Brian Wilson & Phil Spector
Ebb and Flow:
Phil Spector was a talented guy, and I like his Philles stuff enormously...but at the same time, I don't think he ever quite reached that ultimate nadir of perfection like Brian did with Pet Sounds and Smile and also with certain tracks of Today! and SD&SN. At a certain point he was no longer imitating his style, but transforming it into something unique and ultimately more satisfying. And I think deep down Spector probably would acknowledge that if he wasn't such an ass.
mtaber:
Brian is mentally ill... Phil is just plain NUTS!!!
juggler:
Quote from: Ebb and Flow on September 18, 2009, 06:43:23 PM
Phil Spector was a talented guy, and I like his Philles stuff enormously...but at the same time, I don't think he ever quite reached that ultimate nadir of perfection like Brian did with Pet Sounds and Smile and also with certain tracks of Today! and SD&SN. At a certain point he was no longer imitating his style, but transforming it into something unique and ultimately more satisfying. And I think deep down Spector probably would acknowledge that if he wasn't such an ass.
Very well said... and almost exactly what Brian himself was saying in 1966.
From the famous Jules Siegel article...
Quote
"Spector started the whole thing. He was the first one to use the studio. But I've gone beyond him now. I'm doing the spiritual sound, a white spiritual sound. Religious music..."
I don't know if Brian today still understands that he did surpass Spector, but he DID.
Sheriff John Stone:
In a recent Rolling Stone article, Spector says of George Martin, "I don't consider him in my league". And, "He's an arranger, that's all."
That bothered me. And that's another difference between Brian Wilson and Phil Spector. Brian usually has kind words for his peers; he seldom has anything bad to say. Spector, on the other hand, seems to put down a lot of people, usually building himself up. I sometimes see through his bragging as actually being insecure, but that's another matter.
Mark A. Moore:
Well, I've never liked that Brian fawns all over Spector . . . even before Spector put the gun in the woman's mouth and blew her brains out.
It's right and a noble thing to acknowledge influences and praise peers. But I think Brian was always laying it on way too thick with Spector. Brian has also been mentally ill, so there's doubtless a correlation there.
As a writer, arranger, producer, and artist . . . that total package . . . Brian Wilson surpassed Phil Spector very early on.
Another myth — perpetuated even in Beach Boys documentaries — is that the Wrecking Crew were "Phil Spector's musicians." So sorry, but that's fantasy. Those musicians played with just about every L.A. studio act.
Spector and Jan Berry started -- with self-penned hits -- in the same year (1958). Earl Palmer (Wrecking Crew) played on Jan & Arnie's Top-10 "Jennie Lee" (and their other sides) in 1958. Jan worked with the L.A. studio guys from day one.
The "Spector's Musicians" thing is a total myth . . . But in terms of style, you can give him the "Wall of Sound." That's enough to hang his hat on.
M.
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