'Each time I visit, he looks thinner and wispier': Phil Spector's daughter reveals the toll of prison life on her father | Daily Mail Online comments The daughter of disgraced music producer Phil Spector has revealed the toll of prison life on her father. Spector, 73, is serving a prison sentence of 19 years to life for the 2003 murder of actress Lana Clarkson. Nicole Audrey Spector, 30, said each time she sees her 'pop' , he looks 'thinner, wispier.' The daughter of disgraced music producer Phil Spector has spoken out about her father's life in jail. Nicole Audrey Spector, 30, said each time she sees her 'pop' he looks 'thinner, wispier' Before the killing: Nicole poses with her father in 2000- three years before he shot actress Lana Clarkson dead The music producer who worked with famous bands including The Beatles, is currently housed in California State Prison, Corcoran. RELATED ARTICLES Share this article Share In 2009 he was found guilty of shooting the 40-year-old actress in the mouth in the foyer of his sprawling California mansion.

Nicole is one of Spector's five children - she was born when the musician was with his then-girlfriend Janis Zavala. Her twin brother Philip Jr. died of leukaemia, aged ten. Guilty: In 2009 Spector was found guilty of shooting the 40-year-old actress in the mouth in the foyer of his sprawling California mansion Grim: The sprawling California mansion where Spector shot dead the B-movie actress Evidence: The Colt revolver found near Clarkson's body is seen here in an evidence photo presented during the trial Spector was famous for his Wall of Sound production technique, which scored him a slew of hits including The Beatles' Let It Be. He also co-wrote 'You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'' for the Righteous Brothers and produced records for the Ramones. Nicole, who is now a writer, said in an article for The Times insists her father is innocent: 'My father, who I love like a son, didn’t kill anyone. Neither of us is supposed to be here.' She said her visits have become less frequent due to not having a home in California.

Changing image: Spector in court in 2005, left, and right with his third wife Rachelle Short in 2007 Sporadic: Over the years Spector, who is famous for his wigs has dramatically altered his appearance 'The last time I visited was nine months ago, a fact that makes me anxious and ashamed. I feel I should be there every weekend. But I don’t have a home in California anymore. I used to be able to stay in my old room in my father’s house, which he still has, but his wife won’t allow it, and I’m not up for the fight anymore.' She is referring to Spector's third Rachelle Short - a model and actress around 40 years his junior. The couple met at a Hollywood restaurant in 2003, shortly after his arrest in the shooting of actress Lana Clarkson. Rachelle went to work as Spector's assistant and was running his business by the time they married in 2006 in the foyer of his mansion, where Clarkson was found dead.

Spector's initial trial in 2007 for the murder of Lana Clarkson, who died from a gun shot wound to the head, ended in a deadlocked jury. But a second jury in 2009 found him guilty of second degree murder with a sentence of 19 years in prison. Throughout both hearings Spector's high-priced defence team had claimed that Miss Clarkson killed herself in a fit of despair over her fading film career. Spector had met the struggling actress, 40, at a Hollywood nightclub where she was working as a hostess at the time, and invited her back to his Alhambra mansion. But while Spector strongly maintained his innocence outside the Los Angeles courtroom, he chose not to put his side of the story from the witness box. His chaffeur Adriano de Souza testified he saw Spector clutching a pistol shortly after Miss Clarkson was shot, saying: 'I think I just killed somebody.' Spector, a man obsessed with guns, liked to dine out on the story that he once pulled a pistol on John Lennon in a recording studio.

But in the end, his violent past caught up with the man who worked with stars like the Beatles, Tina Turner, The Ronettes and the Righteous Brothers in his heyday and was credited with revolutionising pop production in the 1960. Wall of sound: Spector (sitting) with George Harrison and the Ronettes including his first wife Veronica Bennett, left A procession of women gave evidence about Spector's drunken attacks, invariably involving guns. They painted a disturbing picture of an out-of-control maniac, drunk on his own reputation and convinced that he was too famous to be brought to account. Threatened and terrorised by Spector, his victims - who were either dating him or longtime friends - never called police. It was only when Clarkson's body was discovered in a pool of blood in the early hours of February 3, 2003 - with Spector standing over her with a gun - that his previous victims began to come forward. One after another they told the court a variation on essentially the same story; how Spector, a normally charismatic if rather strange man, would fly into a rage after drinking too much and threaten them with guns when they tried to leave.

