Bernard Spector, his father, was an ironworker. 26, 1939, in New York City's borough of the Bronx. Harvey Phillip Spector, in his mid-60s when he was charged with murder, had been born on Dec. His defense had argued that the actress, despondent about her fading career, shot herself through the mouth. It ended in a 10-2 deadlock leaning toward conviction. Once the 2007 trial began, however, he toned down his attire. He arrived at one hearing in a chauffeur-driven stretch Hummer. He would arrive in court for pretrial hearings in theatrical outfits, usually featuring high-heeled boots, frock coats and wildly styled wigs. When he was finally indicted for murder, he lashed out at authorities, angrily telling reporters: "The actions of the Hitler-like DA and his storm trooper henchmen are reprehensible, unconscionable and despicable."Īs a defendant, his eccentricity took center stage. In the meantime, Spector remained free on $1 million bail. The case was fraught with mystery, and it took authorities a year to file charges. He would later tell friends Clarkson had shot herself. Years of stories of his waving guns at recording artists in the studio and threatening women would come back to haunt him after Clarkson's death.Īccording to witnesses she had agreed, somewhat reluctantly, to accompany him home from the Sunset Strip's House of Blues in West Hollywood, where she worked Shortly after their arrival in Alhambra in the pre-dawn hours of February 3, 2003, a chauffeur reported Spector came out of the house holding a gun, blood on his hands, and told him, "I think I killed somebody." He was imperious, temperamental and dangerous, remembered bitterly by Darlene Love, Ronnie Spector and others who worked with him. The volume, and violence, of Spector's music reflected a dark side he could barely contain even at his peak. Spector also had a memorable film role, a cameo as a drug dealer in "Easy Rider." The producer himself was played by Al Pacino in a 2013 HBO movie. Spector worked on George Harrison's acclaimed post-Beatles triple album, "All Things Must Pass," co-produced Lennon's "Imagine," and the less successful "Some Time in New York City," which included Spector's picture over a caption that read, "To Know Him is to Love Him." Although Lennon praised Spector's work, bandmate Paul McCartney was enraged, especially when Spector added strings and a choir to McCartney's "The Long and Winding Road." Years later, McCartney would oversee a remastered "Let it Be," removing Spector's contributions.Ī documentary of the making of Lennon's 1971 "Imagine" album showed the ex-Beatle clearly in charge, prodding Spector over a backing vocal, a line none of Spector's early artists would have dared cross. In 1969, Spector was called in to salvage the Beatles' "Let It Be" album, a troubled "back to basics" production marked by dissension within the band. He would go on to produce the Beatles and Lennon among others, but he was now serving the artists, instead of the other way around. When "River Deep-Mountain High," an aptly-named 1966 release that featured Tina Turner, failed to catch on, Spector shut down his record label and withdrew from the business for three years. "You've Lost That Lovin' Feeling," the operatic Righteous Brothers ballad which topped the charts in 1965, has been tabulated as the song most played on radio and television - counting the many cover versions - in the 20th century.īut thanks in part to the arrival of the Beatles, his chart success would soon fade. By his mid-20s his "little symphonies" had resulted in nearly two dozen hit singles and made him a millionaire.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |