Phil Spector – The Murder and A Book

The news the Phil Spector has been found guilty of second degree murder and is to be jailed for at least 18 years will be all over the media today. It will, for some, tarnish the reputation of one of music's great creative figures. I fondly remember looking forward to new releases of Spector produced records during the sixties – even those that were run of the mill, and there were few of them, were better than most anything else that was being produced. He was emulated and revered by musicians during that golden age of pop. To get a better understanding of the man and his music read my friend Mick Brown's wonderful book, Tearing Down the Wall of Sound – The Rise and Fall of Phil Spector. Mick is a brilliant writer who has the eye for detail of the journalist that he is, coupled with compassion and humanity that produces great books

Mick talked to Spector in December 2002, the legendary recluse's first interview in 25 years. Six weeks or so later Spector was arrested on suspicion of murdering a small time actress named Lana Clarkson and that trial is about to commence in Los Angeles. Ironically twenty-four hours before the alleged murder Mick's article appeared in the Daily Telegraph Magazine. As the book's publicity states, '"Tearing Down the Wall of Sound" is Mick Brown's personal odyssey into the heart of the strange life and times of Phil Spector. Beginning with that fateful meeting in Spector's home and recounting the story of his mercurial life and career, including the unfolding of the Clarkson case and its aftermath, this is one of the most bizarre and compelling stories in the annals of pop music.'