Spector and the Beatles

Finished the Spector book (see two previous posts). The last quarter is a slog of madness. Hard for the reader to wade through, probably harder for Spector himself to wade through. You get the idea that the twisted little dude just had way too much time on his hands. No need to work. No capacity to sleep. Haunted by demons at every turn.  Lots of guns and meds and booze.  Not a good combo.


Still, if you think about this guy, the music still stands. Spector made his reputation with "girl groups" and his "wall of sound." But for me, it was his work with John Lennon and George Harrison that  resonates to this day. According to the book, the only artist Spector really "took a back-seat" to was Lennon. You can hear Spector's influence on "Instant Karma" - it was recorded with multiple keyboards, multiple bass guitars, no cymbals, and a big, muffled, punchy drum sound. Lennon's voice never sounded better bathed in Spector's trademark echo and reverb. One of the great post-Beatles tracks.


We all shine on!



Supposedly, Spector was an obsessive perfectionist, but he met his match when he worked with George Harrison on "All Things Must Pass." When it came to his vocals and guitar parts, Harrison was even a more obsessive perfectionist than Spector. Harrison's perfectionism supposedly drove Spector to drink. Later Harrison revealed that he didn't exactly love the full Spector wall of sound treatment (an army of guitars, an army of drummers, an army of bass players, lots of reverb and echo), but the album was a huge hit, and it sounds glorious today. Certainly Harrison's masterpiece and Spector's too.


My Sweet Lord!



As for Sir Paul, he supposedly wanted nothing to do with Spector, and hated his additions of choirs and strings and the the mixes to the Beatles "Let it Be" album. Spector turned one of McCartney's tunes, "The Long and Winding Road," a sappy song to begin with, into an even sappier song. Much later McCartney helped oversee a new version of the album called "Let it Be Naked." I side with McCartney.  I like the "naked" version much better too.