The Dominos , followed by an extensive solo career that helped bring blues rock into the mainstream. Green, along with the Bluesbreaker's rhythm section Mick Fleetwood and John McVie , formed Peter Green's Fleetwood Mac , who enjoyed some of the greatest commercial success in the genre. In the late 1960s Jeff Beck , also an alumnus of the Yardbirds, moved blues rock in the direction of heavy rock with his band,
14175-846: The Drifters ' song " On Broadway ". Spector's first true recording artist and project as producer was Ronnie Crawford. Spector's production work during this time included releases by LaVern Baker , Ruth Brown , and Billy Storm, as well as the Top Notes' original recording of " Twist and Shout ". Leiber and Stoller recommended Spector to produce Ray Peterson 's " Corrine, Corrina ", which reached number 9 in January 1961. Later, he produced another major hit for Curtis Lee , "Pretty Little Angel Eyes", which made it to number 7. Returning to Hollywood, Spector agreed to produce one of Sill's acts. After both Liberty Records and Capitol Records turned down
14364-652: The Ducanes, the Creations, and the Crystals . The first two signed with other companies, but Spector managed to secure the Crystals for his new label. Their first single, " There's No Other (Like My Baby) " was a success, hitting number 20. Their next release, "Uptown", made it to number 13. Spector continued to work freelance with other artists. In 1962, he produced "Second Hand Love" by Connie Francis , which reached No. 7. Ahmet Ertegun of Atlantic paired Spector with future Broadway star Jean DuShon for "Talk to Me",
14553-507: The Gates of Dawn . Key recordings included Jefferson Airplane's Surrealistic Pillow and the Doors ' self-titled debut album . These trends peaked in the 1969 Woodstock festival , which saw performances by most of the major psychedelic acts. Sgt. Pepper was later regarded as the greatest album of all time and a starting point for the album era , during which rock music transitioned from
14742-506: The Hot 100 with " Black Pearl ", by Sonny Charles and the Checkmates, Ltd. , which reached number 13. In early 1970, Allen Klein , the new manager of the Beatles , brought Spector to England. After impressing with his production of John Lennon 's solo single " Instant Karma! ", which went to number 3, Spector was invited by Lennon and George Harrison to take on the task of turning
14931-471: The Jeff Beck Group . The last Yardbirds guitarist was Jimmy Page , who went on to form The New Yardbirds which rapidly became Led Zeppelin . Many of the songs on their first three albums, and occasionally later in their careers, were expansions on traditional blues songs. In America, blues rock had been pioneered in the early 1960s by guitarist Lonnie Mack , but the genre began to take off in
15120-506: The Joint " (1949), also covered by Bill Haley & His Comets in 1952; and " Rocket 88 " by Jackie Brenston and his Delta Cats (in fact, Ike Turner and his band the Kings of Rhythm ), recorded by Sam Phillips for Chess Records in 1951. In 1951, Cleveland, Ohio disc jockey Alan Freed began playing rhythm and blues music (then termed " race music ") for a multi-racial audience, and
15309-533: The Lovelites , and the Ikettes . None of the recordings on Phi-Dan were produced by Spector. The recording of " Unchained Melody ", credited on some releases as a Spector production although Medley has consistently said he produced it originally as an album track, had a second wave of popularity 25 years after its initial release, when it was featured prominently in the 1990 hit movie Ghost . A re-release of
15498-503: The Lovin' Spoonful and Simon and Garfunkel , with the latter's acoustic " The Sounds of Silence " (1965) being remixed with rock instruments to be the first of many hits. These acts directly influenced British performers like Donovan and Fairport Convention . In 1969 Fairport Convention abandoned their mixture of American covers and Dylan-influenced songs to play traditional English folk music on electric instruments. This British folk-rock
15687-476: The Rolling Stones and the Yardbirds , were much more directly influenced by rhythm and blues and later blues music. Soon these groups were composing their own material, combining US forms of music and infusing it with a high energy beat. Beat bands tended towards "bouncy, irresistible melodies", while early British blues acts tended towards less sexually innocent, more aggressive songs, often adopting an anti-establishment stance. There was, however, particularly in
15876-588: The Searchers from Liverpool and Freddie and the Dreamers , Herman's Hermits and the Hollies from Manchester. They drew on a wide range of American influences including 1950s rock and roll, soul, rhythm and blues, and surf music, initially reinterpreting standard American tunes and playing for dancers. Bands like the Animals from Newcastle and Them from Belfast , and particularly those from London like
16065-672: The Seeds ) to near-studio musician quality (including the Knickerbockers , the Remains , and the Fifth Estate ). There were also regional variations in many parts of the country with flourishing scenes particularly in California and Texas. The Pacific Northwest states of Washington and Oregon had perhaps the most defined regional sound. The style had been evolving from regional scenes as early as 1958. "Tall Cool One" (1959) by
16254-576: The Siren " (performed by Guthrie and Fraser). Despite appearing under the This Mortal Coil name, the cover has subsequently become one of the best-known Cocteau Twins tracks. During the TMC sessions, Guthrie and Fraser became acquainted with another project contributor, multi-instrumentalist Simon Raymonde (formerly a member of Drowning Craze ), who joined Cocteau Twins later that year. With Raymonde,
16443-676: The US was becoming dominated by lightweight pop and ballads, British rock groups at clubs and local dances were developing a style more strongly influenced by blues-rock pioneers, and were starting to play with an intensity and drive seldom found in white American acts; this influence would go on to shape the future of rock music through the British Invasion . The first four years of the 1960s has traditionally been seen as an era of hiatus for rock and roll. More recently some authors have emphasised important innovations and trends in this period without which future developments would not have been possible. While early rock and roll, particularly through