ASSOCIATED PRESS Music producer Phil Spector is shown in Superior Court Monday, May 23, 2005, in Los Angeles. In art as in life, the enigma that is Phil Spector fascinates and baffles in equal parts. Just who is the real man behind the lauded music career, frightful wigs and erratic behavior? That question is again making the rounds of dinner parties and websites as the musical maestro turned convicted murderer is examined in the new HBO biopic, “ Phil Spector ,” starring Al Pacino in the titular role and Helen Mirren as his attorney Linda Kenney Baden. The Bad Girls Of "Spring Breakers" NBC's Mike Wilber talks with Selena Gomez and the cast of the new bad girls gone wild film "Spring Breakers". The Spring-break parody stars Gomez, Vanessa Hudgens, Ashley Benson and Rachel Korine.

(Published Thursday, March 21, 2013) Along with the falsely hirsute Oscar winner's interpretation (Pacino immerses himself in the role, wigs and all), the television movie is of interest due to its admitted lack of historical fact as it examines the relationship between Spector and Baden during Spector's first trial for the murder of actress/model Lana Clarkson that occured at his Los Angeles-area mansion in 2003. Audiences hoping to come away with a greater insight into the legend and the crime he is convicted of committing will have to decide for themselves what is real and what was created for the cameras. The 90-minute film starts with the following statement: “This is a work of fiction. It’s not ‘based on a true story.’ It is a drama inspired by actual persons in a trial, but it is neither an attempt to depict the actual persons, nor comment upon the trial or its outcome.” Vanessa Hudgens' "Spring Breakers" Premiere Vanessa Hudgens chats about how "amazing" it was to play a bad girl in her new movie, "Spring Breakers." Also, she talks about trying to move past her Disney image.

Plus, Vanessa reflects on her time working with co-star and friend Selena Gomez. (Published Tuesday, March 4, 2014) According to The Hollywood Reporter , writer/director David Mamet stated that he was interested in the “mythological possibilities” of the high-profile murder case and decided the story couldn’t just be fact-based. Whether Mamet’s fictional approach to Spector’s trial titillates or turns off viewers remains to be seen. What is without question, though, is that the creator of the wall of sound and the man who produced hits for the Ronettes, the Righteous Brothers and The Beatles still fascinates some 50 years after his musical career began, and 10 years after the shooting death of Clarkson. As he looms large once more in popular culture, here’s a look back at the reality that shaped the specter of Spector. Early Life and Career He was born Harvey Philip Spector on December 26, 1940, in New York City. Following the suicide of his father in 1953, a 9-year-old Spector and his family moved to Los Angeles.

Spector learned how to play the guitar and started writing songs while at Fairfax high school and formed his first band, The Teddy Bears, with fellow students Annette Kleinbard, Marshall Leib and Harvey Goldstein after graduation. The group had a No.1 hit in the United States and the United Kingdom with "To Know Him Is To Love Him." At age 19, Spector had written, arranged, played, sung, and produced the best-selling record in the country. Further hits eluded them and the band split in 1959. Success as Producer Following a move to New York to focus on producing, Spector and fellow producer Lester Still formed their own label, Philles Records in 1961. The partners signed on the group The Crystals, whose first two singles made Billboard’s top 20. Spector (both as a freelance producer and for his own label) had successes with singers such as Connie Francis (“Second Hand Love”) and girl group The Ronnettes (“Be My Baby”). By age 21, Spector was a millionaire responsible for producing 20 consecutive smash hits.

It was then that he established his trademark Wall of Sound; a production technique that delivered a dense, layered effect created by doubling or tripling the amount of instruments involved in the orchestrations. The result was popular music featuring a lush, dense sound which Spector described as the "Wagnerian approach to rock 'n' roll." Further hits followed: 1964’s “You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feelin’” and 1965’s “Unchained Melody” by the Righteous Brothers, and Ike and Tina Turner’s "River Deep, Mountain High" (1966). The latter single’s lukewarm reception Stateside (it went to No. 3 in the UK) disheartened Spector and he withdrew from the industry and the public eye for a time during which he married Veronica “Ronnie” Bennett, lead singer of the Ronnettes, in 1968. (Spector was first married to Annette Merar in the 1960s before Ronnie Spector, whom he divorced in 1974.) In 1969, Spector returned to work to produce John Lennon's solo album.

