Much has been made of the recent death of Ronnie Spector - and rightfully so - but I'd be remiss to not remember that it was a year ago two days ago that Phil Spector died.
George Martin was the perfect producer for The Beatles, but he never wrote a song himself. And while Brian Wilson used Spector's sound perfectly, he never wrote song lyrics. Meanwhile, here's a short list of songs Spector co-wrote, mostly with the brilliant husband/wife combo of Jeff Barry and Ellie Greenwich:
Baby, I Love You, Be My Baby, Christmas Baby Please Come Home, Da Doo Ron Ron, River Deep Mountain High, Spanish Harlem, Then He Kissed Me, To Know Him is to Love Him, Walking in the Rain, You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'.
NOT too shabby!
Also what's easy to miss is how young he was: when he was pumping out girl group hits he was ONLY 23 YEARS OLD! When The Beatles called him in to save Let it Be he was out of the business and washed up...at 29!
ANYway...of
course he fucked up his legacy with the murder, and I feel for the girl
and her family, but I also agree with what Steven Van Zandt wrote about
Spector after his death:
RIP Phil Spector. A genius irredeemably conflicted, he was the ultimate example of the Art always being better than the Artist, having made some of the greatest records in history based on the salvation of love while remaining incapable of giving or receiving love his whole life.
He was a raving lunatic for sure, but I for one will always be thankful for the brilliant music he gave us, which - unlike him or his legacy as a person - will truly last forever.
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