16632-619: The USSR and South Africa from 1955 to 1957, influencing the globalisation of rock. Johnny O'Keefe 's 1958 record " Wild One " was one of the earliest Australian rock and roll hits. By the late 1950s, as well as in the American-influenced Western world, rock was popular in communist states such as Yugoslavia, and the USSR, as well as in regions such as South America. In the late 1950s and early 1960s, American blues music and blues rock artists, who had been surpassed by
16821-494: The United States. The record, which actually featured Tina Turner without Ike Turner , was successful in Britain, reaching number 3. Spector released another single by Ike & Tina Turner, " I'll Never Need More Than This ", while negotiating a deal to move Philles to A&M Records in 1967. The deal did not materialize, and Spector subsequently lost enthusiasm for his label and the recording industry. Already something of
17010-751: The Wailers and " Louie Louie " by the Kingsmen (1963) are mainstream examples of the genre in its formative stages. By 1963, garage band singles were creeping into the national charts in greater numbers, including Paul Revere and the Raiders (Boise), the Trashmen (Minneapolis) and the Rivieras (South Bend, Indiana). Other influential garage bands, such as the Sonics (Tacoma, Washington), never reached
17199-523: The Weeknd , Napalm Death , John Grant , and Prince . Rock music Rock is a broad genre of popular music that originated as " rock and roll " in the United States in the late 1940s and early 1950s, developing into a range of different styles from the mid-1960s, particularly in the United States and the United Kingdom. It has its roots in rock and roll, a style that drew directly from
17388-527: The advent of rockabilly, saw the greatest commercial success for male and white performers, in this era, the genre was dominated by black and female artists. Rock and roll had not disappeared entirely from music at the end of the 1950s and some of its energy can be seen in the various dance crazes of the early 1960s, started by Chubby Checker 's record " The Twist " (1960). Some music historians have also pointed to important and innovative technical developments that built on rock and roll in this period, including
17577-549: The album ahead of the single as the dominant form of recorded music expression and consumption, with the Beatles at the forefront of this development. Their contributions lent the genre a cultural legitimacy in the mainstream and initiated a rock-informed album era in the music industry for the next several decades. By the late 1960s " classic rock " period, a few distinct rock music subgenres had emerged, including hybrids like blues rock , folk rock , country rock , Southern rock , raga rock , and jazz rock , which contributed to
17766-560: The album reached number seven in the UK Albums Chart immediately after its release. Despite the success of the record and the subsequent concert tours, not everything was well with the band. They parted ways with 4AD following Heaven or Las Vegas partly because of conflicts with the label's founder Ivo Watts-Russell , and were close to breaking up over internal problems due in large part to Guthrie's substance abuse. While on their international tour supporting Heaven or Las Vegas ,
17955-676: The albums Bordeaux , Winter Garden (a collaboration that included Italian electronica artist Eraldo Bernocchi ), and Another Flower , which was released after Budd's death in 2020. In 2006 Guthrie produced three songs on Mahogany 's Connectivity . He also produced and played guitar on Apollo Heights debut album, White Music for Black People . Fraser provided guest vocals on the Future Sound of London 's single " Lifeforms " (1993), vocals for three songs on Massive Attack 's Mezzanine in 1998 (as well as touring with them several times), and for other musical projects and groups. She wrote
18144-474: The band in 1979. They met the 17-year-old Fraser in 1981 at a local disco, The Hotel International, where Guthrie was DJing , and she became the group's vocalist. Prior to releasing their debut album, the band recorded a four track session for John Peel in June 1982, including "Wax and Wane" and "Garlands". Their debut LP Garlands , released through 4AD in July 1982, was a sales success, peaking at number 14 in
18333-556: The band released a second EP, Peppermint Pig . A European tour supporting Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark followed, but after a gig in Hamburg the band left the tour and parted ways with bassist Will Heggie, leaving Guthrie and Fraser unsure how they would continue. The pair returned to Scotland, settling to re-think their whole approach and write new songs for an album. Cocteau Twins' sound on their first three recordings relied on
18522-519: The band released a series of albums and EPs that explored their new style. These included The Spangle Maker (1984), Treasure (1984), Aikea-Guinea (1985), Tiny Dynamine (1985), Echoes in a Shallow Bay (1985), and Love's Easy Tears (1986). From The Spangle Maker , " Pearly Dewdrops Drops " was a hit single, reaching no. 29 on the UK Singles Chart in April 1984 and No. 1 on
18711-440: The best known and most successful Ramones singles, such as " Rock 'n' Roll High School ", " Do You Remember Rock 'n' Roll Radio? ", and their cover of a previously released Spector song for the Ronettes, " Baby, I Love You ". Guitarist Johnny Ramone later commented on working with Spector on the recording of the album, "It really worked when he got to a slower song like " Danny Says "—the production really worked tremendously. For
18900-585: The biggest selling rock band of all time and they were followed into the US charts by numerous British bands. During the next two years British acts dominated their own and the US charts with Peter and Gordon , the Animals, Manfred Mann , Petula Clark , Freddie and the Dreamers, Wayne Fontana and the Mindbenders , Herman's Hermits, the Rolling Stones, the Troggs , and Donovan all having one or more number one singles. Other major acts that were part of
19089-575: The bill were the Righteous Brothers . Spector, who was conducting the band for all the acts, was so impressed with Bill Medley and Bobby Hatfield that he bought their contract from Moonglow Records and signed them to Philles. In early 1965, " You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin' " became the label's second number 1 single. Three more major hits with the duo followed: " Just Once in My Life " (number 9), " Unchained Melody " (number 4, originally
