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> Login to your account > RegisterPHIL SPECTOR: OUT OF HIS HEAD Richard Williams
From page 78 of Classic Rock Magazine July 2007
Cover of July 2007 issue.
Omnibus Press
A classy read with a tacky coda.
When first published in 1972, this study of the pioneering producer was a much-praised tome; a lovingly detailed account of how Spector’s ‘Wall Of Sound’ as good as changed pop music forever. The nuts and bolts of those great Crystals, Ronettes and Ike & Tina Turner records were laid out and lauded over, and their influence on those who followed (The Beatles, Brian Wilson et al) assessed with great articulacy. There was also much mention of Spector’s volatile behaviour away from the studio. And it’s that side of his character, and his current murder trial, that has prompted this disappointing update. Spector’s next 30 years are dealt with in a scant 15 pages, ending with the killing of B-movie starlet Lana Clarkson. Clumsily, the very last sentence of the book gets the date of the shooting wrong. A dubious cash-in, when an update would have been better left until the outcome of the court proceedings.
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Terry Staunton
