Brilliant musician and crazy killer Spector (12 photos)

This man collaborated with the legendary The Beatles and Tina Turner, produced The Crystals and The Ronettes and went down in history as the creator of a unique technique for recording and arranging music called the wall of sound, which consisted of repeatedly duplicating parts of musical instruments and overlaying them on top of each other during records.





But Phil Spector became famous not only for his musical achievements. As a child, the boy suffered from numerous illnesses - asthma, allergies and others. But they faded into the background when Harvey Philip's father passed away.



Phil in his youth

The mother could not cope with two children and handed over her youngest daughter to an orphanage. But the attention to his son became somehow pathological: the boy had to report on his affairs almost every 15 minutes. In an attempt to escape from everyday difficulties, Phil plunged headlong into music. And even formed a teenage group, Teddy Bears. The guys did not achieve success, but Phil realized that he had chosen the right direction.





And already at the age of 21 he registered his own music label Philles. Over the course of several years, Phil wrote a dozen really cool songs that entered the country's TOP 40. And he began to use the same sound wall method, which provides the most powerful rich and dense sound.

Tool people



Lennon and Spector

Despite his obvious talent, Phil behaved like a manipulator. And he did things on the brink and beyond.

In the music community, the producer became famous as a brilliant perfectionist who demonstrated the habits of a despot and treated artists as property. Considering them guitars or synthesizers. While working with John Lennon, Phil fired a pistol at the studio ceiling, held The Ramones hostage while recording their next hit, and threatened Leonard Cohen with a pistol. But a genius is forgiven a lot. And while Phil was giving out hits like hotcakes, he was forgiven for these antics.

Personal life and extravagant hobbies



Ronnie Spector

As his career developed and financial opportunities expanded, the producer's tastes also changed. He acquired a luxurious mansion and a team of bodyguards. And unusual incriminations - collecting weapons and... wigs, for which he allocated a special room.

Although the abnormality of the musician’s behavior was obvious to others, Phil himself considered himself completely normal. Perhaps only with a slightly expanded scope of permissibility.

The first marriage to Annette Mehar turned out to be fleeting. The second wife was his ward, Veronica Ronnie-Bennett from the Ronettes. The girl was young and in love and at first endured the total control of her eccentric husband. He forbade leaving the mansion, wearing shoes at home, and communicating with others. And in order to finally tie Veronica to himself, he gave her children. Yes, in the literal sense - he adopted and presented him with a fait accompli.

Veronica ran away in 1972 at the insistence of her mother, when Phil promised to kill her and leave her body in the mansion in a glass coffin when she tried to leave him.



Spector went through the divorce with the help of strong drugs. Which left an even more serious imprint on behavior - solitude, eccentric outfits. Then the creative crisis ended, and The Beatles became interested in the producer.

After Lennon, Phil retired for several years, secretly married his assistant, and twins were born in the marriage. In 1989, his name was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. And Spector returned to work, taking over the British group Starsailor. I just didn’t have time to make them stars.

Mad Creator



Lana Clarkson

In 2003, a woman, actress Lana Clarkson, whom Phil met a few hours before his death in a nightclub and invited to his place, died in the musician’s palace.





An hour later, Spector left the house and told the driver that he had “killed someone.” Arriving police found Clarkson withbroken skull. The investigation lasted for several years. All this time, Phil was free thanks to a substantial bail.



In a court



Still from the film “Phil Spector” 2012

Based on the high-profile case, the film “Phil Spector” was made, in which Al Pacino played the main role. As a result, the accused was found guilty, although he never admitted his guilt, and was sentenced to life with the possibility of parole no earlier than 19 years.



Phil's last press appearance was very friendly and low-key. It was as if the mad genius knew that he would never have another opportunity to address the world. The premonition did not deceive: at the beginning of 2021, the producer died from complications after a coronavirus infection at the age of 81.