19278-461: The chart. Their first appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show on 9 February 1964, drawing an estimated 73 million viewers (at the time a record for an American television program) is considered a milestone in American pop culture. During the week of 4 April 1964, the Beatles held 12 positions on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart, including the entire top five. The Beatles went on to become
19467-432: The charts, Spector released Dion DiMucci 's Born to Be with You to little commercial fanfare in 1975; largely produced and recorded by Spector in 1974, it was subsequently disowned by the singer. In the 1990s and 2000s, the album enjoyed a resurgence among the indie rock cognoscenti. Spector began to reemerge later in the decade, producing and co-writing a controversial 1977 album by Leonard Cohen , titled Death of
19656-511: The combination of Heggie's rhythmic basslines, Guthrie's minimalist guitar melodies, and Fraser's voice. The band's next full-length LP record , Head over Heels , relied solely on the latter two, following Heggie's departure (he would later join Lowlife ). This led to the characteristic Cocteau Twins sound: Fraser's voice, by turns ethereal and operatic, combined with increasingly effects-heavy guitar playing by Guthrie (who has often said that he
19845-497: The court case proceedings shown try to give further explanation of the facts surrounding the murder charges leveled against him. He also 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. The retrial of Spector for murder in
20034-424: The delights and limitations of the regional , and to deal with the depredations and benefits of mass culture itself. — Robert Christgau in Christgau's Record Guide (1981) Unlike many earlier styles of popular music, rock lyrics have dealt with a wide range of themes, including romantic love, sex, rebellion against " The Establishment ", social concerns, and life styles. These themes were inherited from
20223-443: The development of psychedelic rock , influenced by the countercultural psychedelic and hippie scene . New genres that emerged included progressive rock , which extended artistic elements, heavy metal , which emphasized an aggressive thick sound, and glam rock , which highlighted showmanship and visual style. In the second half of the 1970s, punk rock reacted by producing stripped-down, energetic social and political critiques. Punk
20412-455: The early 1970s among existing blues-rock and psychedelic bands, as well as newly formed acts. The vibrant Canterbury scene saw acts following Soft Machine from psychedelia, through jazz influences, toward more expansive hard rock, including Caravan , Hatfield and the North , Gong , and National Health . The French group Magma around drummer Christian Vander almost single-handedly created
20601-460: The early 1970s, Robert Christgau wrote in Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies (1981): The decade is, of course, an arbitrary schema itself—time doesn't just execute a neat turn toward the future every ten years. But like a lot of artificial concepts—money, say—the category does take on a reality of its own once people figure out how to put it to work. "The '60s are over,"
20790-409: The early 1970s, Spector produced the Beatles ' Let It Be and several solo records by John Lennon and George Harrison . By the mid-1970s, Spector had produced eighteen U.S. Top 10 singles for various artists. His chart-toppers included the Righteous Brothers ' " You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin' ", the Beatles' " The Long and Winding Road ", and Harrison's " My Sweet Lord ". Spector helped establish
20979-407: The early stages, considerable musical crossover between the two tendencies. By 1963, led by the Beatles, beat groups had begun to achieve national success in Britain, soon to be followed into the charts by the more rhythm and blues focused acts. " I Want to Hold Your Hand " was the Beatles' first number one hit on the Billboard Hot 100 , spending seven weeks at the top and a total of 15 weeks on
21168-469: The electronic treatment of sound by such innovators as Joe Meek , and the elaborate production methods of the Wall of Sound pursued by Phil Spector . The instrumental rock and roll of performers such as Duane Eddy , Link Wray and the Ventures was further developed by Dick Dale , who added distinctive "wet" reverb , rapid alternate picking, and Middle Eastern and Mexican influences. He produced
21357-675: The entire album, but was fired owing to personal and creative differences. One of the two Spector-produced songs on the album, the title track , was a UK top 10 single (the other single being "White Dove"). On February 3, 2003, Spector shot actress Lana Clarkson in the mouth while in his mansion (the Pyrenees Castle) in Alhambra, California . Her body was found slumped in a chair with a single gunshot wound to her mouth. Spector told Esquire in July ;2003 that Clarkson's death
21546-581: The example set by the Beatles ' 1965 LP Rubber Soul in particular, other British rock acts released rock albums intended as artistic statements in 1966, including the Rolling Stones ' Aftermath , the Beatles' own Revolver , and the Who 's A Quick One , as well as American acts in the Beach Boys ( Pet Sounds ) and Bob Dylan ( Blonde on Blonde ). Garage rock was a raw form of rock music, particularly prevalent in North America in
21735-498: The first record, and worldwide hit, for the Virgin Records label, which became a mainstay of the genre. Instrumental rock was particularly significant in continental Europe, allowing bands like Kraftwerk , Tangerine Dream , Can , Focus (band) and Faust to circumvent the language barrier. Their synthesiser-heavy " krautrock ", along with the work of Brian Eno (for a time the keyboard player with Roxy Music ), would be
21924-454: The first time, but were characterized by substance abuse and chaotic arrangements. Amid the party atmosphere, Spector brandished his handguns and at one point fired a shot while Lennon was recording. In December, Lennon and Spector abandoned the collaboration. Since the studio time had been booked by his production company, Spector withheld the tapes until June the following year, when Lennon reimbursed him through Capitol Records . As
