SHAMEometer rating out of 100:95
Who:
Legendary music producer who created the Wall of Sound, starting with hits by girl groups in the pre-Beatles sixties (including The Ronettes, whose lead singer he married, and The Crystals). Later, he shaped pop anthems by The Righteous Brothers ("You've Lost That Loving Feeling") and Tina Turner ("River Deep Mountain High"). After a slump, Spector returned to form in the early-seventies producing ex-Beatles John (Imagine) and George (All Things Must Pass), but angered fans by helming Leonard Cohen's Death of A Ladies Man (1977) and The Ramones' End of The Century (1980).
Long a paranoid, violent recluse who rarely gave interviews and stopped producing music years ago, Spector returned to the public spotlight on April 13 this week when the former Tycoon of Teen (coined by Tom Wolfe) was found guilty in the second-degree murder of Hollywood actress and restaurant hostess Lana Clarkson. Spector will be sentenced to serve at least 18 years in prison on May 29.
Left: Phil Spector's mugshot; Right, his victim Lana Clarkson
Shamelessness:
"Mad genius" doesn't begin to describe Phil Spector. Though his music is widely acclaimed and influential (Brian Wilson for one), Spector's legacy is forever tarnished by his violent outbursts, rampant paranoia, and alcohol and drug abuse over the decades. He's pulled guns on everyone from John Lennon to The Ramones, and emotionally and physically abused his ex-wife Ronnie Spector of the famed girl band, The Ronettes. Lana Turner was simply the latest in a long line of victims Spector has terrorized in his life, and never once offering a drop of remorse.
Why is he like this? Clues lie in Mick Brown's acclaimed biography, Tearing Down the Wall of Sound: The Rise and Fall of Phil Spector which recount Spector's dark childhood in the postwar Bronx growing u[ in a lower-middle class Jewish family that apparently suffered from in-breeding and depression. Spector's father killed himself when the boy was eight, and Spector suffered from an overbearing mother all his life. There was little love in the Spector household. Music became an escape for Phil Spector who possessed golden ears. Despite success and wealth, Spector became paranoid and would seclude himself in his L.A. mansion after his first peak in the sixties. Brown's biography and accounts by others consistently paint a portrait of a musical genius but a damaged human being, likely scarred by his father's suicide and unable to show compassion towards others. Basically, Spector has no conscience.
Do the actions of an artist diminish his art? That's the question that music fans have been wrestling with since Spector was arresting for Clarkson's murder in February 2003, and ever more so since his conviction this week. Can you listen to "Be My Baby" ever again?
The answer is Yes. Just because a man or woman creates beautiful music doesn't mean they are saints in real life. Public relation machines create an image that fans devour and rarely question. We expect too much from our musical heroes. Just look at Miles Davis who used to hit his women or Charlie Parker who didn't give a damn about anybody when he wanted to score heroin. Brian Jones, the original guitarist of The Rolling Stones looked angelic but acted like the devil, a "nasty piece of work," as the Brits say. Should we burn their records and CDs?
No, but it won't be the same listening to "Da Doo Ron Ron," because it's so closely associated with Spector and his Wagnerian Wall of Sound.
More reading:
Tearing Down the Wall of Sound: The Rise and Fall of Phil Spector by Mick Brown
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