page_title: Phil Spector
section_title: 1970s: Comeback and Beatles collaborations
hierarchical_section_title: Phil Spector / Biography / 1970s: Comeback and Beatles collaborations
caption_attribution_description: English: John Lennon, as pictured in an advertisement for Imagine from Billboard, 18 September 1971
context_page_description: Harvey Phillip Spector is an American record producer, musician, and songwriter who developed the Wall of Sound, a music production formula he described as a Wagnerian approach to rock and roll. Spector is regarded as one of the most influential figures in pop music history and as the first auteur among music artists for the unprecedented freedom and control he had over every phase of the recording process. After spending three decades in semi-retirement, in 2009, he was convicted for the 2003 murder of the actress Lana Clarkson. He is serving a prison sentence of 19 years to life and will be eligible for parole in 2025.
  Born in the Bronx, Spector began his career in 1958 as co-founder, guitarist, and vocalist of the Teddy Bears, penning their US number-one single "To Know Him Is to Love Him". In 1960, he co-founded Philles Records, and at the age of 21, became the youngest ever US label owner to that point. Throughout the 1960s, he wrote, co-wrote, or produced records for acts such as the Ronettes, the Crystals, and Ike & Tina Turner.
context_section_description: In 1969, Spector made a brief return to the music business by signing a production deal with A&M Records. A Ronettes single, "You Came, You Saw, You Conquered" flopped, but Spector returned to the Hot 100 with "Black Pearl", by Sonny Charles and the Checkmates, Ltd., which reached number 13. In 1970, Allen Klein, manager of the Beatles, brought Spector to England. While producing John Lennon's hit solo single "Instant Karma!", which went to number 3, Spector was invited by Lennon and George Harrison to take on the task of turning the Beatles' abandoned Let It Be recording sessions into a usable album. He went to work, using many of his production techniques, making significant changes to the arrangements and sound of some songs.
  The resulting album, Let It Be, was a massive commercial success and topped the US and UK charts. The album also yielded the number 1 US single, "The Long and Winding Road." (A recording of "Let It Be", released before Spector got his hands on the tapes, was released as a single two months before the release of the album, hitting number 2 in the UK and number 1 in the US. A third single from the sessions, "Get Back", an international number 1 issued in 1969, shortly after the original Get Back recording sessions, was also put together without Spector's participation.) Spector's overdubbing of "The Long and Winding Road" infuriated its composer, Paul McCartney, especially since the work was allegedly completed without his knowledge and without any opportunity for him to assess the results.
  Lennon and George Harrison were satisfied with the results, and Let It Be led to Spector co-producing albums with both ex-Beatles. For Harrison's multiplatinum album All Things Must Pass (number 1, 1970), Spector provided a cathedral-like sonic ambience, complete with ornate orchestrations and gospel-like choirs. The LP yielded two major hits: "My Sweet Lord" (number 1) and "What Is Life" (number 10). That same year, Spector co-produced John Lennon's Plastic Ono Band (number 6) album. In 1971, Spector was named director of A&R for Apple Records. He held the post for only a year, but during that time he co-produced the single "Power to the People" with John Lennon (number 11), as well as Lennon's chart-topping album, Imagine. The album's title track hit number 3. With Harrison, Spector co-produced Harrison's "Bangla Desh" (number 23) and wife Ronnie Spector's "Try Some, Buy Some" (number 77). That same year Spector recorded the music for the number 1 triple album The Concert For Bangladesh. The album later won the "Album of the Year" award at the 1972 Grammys. Despite being recorded live, Spector used up to 44 microphones simultaneously to create his trademark Wall of Sound. 
  Lennon retained Spector for the 1971 Christmas single "Happy Xmas (War Is Over)" and the poorly reviewed 1972 album, Some Time in New York City (number 48). Similar to the unusual pattern of success that Spector's A Christmas Gift for You from Philles Records experienced, "Happy Xmas (War Is Over)" also stalled in sales upon its initial release, only later to become a fixture on radio station playlists around Christmas. In 1973, Spector participated in the recording sessions for what would be Lennon's Rock 'n' Roll album (number 6).
  He established the Warner-Spector label with Warner Bros. Records, which undertook new Spector-produced recordings with Cher, Darlene Love, Danny Potter, and Jerri Bo Keno. in addition to several reissues. A similar relationship with Britain's Polydor Records led to the formation of the Phil Spector International label in 1975. When the Cher and Keno singles (the latter's recordings were only issued in Germany) foundered on the charts, Spector released Dion DiMucci's Born to Be with You to little commercial fanfare in 1975; largely produced and recorded by Spector in 1974, it was subsequently disowned by the singer. In the 1990s and 2000s, the album enjoyed a resurgence among the indie rock cognoscenti. The majority of Spector's classic Philles recordings had been out of print in the U.S. since the original label
caption: 1971 Billboard ad for John Lennon's album Imagine, co-produced by Spector.
exif: {}