After that success he was asked to turn a series of Beatles’ recording sessions into a cohesive album. The result was “Let It Be,” an album that topped both the U.S. and U.K. charts. Spector continued to produce solo albums and singles for Lennon including “Imagine” and “Happy Xmas (War is Over),” as well as “Bangla-Desh” for Harrison. But as the 1970s progressed, Spector's relationship with Lennon deteriorated to a point which reportedly saw the producer brandishing a gun in the studio before disappearing with master tapes for the album “Rock ‘n’ Roll.” Wigging Out Further episodes of seclusion followed. In 1974 Spector was seriously injured in a car crash in Hollywood according to his biographer Dave Thompson (“ Wall of Pain: The Biography of Phil Spector ”), who suggests that the resulting head injuries were the reason Spector began donning the outré wigs he became known for in subsequent years. Spector re-emerged in the late 1970’s to produce work for Leonard Cohen and the Ramones before once again returning to semi-seclusion. Reports of his rare public appearances became more and more marked by strange behavior.

Inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1989 , Spector stunned the audience when he entered to accept the honor accompanied by three bodyguards, all of whom carried guns. His rambling speech finished, the bodyguards then appeared to usher him offstage. In 2007 he attended Ike Turner’s funeral during which he criticized Tina Turner , saying: “Ike made Tina the jewel she was. When I went to see Ike play at the Cinegrill in the 90s…there were at least five Tina Turners on the stage performing that night, any one of them could have been Tina Turner.” Spector went on to say that if wasn’t for Oprah’s endorsement of Turner’s autobiography “I, Tina,” it “wouldn’t have sold 10 books” and that the resulting film version, “What’s Love Got to Do With It,” was a “piece of trash movie.” Murder Trials On February 3, 2003, Lana Clarkson was found dead in Spector’s mansion, slumped in a chair in the foyer with a gunshot wound to the mouth following a night of drinking with the music impresario.

Prosecutors say he killed her when she rejected his overtures. Spector's lawyers argued that forensic evidence suggests the wound was self-inflicted. In September 2004, Spector was charged with Clarkson’s murder and the resulting trial generated much public interest due both to his former professional fame and his insistence on wearing increasingly outlandish wigs and brightly colored suit and tie ensembles in the courtroom. That trial ended in a hung jury and has become the inspiration for the HBO movie. A retrial began in October 2008. It was delayed as Mr. Spector brought in a new legal team who haggled with prosecutors over evidence. According to at least five women who testified in court, Spector had a frightening penchant for firearms and drunken outbursts. Defense lawyers argued that Clarkson’s Hollywood ambitions had stalled, that she had been suicidal and that she had turned the gun on herself. Spector spent most of the years following the death of Clarkson out on bail. That came to an end on April 13, 2009 when, following 127 hours of deliberation the jury found him guilty of second-degree murder .

On May 29, 2009 he was sentenced to 19 years to life in jail. Now 73, Spector is serving his sentence in a California prison while he and his third wife Rachelle Short (a former Playboy model 41 years Spector's junior who continues to live in the mansion where Clarkson was shot) continue to pursue appeals. In 2012, the Supreme Court chose not to review the conviction. A New Life on Screen In an interview with Rolling Stone , Spector’s wife Rachelle called Al Pacino’s portrayal of her husband in the new biopic “cheesy,” but hopes the movie will help sway public opinion about the murder conviction which she believes was more for political reasons than any solid evidence tying him to the crime. "They didn't get O.J. Simpson, they didn't get Michael Jackson and they didn't get Robert Blake, so my husband is it," Rachelle Spector said to the magazine.

In 2011, "Phil Spector" director Mamet suggested to the Financial Times that Spector may in fact be innocent of the crime."Whether he did it or not, we’ll never know, but if he’d just been a regular citizen, they never would have indicted him," Mamet said in the interview. "Phil Spector" airs on Sunday, March 31on HBO Published at 4:21 PM PDT on Mar 21, 2013 | Updated at 4:24 PM PDT on Mar 21, 2013 Phil Spector - The Full Wiki The Full Wiki More info on Phil Spector Wikis Note: Many of our articles have direct quotes from sources you can cite, within the Wikipedia article! This article doesn't yet, but we're working on it! See more info or our list of citable articles . Related top topics Top rankings for Phil Spector 72nd Top Jewish American entertainers Did you know ...

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Phil Spector December 26, 1939 (1939-12-26) (age 70) Origin philspector.com Harvey Philip "Phil" Spector (born December 26, 1939) [2] is an American former record producer and songwriter. The originator of the " Wall of Sound " production technique, Spector was a pioneer of the 1960s girl group sound and clocked in over twenty-five Top 40 hits between 1960 and 1965. Later in his career he worked with artists including Ike and Tina Turner , John Lennon , George Harrison , and the Ramones with similar success. He produced the Academy Award winning Beatles ' Let It Be and Grammy Award winning Concert for Bangladesh soundtracks. In 1989, Spector was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a nonperformer. The 1965 song " You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin' ", produced and cowritten by Spector for the The Righteous Brothers , is listed by BMI as the song with the most U.S.

air play in the 20th century. [3] The 2003 shooting death of actress Lana Clarkson in his Alhambra, California , home led to his being charged with murder in the second degree. After a 2007 mistrial , he was convicted in 2009, [4] and given a prison sentence of 19 years to life. [5] Contents 8 External links Early childhood Spector was born on December 26, 1939 to a lower middle class Jewish family in the Bronx in New York City. [6] [7] His grandfather was an immigrant from Russia with the surname "Spekter"; after moving to America, he anglicised the spelling to "Spector". [8] His father committed suicide on April 20, 1949 [9] , and in 1953 his mother moved the family to Los Angeles, California . Musical career Teenage performer and lyricist In Los Angeles, Spector got involved with music, learning the guitar. At 16, he performed Lonnie Donegan 's " Rock Island Line " at a talent show at his high school, Fairfax High School .

[10] While at Fairfax, he joined a loosely knit community of aspiring musicians, including Lou Adler , Bruce Johnston , Steve Douglas , and Sandy Nelson , the last of whom played drums on Spector's first record release, " To Know Him Is To Love Him ." [11] The Teddy Bears With three friends from high school, Marshall Lieb, Harvey Goldstein, and singer Annette Kleinbard , Spector formed a group, The Teddy Bears . During this period, Spector also began visiting local recording studios, and he eventually managed to win the confidence of record producer Stan Ross, coowner of Gold Star Studios in Hollywood , who began to tutor the young man in record production and who exerted a major influence on Spector's production style. By early 1958, Spector and his bandmates had raised enough money to buy two hours of recording time at Gold Star. With Spector producing, the Teddy Bears recorded the Spector-penned "Don't You Worry My Little Pet," which helped them secure a deal with Era Records. At their next session, they recorded another song Spector had written — this one inspired by the epitaph on Spector's father's tombstone.

Released on Era's subsidiary label, Dore Records, " To Know Him Is to Love Him " went to #1 on Billboard Hot 100 singles chart, selling over a million copies by year's end. Following the success of their debut, the group signed with Imperial Records , but their next single, "I Don't Need You Anymore," only reached #91. While several more recordings were released, including an album The Teddy Bears Sing!, the group never again charted in the Hot 100. The Teddy Bears went their separate ways in 1959. Record producer After the split, Spector's career quickly moved from performing and songwriting to production. While recording the Teddy Bears' album, Spector had met Lester Sill , a former promotion man who was a mentor to Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller . His next project, the Spectors Three, was undertaken under the aegis of Sill and his partner, Lee Hazlewood . In 1960, Sill arranged for Spector to work as an apprentice to Leiber and Stoller in New York. Spector quickly learned how to use a studio. He cowrote the Ben E.

King Top 10 hit " Spanish Harlem " with Jerry Leiber and also worked as a session musician, most notably playing the guitar solo on the The Drifters ' song, " On Broadway ". His own productions during this time, while less conspicuous, included releases by LaVern Baker , Ruth Brown , and Billy Storm, as well as The Top Notes' original version of " Twist and Shout ". Leiber and Stoller recommended Spector to produce Ray Peterson 's " Corrina, Corrina ," which reached #9 in January 1961. Later, he produced another major hit for Curtis Lee , "Pretty Little Angel Eyes," which made it to #7. Returning to Hollywood, Spector agreed to produce one of Lester Sill's acts. After both Liberty Records and Capitol Records turned down the master of "Be My Boy" by The Paris Sisters , Sill formed a new label, Gregmark Records , with Lee Hazlewood and released it. It only managed to reach #56, but the follow-up, " I Love How You Love Me ", was a smash, reaching #5.

Philles Records In late 1961, Spector formed a new record company with Lester Sill, who by this time had ended his business partnership with Hazlewood. Philles Records combined the names of its two founders. Through Hill and Range Publishers, Spector found three groups he wanted to produce: The Ducanes, The Creations, and The Crystals . The first two signed with other companies, but Spector managed to secure The Crystals for his new label. Their first single, " There's No Other (Like My Baby) " was a success, hitting #20. Their next release, "Uptown", did even better, making it to #13. Spector continued to work freelance with other artists. In 1962, he produced "Second Hand Love" by Connie Francis , which reached #7. In the early '60s, he briefly worked with Atlantic Records ' R&B artists Ruth Brown and LaVerne Baker . Ahmet Ertegün of Atlantic paired Spector with Broadway star Jean DuShon for "Talk to Me", the b-side of which was "Tired of Trying", written by DuShon.

