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‘The Philles Album Collection’ Named One Of Best Reissues In 2011 – Rolling Stone
Phil Spector’s “The Philles Album Collection” has been named one of the 10 Best Reissues of 2011 by Rolling Stone, showing “the Wall of Sound at its Top 40 height” with “opulent teenage melodramas built around the vocal elation of the Ronettes, Darlene Love and La La Brooks.” Read more at RollingStone.com.
Great Albums: Phil Spector’s ‘A Christmas Gift For You’
While there are innumerable albums of Christmas classics, there are very few classic Christmas albums. The most obvious is Phil Spector’s “A Christmas Gift For You,” which – since its release in 1963 – has become the default answer to the question of what is the greatest ever Christmas album in the same way Citizen Kane has become the default answer to the question of what is the greatest ever film. …As Brian Wilson would point out, Phil Spector’s Christmas Album doesn’t deserve to be compared to the likes of “Now That’s What I Call Xmas”: it deserves to be compared to the likes of “Rubber Soul” and “Revolver.”
Read more at The Spectator.
Flashback: Recording ‘Happy Xmas (War Is Over)’ With John and Yoko
Just in time for the holidays, The Guardian has republished an article about the making of “Happy Xmas (War Is Over)” with John Lennon and Yoko Ono. The article describes Phil Spector at work on the single at various points. Here is an excerpt:
“Suddenly there’s a little flurry at the entrance. Phil Spector’s arrived, in big shades, wearing a red and white button saying ‘Back To Mono’, which breaks everyone up. But he’s serious, you know.
Immediately, the session is working. Within seconds of getting behind the huge band, Spector is thinking in terms not just of sound, but of arrangement, drama, production. It takes him about 10 seconds to get a sound which transforms the guitars from a happy rabble into a brilliant cutting wash of colour, and they aren’t even miked properly yet.”
Read more at Guardian.co.uk.
Da Do Run Run To Your Favorite Music Store For ‘The Philles Album Collection’
The Oklahoman has recommended Phil Spector’s “The Philles Album Collection” box set! Here is an excerpt:
Da do run run to your favorite music store for “Phil Spector Presents the Philles Album Collection,” a 7-CD box set celebrating the 50th anniversary of the innovative producer’s Philles Records label, est. 1961. …Here are the records that introduced to the world the trademark “wall of sound” Spector created in the studio, a sound involving echo-chamber effects and dense, layered instrumental accompaniment, often employing full string sections and multiple acoustic and electric guitars and tambourines, and a crew of session men dubbed “The Wrecking Crew,” which included at various times such future stars as Leon Russell on piano and Glen Campbell and Oklahoma’s own Barney Kessel on guitars.
Read more at Look At OKC.