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

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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.

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.

Phil Spector has been the subject of profiles and biographies ever since Tom Wolfe's essay, "The First Tycoon of Teen" was published in 1964. Subsequent volumes have included Richard Williams' 1972 "Out of His Head: The Sound of Phil Spector," and Mark Riboswky's 1989 "He's a Rebel: The Truth About Phil Spector - Rock and Roll's Legendary Madman." Each provided a view of Spector that was shaped by the author's background and the times in which the biography was written. Of the four, Brown's is the most journalistic, though given the story he had to tell, it still turned out sensationalistic.

Wolfe began the Spector profiling with a hyperkinetic magazine article (reprinted in the anthology "The Kandy-Kolored Tangerine-Flake Streamline Baby") that read like a souped-up press release. Spector's troubled childhood, particularly his father's suicide, was omitted, and the whole psychological foundation of his behavior was left unexplained. Wolfe's portrait found Spector reaching the crest of fame that would sustain his legacy. Williams, writing in the early '70s, profiled Spector after he'd produced the grand failure of "River Deep, Mountain High," and resuscitated his legend with "Let it Be," and solo albums by George Harrison and John Lennon. Like Wolfe, Williams didn't expose the intimate detail of Spector's childhood, nor report on Spector's outrageous behaviors, resulting in more of a caricature than a portrait. The book became quite scarce (trading at $100 or more) until it was reprinted in 2003.

Williams' portrait stood until 1989, when Ribowsky wrote an explosively detailed biography. Ribowsky explored the details of Spector's childhood, including the family dynamics and the lifelong impact of Ben Spector's suicide. Ribowsky laid bare many of the incidents for which Spector became infamous, including details of his marriage to Ronnie Spector, his troubled adoptions, and his tumultuous encounters with artists and business associates. The Spector that emerged was significantly more complex than earlier profiles, alternately brilliant, obstinate, generous, petty, charming and bitter. The book was dishy, but filled with new detail.

Fast forward nearly fifteen years, and British journalist Mick Brown scored a rare in-person interview with Spector. Just weeks after conducting the interview, Lana Clarkson was shot dead in the foyer of Spector's Alhambra, California home, and the interview became the lead-in to a much larger effort. Brown published his interview, and then decided to research and write a full Spector biography. Though the book was grounded in lucky timing, Brown's journalistic skill keeps this from feeling opportunistic, even as he refracted the story of Spector's life through the prism of Clarkson's death.

Readers can't help but read this as a chronicle that foreshadows Clarkson's shooting. It's hard to discern whether Brown gave the violent aspects of Spector's story an unusually heavy emphasis or if the endless news cycles on Spector's trial have simply sensitized readers, but either way, Spector's brutishly insecure behaviors and reoccurring gun-play stand out as highlighted threads holding the rest of the story together. Brown's talent as a journalist allows this to remain an historical biography, just one that heavily portends its concluding event. The writing style is fluid, and the research deeper than any that's gone before, providing enlightening details of Spector's work in the studio and in business.

The megalomania that formed the basis of Spector's grandest productions had been described in earlier biographies, but Brown's more clearly explains its genesis and operation. His narrative effectively sews together accounts from numerous interviews, weaving together Spector's remembrances with those of others. More importantly, he's let disagreements between parties stand, providing multiple angles on situations that shade the parties' veracity and leave the reader to decide who's right. Spector emerges from the analysis more as the on-going, lifelong product of childhood traumas than as someone intentionally inflicting drama on everyone around him.

Where Brown falls short - where all the biographers before have also failed - is in explaining how Spector was repeatedly able to overcome his reputation to gain new associates and land new jobs. The descriptions of Spector's charisma, artistic brilliance, and the proven genius of his recordings fail to balance the stories of craziness. Perhaps that's just an artifact of condensing fifty years of events into 464 pages: Spector's charisma remains an enigma to those who haven't experienced it first hand.