Spector briefly took a job as head of A&R for Liberty Records . It was while working at Liberty that he heard a song written by Gene Pitney , for whom he had produced a #41 hit, "Every Breath I Take", a year earlier. " He's a Rebel " was due to be released on Liberty by Vicki Carr , but Spector rushed into Gold Star Studios and recorded a cover version using Darlene Love on lead vocals. The record was released on Philles, attributed to The Crystals, and quickly rose to the top of the charts. By the time "He's a Rebel" went to #1, Lester Sill was out of the company, and Spector had Philles all to himself. He created a new act, Bob B. Soxx & the Blue Jeans , featuring Darlene Love and Bobby Sheen, a singer he had worked with at Liberty. The group had hits with " Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah " (#8), "Why Do Lovers Break Each Other’s Hearts?" (#38), and "Not Too Young To Get Married" (#63). Spector also released solo material by Darlene Love in 1963.

In the same year, he released " Be My Baby " by The Ronettes , which went to #2. Although predominantly a singles-based label, Philles did release a few albums, one of which was the perennial seller A Christmas Gift for You in 1963. The Wall of Sound Main article: Wall of Sound Spector's trademark during that era was the so-called Wall of Sound , a production technique yielding a dense, layered effect that reproduced well on AM radio and jukeboxes . To attain this signature sound, Spector gathered large groups of musicians (playing some instruments not generally used for ensemble playing, such as electric and acoustic guitars ) playing orchestrated parts — often doubling and tripling many instruments playing in unison — for a fuller sound. Spector himself called his technique "a Wagnerian approach to rock & roll: little symphonies for the kids".

While Spector directed the overall sound of his recordings, he took a relatively hands-off approach to working with the musicians themselves (usually a core group that became known as The Wrecking Crew , including session players such as Hal Blaine , Steve Douglas , Carol Kaye , Roy Caton , Glen Campbell , and Leon Russell ), delegating arrangement duties to Jack Nitzsche and having Sonny Bono oversee the performances, viewing these two as his "lieutenants". Spector frequently used songs from songwriters employed at the Brill Building (Trio Music) and at 1650 Broadway (Aldon Music), such as the teams of Ellie Greenwich and Jeff Barry , Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil , and Gerry Goffin and Carole King . Spector often worked with the songwriters, receiving co-credit and publishing royalties for compositions. Spector was already known as a temperamental and quirky personality with strong, often unconventional ideas about musical and recording techniques. Despite the trend towards multichannel recording, Spector was vehemently opposed to stereo releases, claiming that it took control of the record's sound away from the producer in favor of the listener.

Spector was more concerned with the overall collage of sound than with the recording fidelity or timbral quality. Sometimes a pair of strings or horns would be double-tracked multiple times to sound like an entire string or horn section. But in the final product the background sometimes could not be distinguished as either horns or strings. Spector also greatly preferred singles to albums, describing LPs as "two hits and ten pieces of junk", reflecting both his commercial methods and those of many other producers at the time. The first time Spector put the same amount of effort into an LP as he did into 45s was when he utilized the full Philles roster and the Wrecking Crew to make what he felt would become a hit for the 1963 Christmas season. A Christmas Gift for You arrived in stores the day of the assassination of President Kennedy on November 22, 1963. The somber mood of the country may have contributed to the album being a flop in its initial release. Despite its initially poor reception, selections from the album are now Yuletide mainstays on radio stations, and the album has since been a regular seller during the holiday season.

The mid-Sixties In 1964, The Ronettes appeared at the Cow Palace , near San Francisco . Also on the bill were The Righteous Brothers . Spector, who was conducting the band for all the acts, was so impressed with Bill Medley and Bobby Hatfield that he bought their contract from Moonglow Records and signed them to Philles. In early 1965, " You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin' ", became the label's second #1 single. Three more major hits with the group followed: " Just Once in My Life " (#9), " Unchained Melody " (originally the B side of "Hung On You") (#4) and " Ebb Tide " (#5). Despite having hits, Spector lost interest in producing The Righteous Brothers, and sold their contract and all their master recordings to Verve Records . However, the sound of The Righteous Brothers' singles was so distinctive that the act chose to replicate it after leaving Spector, notching a second #1 hit in 1966 with the Bill Medley-produced, "(You're My) Soul and Inspiration".

