Waiting, do you know how Phil achieved that huge "Wall Of Sound"? First, he would use 5 or 6 guitars -- all strumming the same notes. He would use 2 or 3 pianos -- say, a Grand Piano, an electric piano, and a third type of piano [[I forget which - maybe an upright) -- all playing the same notes. There would be 2 or 3 electric bass players and maybe an upright bass. In addition to that, there was an army of baritone saxes all playing the same notes while providing a powerful bottom end. Add to that Hal Blaine's magnificent drumming and Earl Palmer's drumming along with other percussionists playing castanets, sleighbells, chimes, handclaps -- anything that Phil and his music arranger, Jack Nitzsche, deemed appropriate for the particular Philles session at hand. There might by 10 back-up singers. As you can imagine, the tiny Gold Star studio was jam-packed with musicians. When Phil got the perfect take on one Mono tape, he would then have enginer Larry Levine copy that tape to another take deck. He would then copy that tape back over on top of the first tape which is now doubled. [[This process of overdubbing is called "Sound On Sound".) Phil could have Larry do that as many times as he wanted. 30 musicians would become 60 musicians, 10 back-up singers became 20 until it became a choir of angels. If he overdubbed again, those numbers would be doubled yet again, and so on and so forth, until he achieved the sound he wanted. Add to that Gold Star's famous and beloved echo chamber, all of which contributed to Phil Spector's "Wall Of Sound".
I forgot to mention that, another reason for "River Deep's" failure in the U.S is because the white AM stations thought the record was too black for their audience, and black AM stations thought it was too white for their audience, all of which resulted in a poor chart showing for Phil's crowning achievement while most Americans never got a chance to hear it. I was among them. I never heard "River Deep" until 1969 when the original Philles LP was reissued with an alternate track list on the A&M label. [[Phil was so discouraged and defeated, the original "River Deep" album on Philles was pressed in a very small run of which only 6 copies were pressed, after which Philles doors were closed in defeat I failed to mention that Tina's "River Deep" single was a huge hit in the U.K., going up to #3 on their Pop chart.
BTW, Waiting, which Phil Spector/Philles Records books do you have? After you tell me, I'll fill you in on what is [[or has been) available. To my knowledge, I have them all.
If you want to take your interest one step further, there have been 3 or 4 CD box sets containing moments from actual Philles recording sessions. Here is just one of many.
The making of:
THE RONETTES - "Do I Love You" [[Part 1)
https://youtu.be/JBvKhAHIZSE
The Making of:
THE RONETTES - "Do I Love You" [[Part 2)
https://youtu.be/DNytdA71lf0
The Making of:
THE RONETTES - "Do I Love You" [[Part 3)
https://youtu.be/MXXqw7eN1lg
And then, lo and behold, the final product:
THE RONETTES - "Do I Love You" [[Part 4)
https://youtu.be/FJ-FoTs6Oqw
And that's how a Philles Record is born!
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