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Phil's Spectre III - A Third Wall of Soundalikes

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So Ace's Wall Of Soundalikes series has made it to a third volume of Spectoralikes. Some of the more elusive titles that could not be tracked down or licensed for the previous sets have finally been nailed, and further examples from a seemingly bottomless well have been drawn, five of which were previously unreleased, at least in the exact form in which they appear. All are fulsomely annotated in the accompanying fat booklet. Familiar names from the extended Phil Spector family are again in evidence: Bill Medley, Jack Nitzsche, Ellie Greenwich, Bobby Sheen, Darlene Love, Sonny Bono; as well as a slew of new names some of whom had jumped onto the bandwagon in the hope of making a few bucks from their approximation of the Spector sound.

Among the most fascinating are Lesley Gore's Look Of Love, a single considerably more Spectorized than the original album version; Alder Ray sounding uncannily like Darlene Love on 'Cause I Love Him, with Darlene herself leading the chorus; the Girlfriends' My One And Only, Jimmy Boy, a rip-roaring explosion of a song, my favourite on the album and one I didn't previously know, the Girlfriends being members of the Blossoms and Bob B Soxx and the Blue Jeans; a rare acetate of the Satisfactions featuring Gracia Nitzsche on the oldie Yes Sir, That's My Baby, with Brian Wilson among the backing singers; a new mix of Judy Henske's 1966 cover of Shirley and Lee's Let The Good Times Roll; Bonnie (of Bonnie and the Treasures) with Close Your Eyes, her follow-up to Home Of The Brave, a classic yet to be anthologized in this series or on any other readily-available release; Martha and the Vandellas' fabulous if well known In My Lonely Room; Sonny and Cher's It's The Little Things, though virtually anything by the duo would have served; and Daniel A Stone's previously unreleased rendition of the Doc Pomus/Phil Spector song Young Boy Blues.

Elsewhere, however, there are occasional signs that the barrel may shortly begin to make sounds of scraping, and I would recommend turning to this only after having exhausted the first two Walls Of Soundalikes. Even though much of it is first rate, there is more competent blue-eyed soul and less inspired girl group sound than would be my preference. The notes mention that the compilers have in the main purposely eschewed versions of actual compositions by Phil Spector, and it seems that anything on his own labels, albeit not produced by the man, have also been avoided. It may be sensible to relax both of these rules if there is to be a Phil's Spectre IV.

Despite Phil's legal problems, his legacy continues to shine forth in this trilogy of "Sound-A-Likes". A THIRD WALL OF SOUNDALIKES is the best of 'em.

Phil's Spectre III - A Third Wall of Soundalikes

Another great set of songs in the Spector vein. It's a thrill to (finally) have Merry Claton's "Usher Boy" available, as well as a rocking version of Alder Ray's "Cause I Love Him".

This set will be a great addition to any Spector fans collection.

Phil Spector's revolutionary production techniques and monumental chart success in the early `60s spawned a lot of imitations, some of which hit, but many more of which passed by virtually unnoticed. Ace Records continues their collection of Wall of Sound tributes and knock-offs with a third volume that's more varied in quality than the first two. To be sure, there are some tremendous gems here, well worth the price of this disc, but there are also wanna-be productions that have all the earmarks, but not the magic dust that could have made them hits. It's one thing to have a baion beat, soaring string arrangement, massed instruments, deep echo, and castanets, but it's quite another to have the Brill Building's songs, Gold Star's rooms, and Ronnie Spector's pipes. Not to mention Jack Nitzche's arrangements, Larry Levine's engineering and Phil Spector's ears; winningly, several of these tracks have the first two of those three.

That said, there are many high points to this collection. "Who Am I" opens with a lonely bass riff and Jerry Ganey's soulful vocal, rises momentarily to an echoed backing chorus and threatens a full wall of sound, only to fall back to Ganey and the bass. It's not until 1'22 of teasing has passed that writer-producer (and Righeous Brother) Bill Medley unleashes the full force of the song's arrangement. Sonny Bono's rendition of Spector's sound traces back to his years working directly for the master. 1967's "It's the Little Things," recorded for the soundtrack of Good Times, has the requisite musical elements but truly excels in Bono's charmingly self-deprecating lyrics. Cher gives it everything as she sings of loving a man who's not smart or handsome but is her everything. Remembering her speech at Bono's memorial it's hard not to get a bit teary when this one plays.

The disc's biggest surprise is the 1910 Fruitgum Company's last chart single, "When We Get Married." Written by Ritchie Cordell (of "Indian Giver," "Mony Mony" and "I Think We're Alone Now" fame) under his real name (Richard Rosenblatt), the production of bubblegum legends Jerry Kaszenetz and Jeffry Katz pulls out all the stops, and lead singer Mark Gutkowski leans into every line, so exhausting himself with his outpouring of emotion that he has to stop and take a very audible and dramatic breath at 3'25. Imagine a teenage Ronnie Spector given the chance to sing about her upcoming nuptuals, supported by the harmonies of the Cowsills and backed by a wide stereo version of Phil Spector's wall of sound. Truly extraordinary.

There are many other treats here, even if they don't reach the stratospheric heights of the collection's key cuts. Lesley Gore's "Look of Love" (written by Brill Building legends Greenwich & Barry) began life as an album track, but in 1964 producer Quincy Jones thickened the production with handclaps, sleigh bells and echo. The folk-rock of the Kit Kats "That's the Way" is given a deep stereo backing and features a falsetto chorus vocal reminiscent of the Newbeats. There's more folk-rock in the Ashes' "Is There Anything I Can Do," which benefits from the Gold Star sound, courtesy in large part to the engineering of Larry Levine. Yet another Spector alum, arranger Jack Nitzsche, gives Judy Henske the wall of sound treatment for a cover of Shirley and Lee's "Let the Good Times Roll" that rings down the curtain with its forceful climax.

Several producers took Spector's work too literally for their own good. The Castanets' "I Love Him" is a by-the-numbers imitation of the Crystals that's adequate but isn't the Crystals. Girl group collectors will enjoy this previously unreleased single-tracked vocal version. The Satisfactions' "Yes Sir, That's My Baby" slows the 1925 tune to a soulful crawl but doesn't find the groove Spector perfected on "Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah." Better is Alder Ray's "'Cause I Love Him," which could pass for a Darlene Love track. Ace has done another fine job of lining up the disciples of Phil Spector and augmenting the music with a 16-page booklet stuffed with photos, sleeve and label reproductions, and detailed liner notes. Everything here is in AM-ready mono except tracks 2, 4, 10, and 23 which are true stereo. [©2009 hyperbolium dot com]

Awesome collection! Was not familiar with many of the songs but gradually fell in love with ALL OF THEM. Even tho the songs do not bring back specific memories like other AM hits from the same time period, the songs do take me to a sweet time of innocence, dreamy crushes, penny loafer dancing, etc. Highly recommended for hopeless romantics over 40 and those with an open mind, wanting familiarity with early 60s pre-psychedellic.

This is a small gripe. Where is one of the biggest, most recognizeable "Wall of Sound" soundalikes: "The Sun Ain't Gonna Shine Anymore" by the Walker Brothers. A small gripe since I have the song on another cd but I would have thought that it would have been included by volume 3. Probably a legal snafu. Phil Spector was truly an influential producer and a sort of svengali for many musicians in the 60's. I tip my hat to the compilers of this series.

Great stuff.

This is an amazing collection... All 3 volumes are worth your time and money.