22113-455: The folk scene. The first group to advertise themselves as psychedelic rock were the 13th Floor Elevators from Texas. The Beatles introduced many of the major elements of the psychedelic sound to audiences in this period, such as guitar feedback , the Indian sitar and backmasking sound effects . Psychedelic rock particularly took off in California's emerging music scene as groups followed
22302-513: The format of rock operas and opened the door to concept albums , often telling an epic story or tackling a grand overarching theme. King Crimson 's 1969 début album, In the Court of the Crimson King , which mixed powerful guitar riffs and mellotron , with jazz and symphonic music , is often taken as the key recording in progressive rock, helping the widespread adoption of the genre in
22491-484: The funeral of Ike Turner . In his eulogy, Spector criticized Tina Turner's autobiography—and its subsequent promotion by Oprah Winfrey —as a "badly written" book that "demonized and vilified Ike". Spector commented that "Ike made Tina the jewel she was. When I went to see Ike play at the Cinegrill in the '90s ... there were at least five Tina Turners on the stage performing that night, and any one of them could have been
22680-400: The genres of blues , rhythm and blues , and country music . Rock also drew strongly from genres such as electric blues and folk , and incorporated influences from jazz and other musical styles. For instrumentation, rock is centered on the electric guitar , usually as part of a rock group with electric bass guitar , drums , and one or more singers. Usually, rock is song-based music with
22869-486: The group disbanded in 1997 in part due to issues stemming from the disintegration of Fraser and Guthrie's romantic relationship. In 2005 the band announced that they would reunite to headline Coachella Festival and embark on a world tour but the reunion was cancelled a month later after Fraser "couldn’t bring herself to work with Guthrie". In a 2021 interview, Raymonde claimed that Cocteau Twins "will never reform". Guthrie and Heggie, both from Grangemouth , Scotland, formed
23058-453: The group signed a new recording contract with Mercury Records subsidiary Fontana for the UK and elsewhere, while retaining their US relationship with Capitol. They added several live musicians to their touring band during this era, to better replicate the layered sound of their studio albums. In 1991 4AD and Capitol released a box set that compiled the band's EPs from 1982 to 1990, and also included
23247-458: The group was not a proper recording act and did not contribute enough to music to merit an induction. The Ronettes were eventually inducted into the Hall, but not until 2007. He attempted to work with Céline Dion on her album Falling into You but fell out with her production team. His last released project was Silence Is Easy by Starsailor , in 2003. He was originally supposed to produce
23436-513: The harder stuff, it didn't work as well." Rumors circulated for years that Spector had threatened members of the Ramones with a gun during the sessions. Dee Dee Ramone claimed that Spector once pulled a gun on him when he tried to leave a session. Drummer Marky Ramone recalled in 2008, "They [guns] were there but he had a license to carry. He never held us hostage. We could have left at any time." Spector remained inactive throughout most of
23625-458: The impetus was soon taken up by a second wave of bands that drew their inspiration more directly from American blues , including the Rolling Stones and the Yardbirds . British blues musicians of the late 1950s and early 1960s had been inspired by the acoustic playing of figures such as Lead Belly , who was a major influence on the Skiffle craze, and Robert Johnson . Increasingly they adopted
23814-501: The indie albums chart in the UK. Sounds wrote that the style of the band was "mixing strong Siouxsie and the Banshees and Joy Division influences". NME ' s Don Watson compared it to gothic rock bands such as Gene Loves Jezebel and Xmal Deutschland , while Spin magazine's Sue Cummings compared it in 1986 to Siouxsie and the Banshees and Bauhaus . It was followed by the EP Lullabies in October. In April 1983
24003-467: The invasion included the Kinks and the Dave Clark Five . The British Invasion helped internationalize the production of rock and roll, opening the door for subsequent British (and Irish) performers to achieve international success. In America it arguably spelled the end of instrumental surf music, vocal girl groups and (for a time) the teen idols , that had dominated the American charts in
24192-517: The label were R&B oriented white rock bands that made use of jazzy horn sections, like Electric Flag , Blood, Sweat & Tears and Chicago , to become some of the most commercially successful acts of the later 1960s and the early 1970s. British acts to emerge in the same period from the blues scene, to make use of the tonal and improvisational aspects of jazz, included Nucleus and the Graham Bond and John Mayall spin-off Colosseum . From
24381-446: The late 1950s and 1960s. It dented the careers of established R&B acts like Fats Domino and Chubby Checker and even temporarily derailed the chart success of surviving rock and roll acts, including Elvis. The British Invasion also played a major part in the rise of a distinct genre of rock music, and cemented the primacy of the rock group, based on guitars and drums and producing their own material as singer-songwriters. Following
24570-554: 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 . The album won the "Album of the Year" award at the 1973 Grammys . Despite being recorded live, Spector used up to 44 microphones simultaneously to create his trademark Wall of Sound. Following Harrison's death in 2001, Spector said that
24759-410: The loudest, wildest, most electrified fusion bands from the jazz camp, but most often it describes performers coming from the rock side of the equation." Jazz-rock "...generally grew out of the most artistically ambitious rock subgenres of the late '60s and early '70s", including the singer-songwriter movement. Many early US rock and roll musicians had begun in jazz and carried some of these elements into
24948-592: The lyrics and sang the vocals for " Teardrop " by Massive Attack which was released as a single in 1998 and reached number 10 in the UK singles chart. Fraser provided the vocals for "Lament for Gandalf" on The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring soundtrack . In 2000 she sang with Peter Gabriel on Ovo (The Millennium Show) . In 2005 she worked with Breton musician Yann Tiersen on two songs for his album Les retrouvailles . In 2009 she released
