A letter from incarcerated record producer Phil Spector to a friend (and forwarded by the Wall Of Sound builder’s publicist to the fine people at Page Six) reveals that the man has a slightly inflated opinion of himself, and not the best grasp on other people who are incarcarated with him. In the missive, Spector—who’s serving out a life sentence for killing actress Lana Clarkson—is pretty peeved that he’s been put on the same level, and in the same correctional facility, as family leader Charles Manson and Robert F. Kennedy assassin Sirhan Sirhan. The only problem? Those two are actually locked up two miles away from the California Substance Abuse Treatment Facility, where Spector is currently serving time. More »
Above, Phil Spector bears an eerie resemblance to another rock legend in his booking photo taken at a California prison last week. It’s a testament to whoever was impersonating the disgraced record producer on Twitter that he at least got the bit about his wigs being confiscated by The Man right. [The Smoking Gun] More »
In the continuing saga of People Believing That Everyone On The Internet Is Who They Say They Are Despite Years Of Evidence To The Contrary, the news that PhilSpector on Twitter was not actually from the fingers of disgraced record producer is shocking some people. (The account has since been deleted.) Guys, come on. In ninth grade I fell for the whole “‘gullible’ isn’t in the dictionary” thing and even I knew that people don’t get iPod privileges after they’ve been convicted on homicide charges! [The Quietus] More »
Probably not (unless I’m mistaken, most people who have been locked up for murder don’t get to hang on to their iPods and laptops while in the pokey), but whoever’s portraying the disgraced record producer on the microblogging service is certainly having fun with the persona: More »
A Los Angeles jury has found famed record producer Phil Spector guilty in the 2003 murder of actress Lana Clarkson. Spector has been found guilty of second-degree murder by a jury of six men and six women, who began deliberations on March 26.
Suppose, if you were of radio-listening age in 1963, you disliked the productions of Phil Spector. Say you believed him to make all the singers on his records sound the same, and that in any case Dean Martin or Bukka White represented real music. With hindsight, would you not say that you were on the wrong side of history?
Halloween is creeping up, so it’s time for Forbes to publish its list of the highest-earning dead celebrities of the past year. The winner, once again, is Elvis Presley, whose dulcet tones, handsome visage, and rotting carcass pulled in $52 million, nearly $20 million ahead of No. 2, Charles M. Schulz. The other musicians near the top are John Lennon (seventh, $9 million) and Marvin Gaye (13th, $2 million), with ancillaries such as Velvet Underground manager Andy Warhol (eighth, $9 million) and presidential serenader Marilyn Monroe (ninth, $6.5 million) figuring in as well. What’s most noteworthy, though, are two other pieces–one in Forbes, the other in Ad Age–that explains the nature of this list and call parts of it, indirectly, into question.
Larry Levine, Phil Spector’s longtime engineer, died on his 80th birthday Thursday, according to a statement released by his family. Levine’s first collaboration with Spector was on the Crystals’ “She’s A Rebel,” and the two worked together on hits by the Righteous Brothers, Darlene Love, and Ike & Tina Turner. (He was there for those Leonard Cohen and Ramones albums, too.) Outside of Phil’s reach, Levine won a Grammy for his work with Herb Alpert & The Tijuana Brass, and he had his fingers in several Eddie Cochran hits and the Beach Boys’ Pet Sounds as well. Levine’s primary responsibility with Spector was to indulge the producer’s need for size and grandeur without letting the track collapse. Needless to say, he pulled it off more than a couple times.
Rachelle “Top 8” Spector celebrates her husband’s mistrial by humping his leg for cameras hovering above. Kind of tragic that she can’t post this to her MySpace video blog, isn’t it? More »
Phil Spector has been sentenced to at least 19 years in prison for the 2003 murder of actress Lana Clarkson. The music producer’s attorneys have vowed to appeal the conviction, but if their appeal is denied, it’ll be 19 years before he’s even eligible for parole. [