Search - Phil's Spectre-a Wall of Soundalikes :: Phil's Spectre: A Wall of Soundalikes

Ace album of Phil Spector Wall of Soundalikes

hyperbolium | Earth, USA | 12/30/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This isn't the first CD to catalog pop songs that were influenced by Phil Spector's revolutionary "Wall of Sound" production technique, but it's certainly among the best. Unlike grey-market items such as the three-volume Japanese "Touch the Wall of Sound" (reissued as a triple-disc in the past few years), this is a sanctioned release, and the ear-popping quality of the masters (including true stereo for tracks 1-2, 9-10, and 12) tells the tale.It's really no surprise to anyone familiar with Spector's landmark singles of the early-60s that his sound had far reaching influence. It was borrowed by many of his partners, assistants and former artists, such as arranger Jack Nitzsche, go-fer Sonny Bono, former Teddy Bear bandmate Marshall Lieb, and Righteous Brother Bill Medley. Nitzsche's production of "When You Walk in the Room" builds up layers of guitars, percussion and strings in support of Jackie DeShannon's impassioned vocal. It's truly amazing that this brilliant record had little commercial success and has been all but totally eclipsed in the public consciousness by the Searchers hit cover. At least DeShannon collected songwriter's royalties! Bono's 1965 recording with Cher of "Just You" is filled with Spectorian touches of glockenspiel, strings and the underlying Wall of Sound. Lieb's "A Little Love (Will Go a Long Way)" (co-penned by `60s stalwart Gary Zekley) sounds as much like a Darlene Love tune as anything Love actually recorded; but it's not - it's Alder Ray on lead, with Love guiding the backing vocals. Medley helmed the Righteous Brothers kickoff single for Verve (having split with Spector), Mann & Weil's "(You're My) Soul and Inspiration," and showed that the duo's sound was as much their own as Spector's.Spector's sound had its impact at more of a distance, as well. Early efforts by the Supremes often sounded more like Brill Building girl-group productions than Motown's trademark soul sound. Other early Motown acts like The Darnells were also treated to the percussion and vocal layers of The Wall of Sound. More famously, Beach Boys mastermind Brian Wilson was a thorough Spector devotee. The group's take on Frankie Lymon's "Why Do Fools Fall in Love" marries the Beach Boys' multipart harmonies to the shifting backing of Spector's wall.Mick Patrick's song-by-song liner notes are wonderfully informative, providing valuable background on both the better-known and obscure sides that helps place these tracks in context with Spector's own work. Vintage photos, picture sleeve and 7" label reproductions flesh out a superb booklet for a wonderfully curated disc."

The Sincerest Form Of Flattery

Laurence Upton | Wilts, UK | 11/29/2005

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Phil Spector was a millionaire at the age of 23, after producing 15 hits in a row, including classics by the Ronettes and the Crystals. He had his own record label, Philles, and was the creator of his trademark Wall Of Sound, usually manufactured at the Gold Star Studios in Hollywood, with a crack team of musicians including the Wrecking Crew and a host of session singers. As an auteur producer, probably the first of the breed, he was the acknowledged master, and his success engendered a whole genre of other groups and performers from New York to Los Angeles, like the Chiffons and the Shangri-Las, whose producers tried to emulate the sound and the success of the young svengali. 

This collection brilliantly demonstrates some of the most notable efforts, with "many tracks reissued legally for the first time", as it says on the back. Spector wasn't easy to work with and the number of former acolytes who left the fold and set up in competition to try to beat him at his own game is almost a genre in itself: Sonny and Cher, the Righteous Brothers, Nino Tempo and April Stevens, Carol Connors and the writers Jeff Barry and Ellie Greenwich are all included here.

Rival companies such as Motown weren't above experimenting with the Spector sound in the early days, and there are two examples, one by the Supremes and one featuring the great Gladys Horton, moonlighting from the Marvelettes. For some, emulating Spector was a form of homage and tribute, as with Brian Wilson, whose own style developed from studying Phil Spector. His girl group productions were often pastiche, while the Beach Boys' Spectorish version of Why Do Fools Fall In Love? was probably inspired by Ronnie (later Ronnie Spector) of the Ronettes' love of the Frankie Lymon original. The Walker Brothers also owed a debt to Spector for the sound on their British hits, of which the first, Love Her, chosen here, was arranged by one of Spector's right hand men, Jack Nitzsche.

The Chiffons appear in their extra Spector-like guise as the Four Pennies on the chart-storming, if non-PC, Barry/Greenwich song When The Boy's Happy (The Girl's Happy Too), and there is a wonderful Wall Of Sound transformation of the Falcon's You're So Fine by Dorothy Berry, the wife of Richard Berry, who went on to become one of Ray Charles' Raelettes. One of the groups included even call themselves The Wall Of Sound, whilst another proclaims itself A Spectra Production. Every track has earned its place on this fascinating glimpse at some of the impact Spector had on the music scene between 1963 and 1967"

Essential for fans of Spector and Sixties pop/rock

ACJ | Gladstone, MI, USA | 11/30/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"It's an odd title, and an odd concept - the kind that's usually the basis for bootleg or "collectors-only" albums. But this is all legal, and all magnificent. Although Phil Spector himself isn't involved in any of these tracks, many of his compadres (Jack Nitzsche, Nino Tempo, Sonny Bono, Carol Connors) are. In my opinion, anyone who seriously enjoys Spector's work, or Sixties pop/rock in general, should have this CD right next to their copy of Spector's "Back to Mono" box set. Which reminds me of the album's one flaw - some of the tracks included here in stereo would have been better off in mono, especially Nino & April's "All Strung Out." But that's a minor quibble with an otherwise near-perfect collection."