Phil Spector: Sound of the Sixties

(Hardback)

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Phil Spector is a musician, songwriter and producer whose musical ability and visionary foresight as a producer charted the future of popular music and culture of the late 20th century. He revolutionized recording processes and re-shaped the business and marketing approach of the music industry. While he raised the bar for other musicians and producers to follow and gave a voice to groups struggling to achieve equality during the 60s, Spector was, however, a complex character whose need for control brought much damage and confusion into the lives of those around him as well as into his own career and life. Phil Spector: Sound of the Sixties follows the ups and downs of Spectors career as an entrepreneur and businessman, technical wizard and musical visionary, record label master and collaborator with the biggest bands of the age. Spector left an indelible mark on American pop music, creating an iconic soundtrack that still attracts new listeners today.

Reviews

MacLeod ... chronicles Spectors life and work from his early years and his growing love of music to his technical wizardry, work with the Beatles and John Lennon, and crash into disgrace after he was convicted of murdering actress Lana Clarkson in 2003.... MacLeods ... book certainly reminds readers of Spectors musical genius and his lasting contributions to rock and roll and pop music, and it serves as a helpful introductory survey to the best work on Spector. * Publishers Weekly *
The American music scene was in rough shape at the end of the 1950s. Elvis was in the army; Buddy Holly was dead; Chuck Berry was in prison; Little Richard had retired. There was a big hole in pop music, and music producer Phil Spector filled it in the 1960s and 70s, with girl bands, new sounds, and big hits (the Righteous Brothers 'Youve Lost That Lovin Feelin' and the Beatles 'The Long and Winding Road,' to name but two). In this insightful book, the author traces Spectors career from fame to obscurity to eccentricity to seclusion to imprisonment (he was convicted of murder in 2009). MacLeods approach is to look at Spectors life as a whole and not to focus on the legal case; hes out to give Spector his due as a musical genius, a man who richly deserved his legendary status.... [M]usic fans will be fascinated. * Booklist *
Phil Spector: Sound of the Sixties follows the ups and downs of Spectors career as an entrepreneur and businessman, technical wizard and musical visionary, record label master, and collaborator with the biggest bands of the age. * The Beat (UK) *
Sean MacLeods book underscores the importance of Phil Spectors musical journey as the key producer of the twentieth century. It places his work in a wider social context and details the torments and triumphs that drove him to become the inventive genius who set the standard for others to follow -- Kingsley Abbott, editor of Little Symphonies: A Phil Spector Reader
Sean MacLeod thoroughly covers all bases in the Spector myth. Not only are Spectors legendary productions examined in full, their influence is also discussed in a wider cultural and social context. As such, this book is a must-read for anyone interested in the Tycoon of Teen and his fabled Wall of Sound -- Cuecastanets.wordpress.com, the Spector & Wall of Sound music blog
A fascinating read. . . . Sean MacLeod brings to life every step of Spectors creation of the Wall of Soundand what followed. MacLeod details an expos of a talented musician, creative genius, technical innovator, and manipulative social misfits successful rise from immigrant roots and a dysfunctional family to his eventual demise in a pointless and murderous end game. -- Jerry Burgan, co-founder of We Five and author of Wounds to Bind: A Memoir of the Folk Rock Revolution

Author Bio

Sean MacLeod is a songwriter, music producer, and lecturer from Dublin, Ireland. He has been writing and producing music for more than twenty-five years and teaches courses in music and media at the Limerick College of Further Education. He wrote Leaders of the Pack: Girl Groups of the 1960s and Their Influence on Popular Culture in Britain and America (Rowman & Littlefield, 2015).