The Spector-produced recording of " Unchained Melody " had a second wave of popularity 25 years after its initial release, when it was featured prominently in the 1990 hit movie, Ghost . A rerelease of the single recharted on the Billboard Hot 100 , and went to number one on the Adult Contemporary charts . This also put Spector (as a producer) back on the U.S. Top 40 charts for the first time since his last appearance in 1971 with John Lennon 's " Imagine ", although he did have U.K. top 40 hits in the interim with The Ramones . Spector's final signing to Philles was the husband-and-wife team of Ike and Tina Turner in 1966. Spector considered their recording of " River Deep - Mountain High ", to be his best work, but it failed to go any higher than #88 in the United States. The single, which was essentially a solo Tina Turner record, was more successful in Britain , reaching #3. Spector subsequently lost enthusiasm for his label and the recording industry.

Already something of a recluse , he withdrew temporarily from the public eye, marrying Veronica "Ronnie" Bennett , lead singer of the Ronettes, in 1968. Spector emerged briefly for a cameo as a drug dealer in the film Easy Rider , in 1969. (He had also, in 1967, appeared as himself in an episode of I Dream of Jeannie .) Comeback 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. The record reached #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 #3, Spector was invited by Lennon and George Harrison to take on the task of turning the Beatles' abandoned " Get Back " recording sessions into a usable album.

Spector 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 three #1 singles: " Get Back ", " The Long and Winding Road ", and " Let it Be ". His 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. In 2003, McCartney spearheaded the release of Let It Be... Naked , which stripped the songs of Spector's input. Spector later stated that McCartney's complaints were "bullshit": it had not stopped McCartney from accepting the "Best Musical Score" award at the 1971 Academy Awards for the Let It Be soundtrack. In any case, both John Lennon and George Harrison were satisfied with the results, and Let It Be led to Spector coproducing albums with both ex-Beatles.

For George Harrison's multiplatinum album All Things Must Pass (#1, 1970), Spector provided a cathedral-like sonic ambiance, complete with ornate orchestrations and gospel-like choirs. The LP yielded two major hits: " My Sweet Lord " (#1) and " What Is Life " (#10). That same year, Spector coproduced John Lennon's Plastic Ono Band (#6) album, which featured a very different, sparse and raw sound. 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 coproduced the single " Power to the People " with John Lennon (#11), as well as Lennon's chart-topping Imagine album. The album's title track hit #3 upon its release and #1 after Lennon's murder in 1980. With George Harrison, Spector coproduced Harrison's " Bangla-Desh " (a #23 hit) and wife Ronnie Spector's " Try Some, Buy Some " (#77). Also that year, Spector recorded the music for the #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 (#48). Similar to the unusual pattern of success that Spector's A Christmas Gift For You experienced, "Happy Xmas (War Is Over)" also stalled in sales upon its initial release, only later to become a fixture on radio station playlists during the holiday season. In 1973, Spector participated in the recording sessions for what would be Lennon's Rock 'n' Roll album (#6). It was during these sessions that Spector's relationship with Lennon ended; some versions claim that the producer suffered a breakdown in the studio, brandishing a gun and disappearing with the Rock 'n' Roll tapes, although Spector biographer Dave Thompson places most of the blame on the out-of-control behavior of Lennon and his entourage. After several months, Lennon retrieved the tapes and finished the album himself.

Later years As the 1970s progressed, Spector became increasingly reclusive. The most probable and significant reason for his withdrawal, recently revealed by biographer Dave Thompson, was that Spector was seriously injured when he was thrown through the windshield of his car in a crash in Hollywood. According to a contemporary report published in the New Musical Express , Spector was almost killed, and it was only because the attending police officer detected a faint pulse that Spector was not declared dead at the scene. He was admitted to the UCLA Medical Center on the night of March 31, 1974, suffering serious head injuries which necessitated several hours of surgery with over 300 stitches to his face, and more than 400 stitches to the back of his head. His head injuries, Thompson suggests, were the reason that Spector began his habit of wearing outlandish wigs in later years. The 1974 accident took place shortly after Spector had established the Warner-Spector label, which undertook new recordings with Dion , Cher , Harry Nilsson and others, as well as several reissues.

A similar relationship with Britain's Polydor Records led to the formation of the Phil Spector International label in 1975. After a pair of failed singles with Cher , Spector produced Dion’s " Born To Be With You ." The majority of Spector's classic Philles recordings had been out of print in the U.S. since the original label's demise, although Spector had released several Philles Records compilations in Britain. Finally, he released an American compilation of his Philles recordings in 1977 which put most of the better known Spector hits back into circulation after many years. Spector began to reemerge in the late 1970s, producing and cowriting a controversial 1977 album by Leonard Cohen , entitled Death of a Ladies' Man . The album angered many devout Cohen fans who were used to his stark acoustic sound versus the orchestral and choral wall of sound the album contains. Despite initial negative critiques, the album is now considered one of Cohen's best.

