95-531: 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 is characterized for its diffusion of tone colors and dense orchestral sound, which he described as
190-489: A Grammy nomination, the Recording Academy defines a producer: The person who has overall creative and technical control of the entire recording project, and the individual recording sessions that are part of that project. He or she is present in the recording studio or at the location recording and works directly with the artist and engineer. The producer makes creative and aesthetic decisions that realize both
285-540: 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
380-570: 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 ", 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
475-402: 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
570-423: A broad project, the creation of a popular music recording may be split across three specialists: the executive producer , who oversees business partnerships and financing; the vocal producer or vocal arranger, who aids vocal performance via expert critique and coaching of vocal technique, and the record producer or music producer, who, often called simply the producer, directs the overall creative process of recording
665-578: 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
760-471: A cylinder. By the 1930s, a gramophone etched it laterally across a disc. Constrained in tonal range, whether bass or treble, and in dynamic range , records made a grand, concert piano sound like a small, upright piano, and maximal duration was four and a half minutes. Selections and performance were often altered accordingly, and playing this disc—the wax master—destroyed it. The finality often caused anxiety that restrained performance to prevent error. In
855-573: 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
950-407: A leading A&R man of the 1950s. During the decade, A&R executives increasingly directed songs' sonic signatures, although many still simply teamed singers with musicians, while yet others exercised virtually no creative influence. The term record producer in its current meaning—the creative director of song production—appearing in a 1953 issue of Billboard magazine, became widespread in
1045-701: 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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#17327826647151140-452: 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 ,
1235-516: A musical element while playing a previously recorded record, Les Paul developed a recording technique called "sound on sound". By this, the final recording could be built piece by piece and tailored, effecting an editing process. In one case, Paul produced a song via 500 recorded discs. But, besides the tedium of this process, it serially degraded the sound quality of previously recorded elements, rerecorded as ambient sound. Yet in 1948, Paul adopted tape recording, enabling true multitrack recording by
1330-542: A new technique, " overdubbing ". To enable overdubbing, Paul revised the tape recorder itself by adding a second playback head, and terming it the preview head . Joining the preexisting recording head, erase head, and playback head, the preview head allows the artist to hear the extant recording over headphones playing it in synchrony, "in sync", with the present performance being recorded alone on an isolated track. This isolation of multiple tracks enables countless mixing possibilities. Producers began recording initially only
1425-507: 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 a fuller sound. Spector himself called his technique "a Wagnerian approach to rock & roll: little symphonies for
1520-417: A range of creative and technical leadership roles. Typically the job involves hands-on oversight of recording sessions; ensuring artists deliver acceptable and quality performances, supervising the technical engineering of the recording, and coordinating the production team and process. The producer's involvement in a musical project can vary in depth and scope. Sometimes in popular genres the producer may create
1615-531: A set of recordings in Los Angeles. Later, folklorist Archie Green called this perhaps the earliest printed use of A&R man . Actually, it says neither "A&R man" nor even "A&R", an initialism perhaps coined by Billboard magazine in 1946, and entering wide use in the late 1940s. In the 1920s and 1930s, A&R executives, like Ben Selvin at Columbia Records , Nathaniel Shilkret at Victor Records, and Bob Haring at Brunswick Records became
1710-666: 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
1805-819: 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
1900-476: 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),
1995-510: 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
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#17327826647152090-570: 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
2185-629: 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,
2280-448: A woman the reins of an immense, creative project like making a record." Ultimately, the reasons are multiple and not fully clear, although prominently proposed factors include types of sexism and scarcity of female role models in the profession. Women producers known for producing records not their own include Sonia Pottinger, Sylvia Robinson and Carla Olson. In January 2018, a research team led by Stacy L. Smith, founder and director of
2375-660: Is more forgiving of overmodulation , whereby dynamic peaks exceed the maximal recordable signal level: tape's limitation, a physical property, is magnetic capacity, which tapers off, smoothing the overmodulated waveform even at a signal nearly 15 decibels too "hot", whereas a digital recording is ruined by harsh distortion of " clipping " at any overshoot. In digital recording, however, a recent advancement, 32-bit float , enables DAWs to undo clipping. Still, some criticize digital instruments and workflows for excess automation, allegedly impairing creative or sonic control. In any case, as production technology has drastically changed, so have
2470-825: The Annenberg Inclusion Initiative, based in the USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism , issued a report, estimating that in the prior several years, about 2% of popular songs' producers were female. Also that month, Billboard magazine queried, "Where are all the female music producers?" Upon the Annenberg Inclusion Initiative's second annual report, released in February 2019, its department at USC reported, "2018 saw an outcry from artists, executives and other music industry professionals over
2565-482: 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
2660-513: The Brill Building (Trio Music) and at 1650 Broadway (Aldon Music), such as the teams of Ellie Greenwich and Jeff Barry , Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil , and Gerry Goffin and Carole King . He often worked with the songwriters, receiving co-credit and publishing royalties for compositions. Record producer A record producer or music producer is a music creating project's overall supervisor whose responsibilities can involve
2755-669: 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
2850-639: The audio engineer who operates the recording technology. Varying by project, the producer may or may not choose all of the artists. If employing only synthesized or sampled instrumentation, the producer may be the sole artist. Conversely, some artists do their own production. Some producers are their own engineers, operating the technology across the project: preproduction, recording, mixing , and mastering . Record producers' precursors were "A&R men", who likewise could blend entrepreneurial, creative, and technical roles, but often exercised scant creative influence, as record production still focused, into
2945-707: The "bed tracks"—the rhythm section , including the bassline , drums, and rhythm guitar—whereas vocals and instrument solos could be added later. A horn section , for example, could record a week later, and a string section another week later. A singer could perform her own backup vocals, or a guitarist could play 15 layers. Across the 1960s, popular music increasingly switched from acoustic instruments, like piano, upright bass , acoustic guitar , and brass instruments , to electronic instruments, like electric guitars , keyboards , and synthesizers , employing instrument amplifiers and speakers. These could mimic acoustic instruments or create utterly new sounds. Soon, by combining
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3040-462: The 1940s, during World War II, the Germans refined audio recording onto magnetic tape—uncapping recording duration and allowing immediate playback, rerecording, and editing—a technology that premised emergence of record producers in their current roles. Early in the recording industry, a record was attained by simply having all of the artists perform together live in one take. In 1945, by recording
3135-574: The 1950s, on simply improving the record's sonic match to the artists' own live performance. Advances in recording technology, especially the 1940s advent of tape recording —which Les Paul promptly innovated further to develop multitrack recording —and the 1950s rise of electronic instruments, turned record production into a specialty. In popular music, then, producers like George Martin , Phil Spector and Brian Eno led its evolution into its present use of elaborate techniques and unrealistic sounds, creating songs impossible to originate live. After
3230-522: The 1960s. Still, a formal distinction was elusive for some time more. A&R managers might still be creative directors, like William "Mickey" Stevenson , hired by Berry Gordy , at the Motown record label. In 1947, the American market gained audio recording onto magnetic tape. At the record industry's 1880s dawn, rather, recording was done by phonograph , etching the sonic waveform vertically into
3325-400: 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
3420-491: 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
3515-501: The 1980s, production's move from analog to digital further expanded possibilities. By now, DAWs, or digital audio workstations , like Logic Pro , Pro Tools and Studio One , turn an ordinary computer into a production console, whereby a solitary novice can become a skilled producer in a thrifty home studio. In the 2010s, efforts began to increase the prevalence of producers and engineers who are women, heavily outnumbered by men and prominently accoladed only in classical music. As
3610-831: 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 ,
3705-469: 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
3800-841: 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
3895-649: 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",
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3990-562: 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 the Beatles' abandoned Let It Be recording sessions into