25137-476: The many recordings which have been suggested as "the first rock and roll record ". Contenders include " Strange Things Happening Every Day " by Sister Rosetta Tharpe (1944); " That's All Right " by Arthur Crudup (1946), which was later covered by Elvis Presley in 1954; " The House of Blue Lights " by Ella Mae Morse and Freddie Slack (1946); Wynonie Harris ' " Good Rocking Tonight " (1948); Goree Carter 's "Rock Awhile" (1949); Jimmy Preston 's " Rock
25326-578: The master of "Be My Boy" by the Paris Sisters , Sill formed a new label, Gregmark Records , with Lee Hazlewood , and released it. It reached only number 56, but the follow-up, " I Love How You Love Me ", was a hit, reaching number 5. In late 1961, Spector formed a record company with Sill, who by this time had ended his business partnership with Hazlewood. Philles Records combined the first names of its two founders. Through Hill and Range Publishers, Spector found three groups he wanted to produce:
25515-674: The mid-1950s by white singers such as Carl Perkins , Jerry Lee Lewis, Buddy Holly and with the greatest commercial success, Elvis Presley . Hispanic and Latino American movements in rock and roll, which would eventually lead to the success of Latin rock and Chicano rock within the US, began to rise in the Southwest ; with rock and roll standard musician Ritchie Valens and even those within other heritage genres, such as Al Hurricane along with his brothers Tiny Morrie and Baby Gaby as they began combining rock and roll with country- western within traditional New Mexico music . In addition,
25704-609: The mid-1960s the Left Banke , the Beatles, the Rolling Stones and the Beach Boys, had pioneered the inclusion of harpsichords , wind , and string sections on their recordings to produce a form of Baroque rock and can be heard in singles like Procol Harum 's " A Whiter Shade of Pale " (1967), with its Bach -inspired introduction. The Moody Blues used a full orchestra on their album Days of Future Passed (1967) and subsequently created orchestral sounds with synthesizers. Classical orchestration, keyboards, and synthesizers were
25893-479: The mid-1960s and so called because of the perception that it was rehearsed in the suburban family garage. Garage rock songs often revolved around the traumas of high school life, with songs about "lying girls" and unfair social circumstances being particularly common. The lyrics and delivery tended to be more aggressive than was common at the time, often with growled or shouted vocals that dissolved into incoherent screaming. They ranged from crude one-chord music (like
26082-435: The mid-1960s as acts developed a sound similar to British blues musicians. Key acts included Paul Butterfield (whose band acted like Mayall's Bluesbreakers in Britain as a starting point for many successful musicians), Canned Heat , the early Jefferson Airplane , Janis Joplin , Johnny Winter , the J. Geils Band and Jimi Hendrix with his power trios , the Jimi Hendrix Experience (which included two British members, and
26271-401: The mid-1960s onwards, rock music often used the verse–chorus structure derived from blues and folk music, but there has been considerable variation from this model. Critics have stressed the eclecticism and stylistic diversity of rock. Because of its complex history and its tendency to borrow from other musical and cultural forms, it has been argued that "it is impossible to bind rock music to
26460-550: The most creative period of his career was when he worked with Lennon and Harrison in the early 1970s, and he believed that this was true of Lennon and Harrison also, despite their achievements with the Beatles. Lennon retained Spector for the 1971 Christmas single " Happy Xmas (War Is Over) " and the poorly reviewed 1972 album Some Time in New York City (number 48), both collaborations with Yoko Ono . In late 1972, Apple reissued Spector's A Christmas Gift for You from Philles Records (as Phil Spector's Christmas Album ), bringing
26649-521: The music for three movies — Gregg Araki 's Mysterious Skin (in collaboration with Harold Budd), Dany Saadia 's 3:19 Nada Es Casualidad (a Mexican/Spanish production), and again with Gregg Araki and Harold Budd on the score and the soundtrack of White Bird in a Blizzard . He reunited with Budd to collaborate on two companion albums, Before the Day Breaks and After the Night Falls , and
26838-465: The new music genre zeuhl with their first albums in the early 1970s. Greater commercial success was enjoyed by Pink Floyd, who also moved away from psychedelia after the departure of Syd Barrett in 1968, with The Dark Side of the Moon (1973), seen as a masterpiece of the genre, becoming one of the best-selling albums of all time. There was an emphasis on instrumental virtuosity, with Yes showcasing
27027-608: The new music. In Britain the subgenre of blues rock, and many of its leading figures, like Ginger Baker and Jack Bruce of the Eric Clapton -fronted band Cream , had emerged from the British jazz scene. Often highlighted as the first true jazz-rock recording is the only album by the relatively obscure New York–based the Free Spirits with Out of Sight and Sound (1966). The first group of bands to self-consciously use
27216-554: The project. Harrison recalled having to climb down into Spector's central London hotel room from the roof to get him to attend the sessions, and that his co-producer would then need "eighteen cherry brandies before he could get himself down to the studio". In late 1973, Spector produced the initial recording sessions for what became Lennon's 1975 covers album Rock 'n' Roll (number 6). The sessions were held in Los Angeles, with Lennon allowing Spector free rein as producer for
27405-471: The psychedelic rock and the Canterbury scenes came Soft Machine, who, it has been suggested, produced one of the artistically successfully fusions of the two genres. Perhaps the most critically acclaimed fusion came from the jazz side of the equation, with Miles Davis , particularly influenced by the work of Hendrix, incorporating rock instrumentation into his sound for the album Bitches Brew (1970). It