[12] The recording of the album was fraught with difficulty; After Cohen had laid down practice vocal tracks, Spector reportedly mixed the album in "secret" studio sessions, literally locking Cohen, who usually took a strong role in the mixing, out of the studio. Cohen said Spector once threatened him with a crossbow, a claim, according to newspapers reports, others would make about their dealings with Spector. Cohen has remarked that the end result is "grotesque", but also "semi-virtuous". Cohen, however, still includes a reworked version of the track "Memories" in live concerts. Bob Dylan and Allen Ginsberg also participated in the background vocals on "Don't Go Home With Your Hard-On," which is the second time Spector indirectly "produced" Dylan - the first being Dylan's live recordings on The Concert For Bangladesh. Spector also produced the much-publicized Ramones album, End of the Century in 1980. Similar to his work with Leonard Cohen, End of the Century received negative backlash from Ramones fans who were angered over the radio-friendly sound of the album.

However, End of the Century contains some of the best known and most successful Ramones singles such as Rock 'n' Roll High School , Do You Remember Rock 'n' Roll Radio? and their cover of a previously released Spector song for the Ronettes, Baby, I Love You [13] . Guitarist Johnny Ramone later commented on working with Spector on the recording of the album, "It really worked when he got to a slower song like ' Danny Says '—the production really worked tremendously. For the harder stuff, it didn't work as well." [14] Rumors had circulated for years that Spector had threatened members of the Ramones with a gun during the sessions. Johnny Ramone remembered a meeting at Spector's home in which the producer became upset when they tried to leave. "And then he reaches into his jacket pocket and well, he pulls out a gun, puts it on the table right in front of us, and says, 'You guys don't really have to go yet, do you?'". [15] Drummer Marky Ramone recalled in 2008 "They (guns) were there but he had a license to carry. He never held us hostage.

We could have left at any time". [16] Spector also worked with Yoko Ono in 1981, and coproduced Season of Glass , her first work after her husband's death. Since 2000 Spector remained inactive throughout most of the 1980s, 1990s, and early 2000s. He attempted to work with Céline Dion on her album Falling Into You , but that fell through. His most recent released project has been " Silence Is Easy " by Starsailor , released in 2003. He was originally supposed to produce the entire album, but was fired owing to personal and creative differences — however, one of the two Spector-produced songs on the album was a U.K. top 10 single. Spector produced singer-songwriter Hargo's track, "Crying For John Lennon", which originally appears on Hargo's 2006 album In Your Eyes, but on a visit to Spector's mansion for an interview for the John Lennon tribute movie, Strawberry Fields, Hargo played Spector the song and asked him to produce it.

Spector and former Paul McCartney drummer Graham Ward produced it in the classic Wall of Sound style on nights after his first murder trial. [17] In December 2007, the song " B Boy Baby " by Mutya Buena and Amy Winehouse featured melodic and lyrical passages heavily influenced by the Ronettes song " Be My Baby ". As a result, Spector was given a songwriting credit on the single. The sections from "Be My Baby" are sung by Winehouse, not directly sampled from the mono single. [18] Winehouse has made reference to her admiration of Spector's work with 1960s girl groups. She often performs Spector's first hit song, " To Know Him Is to Love Him ". [19] Also in December 2007, Spector attended the funeral for Ike Turner whom he previously produced in the mid-late 1960s with his then-wife Tina Turner . While delivering a eulogy, Spector lashed out at Tina Turner and stated that "Ike made Tina the jewel she was.

When I went to see Ike play at the Cinegrill in the 90s…there were at least five Tina Turners on the stage performing that night, any one of them could have been Tina Turner." Spector then lashed out at Oprah Winfrey for promoting Tina Turner's autobiography that "demonized and vilified Ike." [20] In mid-April 2008, BBC 2 broadcast a special entitled Phil Spector: The Agony and The Ecstasy. It consists of Spector's first screen interview—breaking a long period of media silence. During the conversation, images from the murder court case are juxtaposed with live appearances of his tracks on television programs from the 1960s and 1970s, along with subtitles giving critical interpretation of some of his song production values. While he doesn't directly try to clear his name, the court case proceedings shown try to give further explanation of the facts surrounding the murder charges that were leveled against him.