4085-647: The Kinks produced some of their own songs, although many such songs are officially credited to specialist producers. Yet especially influential was the Beach Boys, whose band leader Brian Wilson took over from his father Murry within a couple of years after the band's commercial breakthrough. By 1964, Wilson had taken Spector's techniques to unseen sophistication. Wilson alone produced all Beach Boys recordings between 1963 and 1967. Using multiple studios and multiple attempts of instrumental and vocal tracks, Wilson selected
4180-530: 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
4275-555: 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
4370-571: 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
4465-409: The artist's and label's goals in the creation of musical content. Other duties include, but are not limited to: keeping budgets and schedules; adhering to deadlines; hiring musicians, singers, studios, and engineers; overseeing other staffing needs; and editing (Classical projects). The producer often selects and collaborates with a mixing engineer, who focuses on the especially technological aspects of
4560-469: The best combinations of performance and audio quality, and used tape editing to assemble a composite performance. The 1980s advent of digital processes and formats rapidly replaced analog processes and formats, namely, tape and vinyl. Although recording onto quality tape, at least half an inch wide and traveling 15 inches per second, had limited "tape hiss" to silent sections, digital's higher signal-to-noise ratio , SNR, abolished it. Digital also imparted to
4655-437: 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
4750-575: 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
4845-462: The capabilities of tape, multitrack recording, and electronic instruments, producers like Phil Spector , George Martin , and Joe Meek rendered sounds unattainable live. Similarly, in jazz fusion , Teo Macero , producing Miles Davis 's 1970 album Bitches Brew , spliced sections of extensive improvisation sessions. In the 1960s, rock acts like the Beatles , the Rolling Stones , and
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#17327826647154940-431: 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
5035-496: 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
5130-409: 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
5225-673: 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
5320-443: 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
5415-484: 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
5510-455: 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
5605-509: 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
5700-460: The industry are Logic Pro and Pro Tools. Physical devices involved include the main mixer, MIDI controllers to communicate among equipment, the recording device itself, and perhaps effects gear that is outboard. Yet literal recording is sometimes still analog, onto tape, whereupon the raw recording is converted to a digital signal for processing and editing, as some producers still find audio advantages to recording onto tape. Conventionally, tape
5795-528: 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 the performances, viewing these two as his "lieutenants". Spector frequently used songs from songwriters employed at
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#17327826647155890-669: The knowledge demands, although DAWs enables novices, even teenagers at home, to learn production independently. Some have attained professional competence before ever working with an artist. Among female record producers, Sylvia Moy was the first at Motown , Gail Davies the first on Nashville's Music Row , and Ethel Gabriel , with RCA , the first at a major record label . Lillian McMurry , owning Trumpet Records , produced influential blues records. Meanwhile, Wilma Cozart Fine produced hundreds of records for Mercury Records ' classical division. For classical production, three women have won Grammy awards, and Judith Sherman 's 2015 win
5985-507: The lack of women in music" and "the plight of women in music", where women were allegedly being "stereotyped, sexualized, and shut out". Also in February 2019, the Recording Academy 's Task Force on Diversity and Inclusion announced an initiative whereby over 200 artists and producers—ranging from Cardi B and Taylor Swift to Maroon 5 and Quincy Jones —agreed to consider at least two women for each producer or engineer position. The academy's website, Grammy.com , announced, "This initiative
6080-601: 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
6175-520: The manufacturing of record discs. After World War II , pioneering A&R managers who transitioned influentially to record production as now understood, while sometimes owning independent labels, include J. Mayo Williams and John Hammond . Upon moving from Columbia Records to Mercury Records , Hammond appointed Mitch Miller to lead Mercury's popular recordings in New York. Miller then produced country-pop crossover hits by Patti Page and by Frankie Laine , moved from Mercury to Columbia, and became
6270-575: 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:
6365-547: 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