Spector's life is as engrossing as his records, and Brown's done the best job yet of separating the story from the purpose-built legend. It's well worth reading all of the Spector biographies in chronological order to see how biography writing's changed over the decades, and how a writer, a rock critic and a journalist each approach the task. But if you're only going to read one, this is it. [©2007 hyperbolium dot com]

Veteran U.K. music journalist Mick Brown was the last reporter to interview Phil Spector before he was arrested and charged with the murder of Lana Clarkson. During their rambling four-hour discussion, the legendary producer tellingly admitted, "I have devils inside that fight me. And I'm my own worst enemy." The story ran in the U.K. Telegraph just two days before Clarkson was found shot to death in Spector's spooky Alhambra mansion, and undoubtedly this book would not exist if it weren't for that bizarre incident. Still, Brown's sympathetic story traces Spector's incredible rise in the early '60s, with a real understanding of how the producer turned the three-minute pop song into works of art like "Be My Baby," "You've Lost That Lovin' Feeling" and "River Deep, Mountain High," only to inspire the very same British Invasion that would, at first, replace him on the charts, then ultimately give him a second chance through his work on The Beatles' Let It Be and the solo albums of John Lennon and George Harrison. It's easy to compare Spector's career trajectory to that of Orson Welles, another youthful phenom never able to top himself, whose own Citizen Kane provides a convenient parallel to the producer's eventual self-exile from the world behind the gates of his gothic manse, with his Rosebud the early suicide of his father and the constant hectoring of an overbearing mother. But that doesn't begin to explain the combination of obsession, stubbornness and unbridled ambition that led Spector to create pop masterpieces that took teen angst to mythic heights. Brown leaves little doubt that Spector's continuing fascination with guns, and his penchant for waving them around to get his way, would eventually lead to a tragedy like this, without necessarily condemning him. What we're left with is a feeling of tremendous waste. For all of Spector's accomplishments, for all his desire to create a larger-than-life image of himself that would effectively shadow his intense vulnerability and feeling of insecurity, he will undoubtedly be remembered for those final pathetic images, of a wigged nut job brought down by his own Achilles' heel. To know him is not to love him, but rather to feel sorry for him...which is something Phil Spector spent his life running from. - Roy Trakin @ BlogOnBooks

Mick Brown's skill as a journalist is evident throughout his richly detailed exploration of the infamous Phil Spector. Brown isn't satisfied to merely recount the amazing contributions Spector made to the music industry. He delves into the events that shaped Spector's personality, most notably his father's suicide when Spector was nine. Spector's drive to dominate personal and professional relationships left him emotionally distant. His overbearing need for control was directly juxtaposed to the destructive chaos that constantly swirled around him.

Brown's book is a direct testament to the cliched intersection of genius and madness. On the surface, Spector would appear to be every musician's dream-a music producer who was also a musician. His despotic approach to recording quickly turned studio sessions into a nightmare. He viewed the process of making music as art, yet showed a lack of respect for any individual talent among musicians, especially vocalists. The only individual who was permitted to stand out was Phil Spector.

Brown's depiction of Spector engenders pity rather than sympathy. Spector cultivated a persona far beyond eccentric. His mental illness festered until it became so pervasive that the consummate control freak was no longer able to control himself. Brown's account flows smoothly, making his book a valuable addition to a collection of rock biography and history.

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.

With an interest in music and pop culture of the 50s-70s, this book falls right in my sights. Phil Spector and his "Wall of Sound" led the way to the British invasion in the 60s which eventually swept his Wall of Sound and girl bands from the charts. How ironic that one of his greatest accomplishments was later producing a comeback album by John Lennon?

But this is a flawed character if there ever was one. A bad upbringing with history of mental illness leads to an obsessive career to be the best, step on anyone on the way up and never look back. That's not impossible to pull off but with his personality skills or lack thereof, eventually his world crumbles as the music changes and he leads the life of a wealthy hermit with few people with which to converse.

