Rock music impresario Phil Spector charged with murder

Rock music impresario Phil Spector charged with murder
Monday, February 3, 2003 Posted: 3:59 PM EST (2059 GMT)







LOS ANGELES, California (CNN) -- Phil Spector, the record producer who built the "Wall of Sound" and produced groups from the Ronettes to the Beatles, was arrested Monday in the early-morning shooting death of a woman at his suburban home and charged with murder.

The reclusive Spector, 62, was arrested at his sprawling home in Alhambra after a report of a shooting about 5 a.m. Monday (8 a.m. ET). Los Angeles County Sheriff's Deputy Faye Bugarin said the woman was pronounced dead at the home, which is modeled after a Pyrenean castle.

Alhambra police arrested Spector on a first-degree murder charge shortly after 6 a.m., with bail set at $1 million. No court appearance was immediately scheduled.

The victim's identity has not been released. Her body had not yet been removed from the home early Monday afternoon.

It was not clear whether the 911 call reporting the shooting came from Spector's home or a neighbor. Neighbors questioned by CNN said they had not heard a shooting.

Spector's trademark was the layering of instrumental tracks to produce a booming orchestral rock arrangement known as the "Wall of Sound." He called them "little symphonies for the kids."

Among his session players -- who were known as the "Wrecking Crew" -- were guitarist Glen Campbell, pianist Leon Russell, drummer Hal Blaine and the late Sonny Bono, who learned the producer's trade under Spector.

Spector produced a string of '60s hits, including the Crystals' "Da Doo Ron Ron" and "Then He Kissed Me," the Ronettes' "Be My Baby" and "Walking in the Rain," and the Righteous Brothers' "You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'." He co-produced the Beatles' final album, "Let It Be," and worked with ex-Beatles George Harrison and John Lennon on solo projects -- including Lennon's song "Imagine" -- after the group broke up.

Spector married Ronettes singer Veronica Bennett in 1968, but the couple divorced in 1974.

In October, New York's state supreme court threw out a $3 million award against Spector in a lawsuit filed by his ex-wife and the other two members of the Ronettes, seeking royalties for the sale of their recordings for use in movies and commercials.

Spector's father, Benjamin, committed suicide in 1949. Spector later visited the grave and used its inscription, "To Know Him Was to Love Him," as the basis for a hit song.

Spector was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1989.

 

He was a control freak all right. John Lennon gave him the Master tapes for the Imagine album to produce and Phil would not give them back. Lennon had to go through the courts to get them back. And Lennon always hated the "wall of sound" that Specter added on the Let It Be album.

 

Thanks for the link heypee. Why can't you start threads?