Spector's symphonies for the kids
"Songs that last three minutes and forever. Phil Spector brought a grand, ennobling passion to the teen love song. His 'wall of sound' moved both bodies and hearts - launching what may be the most personal and stylistically unified series of mulit-artist recordings in pop history. That Phil Spector's hits will live on in the digital age is cause for celebration."- Kurt Loder, Rolling Stone
In taking a step back, it really is quite amazing how Phil Spector revolutionized the way we listen to music. Some could have called his “wall of sound” production excessive, and in all honestly it was. Lining up five guitars to perform the same rhythm section, arranging a room full of horns and strings, and obsessing over the levels of each track in the three-track mixing process were only the beginning. Spector brought in untraditional instruments into his production such as shakers, guiros, and maracas, instruments that now are as attached to Spector pop as they are to Latin music.
With no small ego, Spector himself described his technique as “a Wagnerian approach to rock & roll: little symphonies for the kids.” And with that, the Content would like to offer up a few of our favorite Spector “symphonies” as well as some of our favorite Spector inspired pieces. Enjoy.
The Symphonies:
[mp3] Ike & Tina Turner – River Deep, Mountain High
[mp3] The Ronettes - Be My Baby
[mp3] Curtis Lee – Pretty Little Angel Eyes
[mp3] The Paris Sisters – I Love How You Love Me
[mp3] The Righteous Brothers – Ebb Tide
The Inspired:
[mp3] Camera Obscura – If Looks Could Kill
[mp3] Jeff Mangum – I Love How You Love Me (Live)
[mp3] The Beach Boys – Don’t Worry Baby
[mp3] Bruce Springsteen – Born To Run
[mp3] The Pipettes - Your Kisses Are Wasted On Me
When I first heard “He Hit Me (And It Felt Like A Kiss)” I immediately called up my mom and asked her about what people thought of this song when it came out. She had never heard of it before and said there is no way that it would of played due to the content. Though this isn’t a straight up cover by any means, it is a rather interesting play on the song title. I guess influence can be seen in different ways. Just don’t go and murder your girlfriend or anything after listening to this.
BONUS [mp3] The Crystals – He Hit Me (It Felt Like A Kiss)
BONUS [mp3] Spiritualized – She Kissed Me (It Felt Like A Hit)
posted by Anonymous at 9:05 AM
10 Comments:
Absolutely a genuis and one whose production certainly did change the way we listen to music. Even though his work was mostly in the pop arena, it really shaped the sensibility of anything that came after. I could be wrong, but it seems like he was a "Producer" in the age when producers were very much in the background. As opposed to now, when producers are almost as big as the artist.
Borat = genius? NO WAY Jose. Or was that Jos b?
King, what do you think of Athlete?
Love every one of those Spector jams. Thank you.
Do you gals really listen to ALL the music?
I don't really get that last question. ALL the music? What does that even mean? Do we listen to ALL the music? Well we do listen to all the music that we post about but as for everything that is blogged about, talked about, and sent to us, well...we try.
And we are a couple of dudes as a matter of fact.
Manic Street Preachers were cogging off Spector too on Everything Must Go.
I know that He served in the 1980s as editor at Rolling Stone, during a tenure that Reason later called "legendary"., I think that he is one of the most important person in the Television's world!22dd
Well we do listen to all the music that we post about but as for everything that is blogged about
Quite effective info, thanks so much for the post.
Post a Comment
<< Home