27594-595: The real Tina Turner." In mid-April 2008, BBC Two broadcast a special titled Phil Spector: The Agony and the Ecstasy , by Vikram Jayanti . It consists of Spector's first screen interview—breaking a long period of media silence. During the conversation, images from the murder court case are juxtaposed with live appearances of his tracks on television programs from the 1960s and 1970s, along with subtitles giving critical interpretations of some of his song production values. While he does not directly try to clear his name,
27783-512: The recordings the commercial success and critical recognition that had originally eluded the 1963 release. Lennon and Ono's "Happy Xmas" single similarly stalled in sales upon its initial release, but later became a fixture on radio station playlists around Christmas. Harrison and Spector started work on Harrison's Living in the Material World album in October 1972, but Spector's unreliability soon led to Harrison dismissing him from
27972-653: The regional hit " Let's Go Trippin ' " in 1961 and launched the surf music craze, following up with songs like " Misirlou " (1962). Like Dale and his Del-Tones , most early surf bands were formed in Southern California, including the Bel-Airs , the Challengers , and Eddie & the Showmen . The Chantays scored a top ten national hit with " Pipeline " in 1963 and probably the best-known surf tune
28161-516: The release of two new EPs: Twinlights and Otherness . Some of the tracks on Twinlights and Otherness were versions of songs from the band's eighth album, Milk & Kisses (1996). The record saw the return of more heavily layered guitars, and Fraser began once again to obscure her lyrics, though not entirely. Two singles were taken from the album: " Tishbite " and " Violaine "; both exist in two CD versions, with different B-sides included on each. The band, augmented by an extra guitarist and
28350-574: The result is "grotesque", but also "semi-virtuous"—for many years, he included a reworked version of the track "Memories" in live concerts. Bob Dylan and Allen Ginsberg also participated in the background vocals on "Don't Go Home with Your Hard-On". Spector also produced the much-publicized Ramones album End of the Century in 1979. As with his work with Leonard Cohen, End of the Century received criticism from Ramones fans who were angered over its radio-friendly sound. However, it contains some of
28539-400: The rise of rock and roll in the US, found new popularity in the UK, visiting with successful tours. Lonnie Donegan 's 1955 hit " Rock Island Line " was a major influence and helped to develop the trend of skiffle music groups throughout the country, many of which, including John Lennon 's Quarrymen (later the Beatles ), moved on to play rock and roll. While former rock and roll market in
28728-528: The role of the studio as an instrument , the integration of pop art aesthetics into music ( art pop ), and the genres of art rock and dream pop . His 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 . In 2004, Spector
28917-475: The romantic concept of art as artistic expression, original and sincere". In the new millennium, the term rock has occasionally been used as a blanket term including forms like pop music, reggae music , soul music , and even hip hop , which it has been influenced with but often contrasted through much of its history. Christgau has used the term broadly to refer to popular and semipopular music that caters to his sensibility as "a rock-and-roller", including
29106-545: 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. A Christmas Gift for You from Philles Records was released a few days after the assassination of President Kennedy in November 1963. On September 28, 1963, the Ronettes appeared at the Cow Palace , near San Francisco. Also on
29295-522: The same era, and by percussion produced from a drum kit that combines drums and cymbals. This trio of instruments has often been complemented by the inclusion of other instruments, particularly keyboards such as the piano, the Hammond organ , and the synthesizer. The basic rock instrumentation was derived from the basic blues band instrumentation (prominent lead guitar, second chordal instrument, bass, and drums). A group of musicians performing rock music
29484-418: The second degree began on October 20, 2008, with Judge Fidler again presiding; the retrial was not televised. Spector was once again represented by attorney Jennifer Lee Barringer. The case went to the jury on March 26, 2009, and 18 days later, on April 13, the jury returned a guilty verdict. Additionally, Spector was found guilty of using a firearm in the commission of a crime, which added four years to
29673-402: The sentence. He was immediately taken into custody and, on May 29, 2009, was sentenced to 19 years to life in the California state prison system . Various attempted appeals were unsuccessful, in 2011, 2012, and 2016. Spector died in a prison hospital in January 2021. Spector's early musical influences included Latin music in general, and Latin percussion in particular. This
29862-399: The single "Moses" on Rough Trade . Cocteau Twins' early recordings were classified in the gothic rock and post-punk genres. The band's influences at the time they formed included The Birthday Party (drummer Phill Calvert encouraged the group to sign to 4AD), Sex Pistols , Kate Bush and Siouxsie and the Banshees (Fraser had Siouxsie tattoos on her arms for several years). The band
30051-564: The single re-charted on the Billboard Hot 100 , and went to number one on the Adult Contemporary charts . This also put Spector back on the U.S. Top 40 charts for the first time since his last appearance in 1971 with John Lennon 's " Imagine ", though he did have UK top 40 hits in the interim with the Ramones . Spector's final signing to Philles was the husband-and-wife team of Ike & Tina Turner in April 1966. Spector considered their single " River Deep – Mountain High " his best work, but it failed to reach any higher than number 88 in
30240-498: The singles format to albums and achieved cultural legitimacy in the mainstream. Led by the Beatles in the mid-1960s, rock musicians advanced the LP as the dominant form of recorded music expression and consumption, initiating a rock-informed album era in the music industry for the next several decades. Progressive rock, a term sometimes used interchangeably with art rock , moved beyond established musical formulas by experimenting with different instruments, song types, and forms. From
