Phil Spector - Part J - "Walls & Walls Of Soundalikes"

[Philles/Motown Gary]

[Introductory notes taken from "A Wall Of Soundalikes [[1)" CD booklet.]

They say that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. If that's true, Phil Spector must be the most flattered record producer there ever was -- which he probably is! Soon after hitting #1 with his very first record in 1958 -- "To Know Him Is To Love Him" by his group The Teddy Bears -- Spector turned his attention to production. He studied his craft under Lester Sill and Lee Hazlewood before moving to New York to work as an apprentice to Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller. In 1961, he produced Top Ten hits for Curtis Lee, Ray Peterson, and The Paris Sisters.

Later that year, he formed his Philles label and set about defining a record producer's role, initially with The Crystals. By 1964, his roster of hit acts also included Bob B. Soxx & The Blue Jeans, Darlene Love, The Ronettes, and The Righteous Brothers. His sessions at Gold Star Studios in L.A. became legendary for their extravagance. Using massed voices, an army of musicians, and cavernous tape echo, Spector's massive productions possessed a unique aural identity that would become known as the Wall Of Sound. It would also become much imitated, eventually spawning a genre of its own.

Here, in the following 3 CD volumes spanning the years 1963 through 1969, are 74 examples of that "Spector Sound" genre -- some sublime, some mediocre, but all fascinating -- a veritable "Wall Of Soundalikes".

This thread includes the following Various Artists CD's:

1) "Phil's Spectre [[1): A Wall Of Soundalikes" [[ACE CDCHD 978)

2) "Phil's Spectre 2: Another Wall Of Soundalikes" [[ACE CDCHD 1059)

3) "Phil's Spectre 3: A Third Wall Of Soundalikes" [[ACE CDCHD 1149).

4) Additional "Walls Of Soundalikes" not included in the above ACE sets.