But of course his life was to get stranger. Occasionally re-appearing from his "fortress of solitude", specifically when he is inducted in the Rock in Roll Hall of Fame, Spector shows a new side, his obsession with guns and occasional desire to force people to stay in his house thru the night against their will with threats of gun violence. Prior to Lana Clarkson's murder the last third of the book is filled with these stories.

Of course this leads to her tragic death, more Spector manipulation as he repeatedly fires lawyers and wears bizarre wigs to where we are today, a short time before his verdict. Frankly, while the defense builds a case that Clarkson chose this moment to commit suicide, I personally think this rings hollow. Spector has too much bizarre history of incidents similar for him to not be guilty, particularly when his drivers states that's what he initially said.

But this is a review of the book and its potential enjoyment. Did I like the book? Yes. Did the author do an excellent research job? Absolutely. But you have to ask yourself how much of your life do you want to devote to Phil Spector. This book took twice as long to read as most books. It is exhaustive and by the end I was happy to be able to move on from this depressing life. Phil Spector made great music years ago. But his life is not to be celebrated. Read only if you have many hours for this complete history of a man we should not be celebrating.

"Tearing Down the Wall of Sound" is an engaging, informative, and very entertaining reading experience. This is in large part due to the fact that even if one gets a little tired of the endless personal antics of Mr. Spector, the book also functions as a pretty comprehensive examination of the evolution of popular music from the 50's to the present. But to also give the book's subject his due, it's also fascinating to learn exactly what a record producer does and how Mr. Spector, during several specific moments in history, did it better than anyone else.

Alas, the book also makes it pretty clear that the gun tragedy of a few years ago involving Mr. Spector was bound to happen sooner or later, as author Mick Brown recounts literally dozens of incidents of Mr. Spector waving a gun at someone in jest, in a bullying manner, or in jealousy or anger.

But it's the many musical stories and anecdotes that really stand out here. Reading all the behind-the-scenes stuff about the Beatles, Rolling Stones, Sonny and Cher (Sonny got his start taking down sandwich orders for Phil Spector and his technicians!), the Ronettes, Teddy Bears, etc. is a blast, and also kind of reassuring: we see that, despite talent and often genius, our musical heroes often struggled to produce good work; usually relied on the guidance of a good producer or other technical person; and worried what people thought of them. In other words, we're reminded that those musical heroes, in at least some ways, weren't too different from the rest of us.

Before reading this book, I had no idea which version of the Lana Clarkson story to believe: Did Phil Spector kill her, or did she commit suicide? After reading it, there is little doubt.

Brown does an excellent job of tracing Spector's life, and of giving us a glimpse of the recording industry in the golden age of rock and roll. But his signal achievement -- and I would guess, the primary purpose of the book -- is to establish a clear pattern of behavior over a several-decade period. Brown has documented so many examples of Spector's bizarre habit over the years of locking people inside his house when they expressed a desire to leave, and threatening them with firearms, that an eventual tragic ending seemed inevitable. (Indeed, one wonders why it didn't happen sooner.) Further, the idea that a young woman who displayed no evidence of depression, let alone suicidal ideation, would enter the house of a man she had met for the first time, and kill herself in the entryway as he stood directly in front of her (as evidenced by the blood spray on his coat), with that man's gun, is preposterous on its face.

Phil Spector is of course a tragic figure, the classic self-isolating genius; a man so afraid of being alone that he forcibly prevented guests from leaving his home, but so afraid of interpersonal relationships that he could not allow anyone to get close enough to help him find enduring relief from his mental illness or his alcoholism, despite an army of psychiatrists and a polypharmacy of psychoactive medications. Perhaps now, within the California correctional system, he will finally find the help he needs. It's just a shame that an innocent young woman had to die in the process.

My friend, Layng, recommended this book and I found it on Amazon and ordered a copy. Well, that was just the beginning. Then I had to have all the biographies of Phil Spector....there are about five or six. Then books about and CDs containing the artists he worked with, admired, fought with, etc. I just received the Ace compilation of Darlene Love in this mornings mail. And this is the book that got it all started. Read it at your own risk!