30429-413: The skills of both guitarist Steve Howe and keyboard player Rick Wakeman , while Emerson, Lake & Palmer were a supergroup who produced some of the genre's most technically demanding work. Jethro Tull and Genesis both pursued very different, but distinctly English, brands of music. Renaissance , formed in 1969 by ex-Yardbirds Jim McCarty and Keith Relf, evolved into a high-concept band featuring
30618-448: The solo album Blame Someone Else as the first release on Bella Union. He also co-produced the posthumous album by Billy Mackenzie from the Associates , then went on to produce several Domino Records artists like James Yorkston , Archie Bronson Outfit (whom he later managed) and Clearlake . More recently he has produced the UK band the Duke Spirit , London-based duo Helene, former Golden Virgins frontman Lucas Renney and has mixed
30807-458: The song " B Boy Baby " by Mutya Buena and Amy Winehouse featured melodic and lyrical passages heavily influenced by "Be My Baby". As a result, Spector was given a songwriting credit on the single. The sections from "Be My Baby" were sung by Winehouse, not sampled from the mono single. Winehouse referenced her admiration of Spector's work and often performed Spector's first hit song, " To Know Him Is to Love Him ". That same month, Spector attended
30996-558: The three-octave voice of Annie Haslam . Most British bands depended on a relatively small cult following, but a handful, including Pink Floyd, Genesis, and Jethro Tull, managed to produce top ten singles at home and break the American market. The American brand of progressive rock varied from the eclectic and innovative Frank Zappa , Captain Beefheart and Blood, Sweat & Tears , to more pop rock orientated bands like Boston , Foreigner , Kansas , Journey , and Styx . These, beside British bands Supertramp and ELO , all demonstrated
31185-409: The vehicle for cultural and social movements, leading to major subcultures including mods and rockers in the U.K., the hippie movement and the wider Western counterculture movement that spread out from San Francisco in the U.S. in the 1960s, the latter of which continues to this day. Similarly, 1970s punk culture spawned the goth , punk, and emo subcultures. Inheriting the folk tradition of
31374-433: The way. He mumbled a few incoherent words about George H. W. Bush and the presidential inauguration , and then his bodyguards carried him away again." He was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1997 and he received the Grammy Trustees Award in 2000. In 1994, Spector wrote a letter to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's nominating committee to oppose the Ronettes being considered for induction. He argued that
31563-418: The work of the Beach Boys , formed in 1961 in Southern California. Their early albums included both instrumental surf rock (among them covers of music by Dick Dale) and vocal songs, drawing on rock and roll and doo wop and the close harmonies of vocal pop acts like the Four Freshmen . The Beach Boys first chart hit, " Surfin ' " in 1961 reached the Billboard top 100 and helped make the surf music craze
31752-533: The work of established performers such as the Rolling Stones' Beggar's Banquet (1968) and the Beatles' Let It Be (1970). Reflecting on this change of trends in rock music over the past few years, Christgau wrote in his June 1970 "Consumer Guide" column that this "new orthodoxy" and "cultural lag" abandoned improvisatory, studio-ornamented productions in favor of an emphasis on "tight, spare instrumentation" and song composition: "Its referents are '50s rock, country music, and rhythm-and-blues, and its key inspiration
31941-404: The world, except as a new brand of painkiller ... In the '70s the powerful took over, as rock industrialists capitalized on the national mood to reduce potent music to an often reactionary species of entertainment—and to transmute rock's popular base from the audience to market." Roots rock is the term now used to describe a move away from what some saw as the excesses of the psychedelic scene, to
32130-462: Was John Mayall ; his band, the Bluesbreakers , included Eric Clapton (after Clapton's departure from the Yardbirds) and later Peter Green . Particularly significant was the release of Blues Breakers with Eric Clapton (Beano) album (1966), considered one of the seminal British blues recordings and the sound of which was much emulated in both Britain and the United States. Eric Clapton went on to form supergroups Cream, Blind Faith , and Derek and
32319-460: Was 1963's " Wipe Out ", by the Surfaris , which hit number 2 and number 10 on the Billboard charts in 1965. Surf rock was also popular in Europe during this time, with the British group the Shadows scoring hits in the early 1960s with instrumentals such as " Apache " and " Kon-Tiki ", while Swedish surf group the Spotnicks saw success in both Sweden and Britain. Surf music achieved its greatest commercial success as vocal pop music, particularly
32508-473: Was a major influence on subsequent rock-influenced jazz artists, including Herbie Hancock , Chick Corea and Weather Report . The genre began to fade in the late 1970s, as a mellower form of fusion began to take its audience, but acts like Steely Dan , Frank Zappa and Joni Mitchell recorded significant jazz-influenced albums in this period, and it has continued to be a major influence on rock music. Reflecting on developments that occurred in rock music in
32697-567: Was an "accidental suicide" and that she "kissed the gun". The emergency call from Spector's home, made by Spector's driver, Adriano de Souza, quotes Spector as saying, "I think I killed somebody." De Souza added that he saw Spector come out of the back door of the house with a gun in his hand. Spector remained free on $ 1 million bail while awaiting trial. In the meantime, Spector produced singer-songwriter Hargo Khalsa's track (known professionally as Hargo) "Crying for John Lennon", which originally appears on Hargo's 2006 album In Your Eyes . On
32886-430: Was an influence in the 1980s on new wave , post-punk and eventually alternative rock . From the 1990s, alternative rock began to dominate rock music and break into the mainstream in the form of grunge , Britpop , and indie rock . Further fusion subgenres have since emerged, including pop-punk , electronic rock , rap rock , and rap metal . Some movements were conscious attempts to revisit rock's history, including
