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In the early 60s, pop was a hidden industry whose interface with the public existed only at performance level. The big money wasn’t around then and the record game wasn’t seen as a legitimate vocation for sons and daughters. In this subterranean milieu, income depended on factors that were both difficult to predict and control and it seemed a safer bet becoming a lawyer, a doctor or a dentist.
This was the awesome challenge facing 21 year-old Phil Spector as he barnstormed his way through recording circles, making an immediate impact with major hits such as ‘Spanish Harlem’ (Ben E King), ‘Pretty Little Angel Eyes’ (Curtis Lee) and ‘Corinna Corinna’ (Ray Peterson).
It all began for Spector with the Teddy Bears, an ad hoc vocal group he organised as a vehicle for his songs back in 1958. Events had moved fairly quickly in his life since he’d moved with his mother and sister from the Bronx to Los Angeles in 1953. By the time he’d graduated from Fairfax high School in 1957, Spector had become proficient on the guitar and turned his hand to song writing. Some crudely recorded demos including ‘Don’t You Worry My Little Pet’ (heard here) caught the attention of Doré Records who sanctioned further recordings resulting in the worldwide hit ‘To Know Him Is To Love Him’.
Riven by personality conflicts, the Teddy Bears soon disbanded and Spector teamed up with Lester Sill and Lee Hazlewood, the force behind twangy guitarist Duane Eddy’s hits. Placed in charge of Sill’s new signing Kell Osborne, Spector wrote and produced the gritty ‘That’s Alright Baby’. Spector then expressed a desire to move back East. As a favour to their old mentor, Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller agreed to look after him. Alternating between coasts, Spector recorded the Paris Sisters, a vocal trio signed by Sill. His faith in Spector was more than justified when the trio’s ‘I Love How You Love Me’ climbed to #5.
Following a short stop at Liberty records – the only official staff post he ever held – Spector walked away to concentrate on his own Philles label. Four years had lapsed since he’d stepped untrained into a recording studio with three friends to record a hit almost by chance. Since then, he’d learned his craft, paid his dues and finally become his own boss. Now, at 23, he had the industry in the palm of his hand and only himself to account to.
“Phil Spector: The Early Productions” covers this formative phase of Spector’s career without duplicating too many hits available on other Ace comps. 12 of the generous 28 tunes are new to CD and both the sequencing and mastering make them a delight to the ear while the booklet is a presentational tour de force. Let’s remember him this way rather than the other.
Tracklist
01 I'm So Happy (Tra La La) - The Ducanes
02 Spanish Harlem - Ben E King
03 When You Dance - Billy Storm
04 I Love How You Love Me - The Paris Sisters
05 Be A Soldier - Terry Day
06 You Took Advantage Of Me - The Blackwells
07 Shang Shang - The Creations
08 That's All Right Baby - Kell Osborne
09 Under The Moon Of Love - Curtis Lee
10 You Said Goodbye - The Teddy Bears
11 Hey Memphis - LaVern Baker
12 The Basic Things - The Top Notes
13 How Many Nights (How Many Days) - Bobby Sheen
14 Hey There Mountain - Obrey Wilson
15 Talk To Me, Talk To Me - Jean DuShon
16 Twist And Shout - The Top Notes
17 The Bells - The Creations
18 I Love You, Betty - Terry Day
19 Nights Of Mexico - Russell Byrd
20 Bumbershoot - Phil Harvey
21 Little Did I Know - The Ducanes
22 Pretty Little Angel Eyes - Curtis Lee
23 Every Breath I Take - Gene Pitney
24 Anyone But You - Ruth Brown
25 Laugh Right In My Face - Bobby Sheen
26 What Am I To Do - The Paris Sisters
27 Where Can You Be - Tony & Joe
28 Don't You Worry My Little Pet - The Teddy Bears