He also speaks about the musical instincts that led him to create some of his most enduring hit records, from " You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin' " to " River Deep, Mountain High ", as well as The Beatles ' album Let It Be , along with criticisms he feels he has had to deal with throughout his life. [21] Influence Many producers have tried to emulate the Wall of Sound, and Brian Wilson of the Beach Boys —a fellow adherent of mono recording—considered Spector his main competition as a studio artist, going so far as to name the acclaimed Pet Sounds album using Spector's initials. [22] Bruce Springsteen emulated the Wall of Sound technique in his recording of " Born to Run ". Shoegazing , a British musical movement in the late 1980s and mid 1990s, was heavily influenced by the Wall of Sound. For his contributions to the music industry, Spector was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1989. In 2004, Rolling Stone magazine ranked him #63 on their list of the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time .

[23] Spector's early musical influences included Latin music in general, and Latin percussion in particular. This is keenly perceptible in many, if not all, of Spector's recordings from the percussion in many of his hit songs: shakers, güiros (gourds), and maracas in "Be My Baby," and the son montuno in "You've Lost That Lovin' Feeling," heard clearly in the song's bridge played by session bassist Carol Kaye while the same repeating refrain is played on harpsichord by keyboardist Larry Knechtel . Spector would visit Spanish Harlem clubs and schools to hone his listening and practical skills. The Beach Boys paid tribute to Spector in the lyrics of their song " Mona ": "Come on/Listen to " Da Doo Ron Ron ," now/Listen to " Be My Baby "/I know you're gonna love Phil Spector" The character of Ronnie "Z-Man" Barzell in Beyond the Valley of the Dolls , a 1970 Russ Meyer film, is based upon Spector, though neither Meyer nor screenwriter Roger Ebert had met him.

Death of Lana Clarkson On February 3, 2003, actress Lana Clarkson was found dead, killed by a firearm, in Spector's residence. Spector stated that Clarkson's death was an "accidental suicide " and that she "kissed the gun". [24] According to some women who were said to have met Spector, there would come a point when they wanted to leave Spector's home, whereupon he would hold them at gunpoint. The defense's strenuous efforts before trial to have these damning statements barred from testimony were futile. [25] Two months before the night of the shooting, Spector had told Britain's Daily Telegraph that he had bipolar disorder and that he considered himself "relatively insane". [26] [27] Prior to and during the first trial, Spector went through at least three sets of attorneys. Defense attorney Robert Shapiro represented Spector at the arraignment and early pretrial hearings and achieved his release on $1 million bail. Bruce Cutler represented him during the 2007 trial, but withdrew on August 27, 2007 claiming "a difference of opinion between Mr.

Spector and me on strategy." Attorney Linda Kenney Baden then became lead lawyer for closing arguments. [28] First trial Spector remained free on $1 million bail while awaiting trial. The trial began on March 19, 2007 (four years and one month after Clarkson's death). Presiding judge Larry Paul Fidler allowed the trial to be televised. [29] At the start of the trial, the defense's famed forensic expert Henry Lee (who provided key evidence in the O. J. Simpson trial ) was accused of hiding crucial evidence that the District Attorney's office claimed could prove Spector's guilt. [30] On September 26, 2007 Judge Fidler declared a mistrial because the jury was hung (10 to 2 for conviction). [31] [32] [33] [34] Second trial The retrial of Spector for murder in the second degree began on October 20, 2008, [35] with Judge Fidler again presiding; this time it was not televised.

The case went to the jury on March 26, 2009, and nineteen days later, on April 13, the jury returned a guilty verdict. [36] [37] In addition he was found guilty of using a firearm in the commission of a crime. [38] Spector was immediately taken into custody [38] and was formally sentenced on May 29, 2009, to 19 years to life in the California State Prison System. [5] Spector will be 88 years old before becoming eligible for parole. [39] [40] [41] [42] [43] Spector is currently serving his sentence at the California Substance Abuse Treatment Facility and State Prison in Corcoran. Although it is in Corcoran, it is a separate facility from Corcoran State Prison, where, among others, Charles Manson is serving his life sentence. [44] [45] Family Spector was married to Veronica "Ronnie" Bennett , former lead singer of The Ronettes , a girl group that he had managed and produced, from 1963 to 1974.

They adopted three children: Louis Phillip Spector & Gary Phillip Spector (twins), born May 12, 1966 (adopted at age 5) Donté Phillip Spector, born March 23, 1969 (adopted at age 8 months) Other children (with Janis Savala, who became Spector's third wife): Nicole Audrey Spector & Phillip Spector Jr. (twins), born 1982. Phillip Spector Jr. died of leukemia December 25, 1991 [46] Spector married aspiring singer and actress Rachelle Short on September 1, 2006. Discography

Question: Whose record album, produced by Phil Spector, was released while he is in jail serving a 19 year sentence for murder?
Answer: Rachelle Short