33075-424: Was born as Baruch in the Russian Empire to George and Bessie Spektus or Spektres, and brought to America by his parents in 1913 aged 10. Both families anglicized their last names to "Spector" on their naturalization papers , both of which were witnessed by the same man, Isidore Spector. The similarities in name and background of the grandfathers led Spector to believe that his parents were first cousins. He had
33264-424: Was continued in the 1970s by figures such as George Thorogood and Pat Travers , but, particularly on the British scene (except perhaps for the advent of groups such as Status Quo and Foghat who moved towards a form of high energy and repetitive boogie rock ), bands became focused on heavy metal innovation, and blues rock began to slip out of the mainstream. By the 1960s, the scene that had developed out of
33453-493: Was convicted of the 2003 murder of actress Lana Clarkson and sentenced to 19 years to life in prison, where he died, in 2021. Harvey Philip Spector was born on December 26, 1939. His parents were Benjamin (1903–1949) and Bertha (1911–1995) Spector, a first-generation immigrant Russian-Jewish family in the Bronx , New York City. Bertha had been born in France to Russian migrants George and Clara Spektor, who brought her to America in 1911 aged 9 months, while Benjamin
33642-449: Was founded in Britain), and Band of Gypsys , whose guitar virtuosity and showmanship would be among the most emulated of the decade. Blues rock bands from the southern states, like the Allman Brothers Band , Lynyrd Skynyrd , and ZZ Top , incorporated country elements into their style to produce the distinctive genre Southern rock . Early blues rock bands often emulated jazz, playing long, involved improvisations, which would later be
33831-497: Was named after the early Simple Minds song "The Cocteau Twins" (later rewritten as " No Cure "). As the band's sound developed, their subsequent music was classified as dream pop , and darkwave . Fraser's vocals included invented or unknown words, sometimes ones she found in foreign language books, adding to the band's dreamy ambience. Cocteau Twins' music has influenced numerous artists in different genres, including Slowdive , Ride , Cigarettes After Sex , Quicksand , Deftones ,
34020-403: Was not declared dead at the scene. He was admitted to the UCLA Medical Center on the night of March 31, suffering serious head injuries that required several hours of surgery, with over 300 stitches to his face and more than 400 to the back of his head. His head injuries, Thompson suggests, were the reason that Spector began his habit of wearing outlandish wigs in later years. He established
34209-436: Was partly due to resentment that an American producer appeared to be "taking over" such a popular English band. Lennon defended Spector, telling Jann Wenner of Rolling Stone : "he was given the shittiest load of badly recorded shit, with a lousy feeling toward it, ever. And he made something out of it. He did a great job." For Harrison's multiplatinum album All Things Must Pass (number 1, 1970), Spector helped provide
34398-443: Was ranked number 63 on Rolling Stone ' s list of the greatest artists in history . Following one-off productions for Leonard Cohen ( Death of a Ladies' Man ), Dion DiMucci ( Born to Be with You ), and the Ramones ( End of the Century ), from the 1980s on, Spector remained largely inactive, amid a lifestyle of seclusion, drug use, and increasingly erratic behavior. In 2009, after two decades in semi-retirement, he
34587-495: Was recorded for Ronnie's intended solo album on Apple Records, a project that stalled due to the same erratic, alcohol-fueled behavior from Spector that had hindered work on All Things Must Pass . 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. , a single protesting the jailing of Oz magazine's editors on obscenity charges. That same year Spector oversaw
34776-411: Was taken up by bands including Pentangle , Steeleye Span and the Albion Band , which in turn prompted Irish groups like Horslips and Scottish acts like the JSD Band , Spencer's Feat and later Five Hand Reel , to use their traditional music to create a brand of Celtic rock in the early 1970s. Folk-rock reached its peak of commercial popularity in the period 1967–68, before many acts moved off in
34965-548: Was taking place globally in the aftermath of the Second World War . Cliff Richard is credited with one of the first rock and roll hits outside of North America with " Move It " (1959), effectively ushering in the sound of British rock . Several artists, most prominently Tommy Steele from the UK, found success with covers of major American rock and roll hits before the recordings could spread internationally, often translating them into local languages where appropriate. Steele in particular toured Britain, Scandinavia, Australia,
35154-439: Was the first commercially successful folk song to be recorded with rock and roll instrumentation and the Beatles " I'm a Loser " (1964), arguably the first Beatles song to be influenced directly by Dylan. The folk rock movement is usually thought to have taken off with the Byrds ' recording of Dylan's " Mr. Tambourine Man " which topped the charts in 1965. With members who had been part of the café-based folk scene in Los Angeles,
35343-430: Was the major force in American record sales and crooners , such as Eddie Fisher , Perry Como , and Patti Page , who had dominated the previous decade of popular music, found their access to the pop charts significantly curtailed. Rock and roll has been seen as leading to a number of distinct subgenres, including rockabilly, combining rock and roll with "hillbilly" country music, which was usually played and recorded in
35532-423: Was the so-called Wall of Sound , a production technique yielding a dense, layered effect that reproduced well on AM radio and jukeboxes . To attain this signature sound, Spector gathered large groups of musicians (playing some instruments not generally used for ensemble playing, such as electric and acoustic guitars ) playing orchestrated parts—often doubling and tripling many instruments playing in unison —for
35721-449: Was to have been their ninth LP, the trio disbanded over irreconcilable differences in part related to the breakup of Guthrie and Fraser. Some songs were partially recorded and possibly completed, but the band has stated that they will likely never be finished or released in any form. In 1999 Bella Union , the record label founded by Guthrie and Raymonde, released a double-CD Cocteau Twins compilation entitled BBC Sessions . The collection
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