6460-774: The music a perceived "pristine" sound quality, if also a loss of analog recordings' perceived "warm" quality and better-rounded bass. Yet whereas editing tape media requires physically locating the target audio on the ribbon, cutting there, and splicing pieces, editing digital media offers inarguable advantages in ease, efficiency, and possibilities. In the 1990s, digital production reached affordable home computers via production software. By now, recording and mixing are often centralized in DAWs, digital audio workstations —for example, Pro Tools , Logic Pro , Ableton , Cubase , Reason , and FL Studio —for which plugins , by third parties, effect virtual studio technology . DAWs fairly standard in
6555-399: 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 was the so-called Wall of Sound ,
6650-438: The precursors of record producers, supervising recording and often leading session orchestras. During the 1940s, major record labels increasingly opened official A&R departments, whose roles included supervision of recording. Meanwhile, independent recording studios opened, helping originate record producer as a specialty. But despite a tradition of some A&R men writing music, record production still referred to just
6745-488: 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
6840-594: 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,
6935-463: The recording process, namely, operating the electronic equipment and blending the raw, recorded tracks of the chosen performances, whether vocal or instrumental, into a mix , either stereo or surround sound. Then a mastering engineer further adjusts this recording for distribution on the chosen media. A producer may work on only one or two songs or on an artist's entire album, helping develop the album's overall vision. The record producers may also take on
7030-426: The recording's entire sound and structure. However, in classical music recording, for example, the producer serves as more of a liaison between the conductor and the engineering team. The role is often likened to that of a film director though there are important differences. It is distinct from the role of an executive producer , who is mostly involved in the recording project on an administrative level, and from
7125-563: 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
7220-573: 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
7315-438: The role of executive producer, managing the budget, schedules, contracts, and negotiations. (Artists and Repertoires) In the 1880s, the record industry began by simply having the artist perform at a phonograph . In 1924, the trade journal Talking Machine World , covering the phonography and record industry, reported that Eddie King, Victor Records ' manager of the "New York artist and repertoire department", had planned
7410-521: 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
7505-544: 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
7600-414: 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
7695-515: 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 is perceptible in many if not all of Spector's recordings, from
7790-795: 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
7885-456: 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
7980-431: The song in its final mix. The producer's roles can include gathering ideas, composing music, choosing session musicians , proposing changes to song arrangements, coaching the performers, controlling sessions, supervising the audio mixing , and, in some cases, supervising the audio mastering . A producer may give creative control to the artists themselves, taking a supervisory or advisory role instead. As to qualifying for
8075-481: The vast majority have been men. Early in the 2010s, asked for insights that she herself had gleaned as a woman who has specialized successfully in the industry, Wendy Page remarked, "The difficulties are usually very short-lived. Once people realize that you can do your job, sexism tends to lower its ugly head." Still, when tasked to explain her profession's sex disparity, Page partly reasoned that record labels, dominated by men, have been, she said, "mistrustful of giving
8170-502: 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
8265-562: 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
8360-658: Was an early female record producer, having produced both of her Ivor Novello award-winning songs. Across the decades, many female artists have produced their own music. For instance, artists Kate Bush , Madonna , Mariah Carey , Janet Jackson , Beyoncé (even that of Destiny's Child and the Carters ), Lana Del Rey , Taylor Swift , and Lorde have produced or coproduced and Ariana Grande who produces and arranges her vocals as well as being an audio engineer. Still among specialists, despite some prominent women, including Missy Elliott in hip hop and Sylvia Massy in rock,
8455-483: 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
8550-534: 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
8645-404: Was her fifth. Yet in nonclassical, no woman has won Producer of the Year , awarded since 1975 and only one even nominated for a record not her own, Linda Perry. After Lauren Christy 's 2004 nomination, Linda Perry 's 2019 nomination was the next for a woman. On why no woman had ever won it, Perry commented, "I just don't think there are that many women interested." In the U.K., Lynsey de Paul
8740-471: 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
8835-433: 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
8930-440: 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
9025-549: 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
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