Who Do You Think Is The Greatest Music Producer Who Ever Lived?
By steamtown
Harvey Philip Spector,who was later to be called the
greatest producer in the world, was born December 26,
1940 in the Bronx, New York. His grandfather, a Russian Jew
named Spekter, emigrated to the United States and his name
was changed to Spector at Ellis Island.
The family was lower middle class. His father Benjamin,
because of the family's indebtedness, committed suicide in
1949. In 1953, Bertha Specter, with Phil and his older
sister Shirley, moved to Los Angeles where she worked as a
seamstress.
With little to interest him in high school he was drawn to
music studying guitar and piano. He excelled on the guitar,
piano, drums, bass and French horn. Spector was drawn to the
local rhythm and blues scene.
Phil soon joined a group of would-be-musicians hanging
around the studios where he met Jerry Leiber and Mike
Stoller, two songwriters that were beginning to have some
success producing singles for the Robins on the Spark label.
After graduating from Fairfax High school in 1958 Spector
began taking courses to become a court reporter. However, he
soon decided that this wasn't the direction he wanted.
Next Spector turned to Marshall Leib,They both shared the
love of rock and roll music.Another student at Los Angeles
City College, Harvey Goldstein, was promised that he could
sing bass. Annette Kleinbard, a sixteen year old student at
Fairfax High, joined the first two hour session. She was
devoted to recording of Spector's "Don't You Worry My
Little Pet."
With demo in hand Spector approached his neighbor Lew
Bedell, co-owner of Era Records with Herb Newsome. Bedell
and Newsome had started Dore Records,with the intention of
recording rock and roll, only a month or two before Spector
arrived with his demo.
Spector and friends signed a four record deal that offered
royalties of a cent and one-half per sold copy.
Dore mailed five hundred copies of the single to radio
stations in early August, 1958. The A-side was still "You
Don't Know My Little Pet." In September, a dee jay in
Fargo, North Dakota, flipped the single and played "To Know
Him Is To Love Him." Soon an order came into Dore offices
from a distributor requesting eighteen thousand copies.Radio
stations across the country began playing "To Know Him Is
To Love Him."
The record was reviewed in the press and was on
the national charts only a week later.The Teddy Bears
were invited to appear on "American Bandstand" in October.
There was a slight problem as there was no invitation for
Harvey Goldstein because Goldstein had been dropped from the
group Goldstein sued Dore and the Teddy Bears eventually
settling out of court for a share of the royalties the group
would earn over the next ten years.
The Teddy Bears appeared on "Bandstand"
and "To Know Him
Is To Love Him" became a number one record, selling more
than a million copies before Christmas. "Wonderful, Lovable
You," their second record was released late in 1959. They
appeared on the The Perry Como Show on January 3, 1960 where
they sang "To Know Him Him Is To Love Him" and "It's
Only a Paper Moon."
Spector had a falling out with Dore over royalties. Spector
and the Teddy Bears signed with Imperial Records and their
first single "I Don't Need You Anymore" was released in
mid-January.
Spector then teamed up with Lester Sill. Sill had started
his own company, Trey Records, along with Lee Hazlewood.
Sill had Spector come into the studio to record in an
attempt to come up with a hit record. but the group
couldn't use the Teddy Bear name, so the Trey singles were
issued by the Spectors Three. Neither sold and Spector
dismissed the other two and called it quits as far a being a
recording star.
Kleinbard was involved in an auto accident in September
1959, but recovered and attempted a solo singing career. She
had a number of recording contracts, but enjoyed success as
a songwriter. She was a co-writer of "The Nights the Lights
Went Out In Georgia" a gold record by Vicki Lawrence In
1973 and a country hit for Reba McEntire in 1992. She also
co-wrote "Hey Little Cobra" for the Ripchords and "Gonna
Fly Now" the theme from the first Rocky movie. She helped
write theme songs for Sophie's Choice and Mr. Mom. Over the
years she has been nominated for two Academy Awards and four
Emmys.
Leib played guitar on a couple of Duane Eddy sessions. He
also was musical supervisor for a few low budget films in
the 70s. He and Kleinbard worked together on the score for
the film "Tulips."
Phil Spector was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of
Fame in 1989. Spector went on to be recognized as a genius
when it came to record production.
But the recent events in Phil Spector's life has turned his
world upside down. He was charged with murder in the
shooting death of Lana Clarkson, a 40 year old B movie
actress found dead in Spector's mansion in 2003. But the
first trial ended in a hung jury and a retrial is set for
the 67 year old sometime in 2008.
Andrew Conway is an author, a musician and a classicmovie buff. He had contributed countless articlesconcerning the entertainment field. If you arelooking for Music Productions Andrew hascustomized a site especially for this.
