Describe the differences between Phil Spector's production style and Brian's

[Ron]

Much is made of the influence of Phil Spector's "Wall of Sound" style on Brian Wilson. While the influence is certainly prevalent, is the comparison a little bit overblown? I always tend to think that Brian's productions "breathe" a lot more, which I prefer. But I'd like to hear from folks with a more extensive music background talk about this (and everyone else here).

Definately.  Phil's sound is very structured, same trick over and over again (very good trick!).  Brian just took it as an influence in my opinion, he directly copied it a couple times but in general he just built on it and moved on, just like he did Jan & Dean's sound.  He's STILL doing that, Brian's still trying to make songs sound like his favorites from years ago, for instance "That's why god made the radio" has a doo wop vibe to it imo... which was dead and gone by the time the Beach Boys came around.  Or how he went long on the Gershwin influence on the 'reimagines' album. 

Spector's production changed slightly over the years but always was his same MO.  Brian's done vastly different sounds, some of which were unrecognizable as his. 

[Mitchell]

I always wonder why Presenting The Fabulous Ronettes gets almost zero acknowledgements despite it being essentially a prototypical Pet Sounds.

THIS.

I had the exact same reaction when I heard it. What an utterly fantastic album and definitely a blueprint for Pet Sounds. Has Brian ever commented specifically on this album?

Hearing the track for You've Lost that Lovin' Feeling was also an eye-opener in terms of its obvious influence on I Just Wasn't Made for These Times.


I'd say that Brian's work on non-Beach Boys music was more Spector-influenced at first... The Honeys and Girl Group stuff. Even Guess I'm Dumb is more complex than much of what he was doing with the Beach Boys at the time. Much of Today! has pretty sparse-sounding tracks compared to Spector's dense ones, which is why some don't sound as good in the stereo mixes (imo), whereas the ones on Summer Days (and Summer Nights!!) are where he's really taken off with the Wall of Sound. That sparseness contributes to the delicacy that  he has compared to the power/anger of Spector. That said, you can definitely see the techniques being learned and applied as he progresses.

It's interesting how Phil kept going with River Deep, Mountain High and Brian started to pare it back with SMiLE (vocal acrobatics not withstanding).