Tearing Down the Wall of Sound: The Rise and Fall of Phil Spector (Hardcover)

~ (Author)
Key Phrases: trio music, pretty wild sessions, big hoot, New York, Phil Spector, Los Angeles (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Starred Review. This eminently readable and thoroughly researched biography from UK journalist and author Brown (The Dance of 17 Lives) chronicles the roller-coaster life of legendary (and legendarily bizarre) music producer Phil Spector, a man propelled by genius, insecurity, paranoia and rage. Spector's career was off and running before his 20th birthday, when he penned and produced the 1958 Teddy Bears' hit, "To Know Him is to Love Him." Soon enough, Spector was perched atop the industry, a dazzling figure in flashy suits and six-inch Cuban-heeled boots who produced dozens of hits for the Crystals, the Ronettes and the Righteous Brothers, worked with the Beatles and the Ramones, and defined the "Wall of Sound" technique that would change audio forever and bring the first strains of pop music into the world of serious art. And yet, Spector remained anxious, paranoid and vengeful ("the little guy rubbing the big guy's nose in it"), secluding himself for years at a time and prone to unpredictable, dangerous outbursts-in other words, a time bomb. Brown makes a chilling account of Spector's most recent brush with detonation-the 2003 shooting death of a woman in Spector's home-in a chapter titled, "I Think I Killed Somebody," featuring new interviews and grand jury testimony released in 2005. Stacked with incredible anecdotes, Brown's entertaining and nuanced portrait lifts the fog of myth and outright falsehood (including Spector's own) that have obscured the celebrity producer (like an enormous, gravity-defying wig) through the years.
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From Booklist

Strange that a major biography of rock impresario Spector appears during, not after, his murder trial. Of course, with the prosecution proceeding at a supremely glacial pace, a verdict could be years away. Will anyone care by then? They should, because Spector's is the story of a guy who became a millionaire before he could vote, whose "wall of sound" recording techniques swamped the early 1960s pop charts with hits by the Ronettes, the Crystals, the Righteous Brothers, and others. The Ramones' End of the Century in 1980 was his last production until 2003, in which year actress Lana Clarkson died of a gunshot wound to the head at Spector's mansion. Did he shoot her, or was it, as he swears, suicide? Brown doesn't hazard a choice, but he does deliver an exciting biography, thanks to Spector's long history of recreational drug use, monumental temper tantrums, and gun-brandishing threats directed at an array of impressive people. Stay tuned to Court TV for the rest of the story. Tribby, Mike

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 464 pages
• Publisher: Knopf; First Edition edition (June 5, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1400042194
• ISBN-13: 978-1400042197
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.6 x 1.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.7 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (26 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #761,497 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Spectacular!, June 9, 2007

By	R. Havers (Scotland) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Those familiar with Mick Brown's work for newspapers or his earlier books (in particular The Spiritual Tourist) will have an idea of what to expect. Intelligent, thoughtful and stylish writing of the highest order. Mick manages to cram the book with myriad facts, while never seeming to make it information heavy, but he also never loses sight of his subject. Unlike many biographers, Mick places Spector within the broad sweep of his life and times while simultaneously showing him to be a three dimensional character. From the earliest pages Spector, a man who many of us think we know but in reality what we know is rumour and tittle-tattle, becomes more than just a name, a reputation and a myth - he becomes a real person. This book will standout for many years to come as one of the single best biographies about a musician, or for that matter a man or woman from whatever walk of life.

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Phil Spector: A Tortured Human Being, July 9, 2007

By	C. W. Emblom "Bill Emblom" (Ishpeming, Michigan USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

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This book will tell you all you want to know about music producer Phil Spector in addition to a number of things you could do without. It is, without question, a thorough biography. The only thing missing is the outcome of the trial in which he is accused of murdering Lana Clarkson. Scarred during childhood by the suicide of his father and the bullying he received at school, Spector used people to advance his own cause. He would treat his musicians wonderfully while his singers who would make hits of the songs he produced would often be treated contemptuously as only teen-agers. He needed people around him to ward off the loneliness, but treated them in such a way they would abandon him. Several of his friends, among them Lenny Bruce and John Lennon, passed away leaving Spector to deliver eulogies at their funerals. His unfortunate marriage to Ronnie Bennett of The Ronettes was doomed to fail. He was smitten by her beauty while she was hoping he would advance her singing career. Upon marriage Spector slammed the door on her career by keeping her holed up in their mansion. Prescription drugs, alcohol, an arsenal of guns, bizarre behavior, and his hair trigger temper of screaming profanities have formed a combustible mixture in dealing with people throughout the decades. In the past he has threatened others who visited his mansion when they have wanted to leave, and whether he is found guilty of Ms. Clarkson's murder remains to be seen. Phil Spector's life, by his own admission, has not been a happy one. This is a very depressing life story. For Phil Spector's sake I sincerely hope he gets his life straightened out.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Placing the genius and his undoing in context, September 26, 2007

By	Innocent girl "from the Spanish and Indian Ho... (Fort Washington, PA) - See all my reviews

All I can say is WOW! Mick Brown not only did amazing research, conducted exhaustive interviews, but he made the result an infinitely satisfying and readable story about a man gone awry. I've listened to the results of his work for years, and now I listen to it with a new understanding and appreciation of the (mad)man who made it happen.

You'll see the man and some of the people whose lives he touched (positively and otherwise) in a new light. By turns fascinating and revolting, you'll have a hard time putting it down.