The Phil Spector 1970-1980 Album Productions Poll

between Dion and ATMP for me

I don't think it's as highly regarded as it once was, but I'd still go with Lennon's first (conceding that I don't know All Things Must Pass beyond the hits and one or two other songs).

really have no idea what he did on Some Time in New York City - easily the worst album with his name on it, and his hand isn't evident at all to my ears.

THere's something about Death of A Ladies Man that I really like. Got great atmosphere or something.

Tempted to vote for JL/POB, but most accounts are that he had fuck all to do with it -- and, iirc, he didn't even arrive in Britain for the sessions until they were nearly completed.

I've always been curious about the Dion album...

ATMP ftw

^^^

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Death of a Ladies Man. When I first heard it I knew nothing about it - came at it with just an "oh, I found a Leonard Cohen album that's in print, let me check this out." Floored me.

Although it's not quite my favorite album here, production-wise, All Things Must Pass wins. The first two Lennon albums are interesting in that the production is so stark and stripped-down, no walls of sound here. I need to hear the Dion album again.

The Dion album is fairly good, the title track is a bit of a unheralded classic. I went with Leonard Cohen though. For me, Spector's productions for the ex-Beatles come out sounding too much like the Beatles, I prefer it when he produces something and it sounds like Spector (i.e. the last three options).

For instance, when he produced Lennon, Spector seemed to recognize that he was a fully formed artist and his job as producer was encourage him to say what he wanted to say and lash out at whoever he wanted to lash out at. He just had to make a professional recording and let Lennon's personality dominate. He didn't show that kind of respect with Leonard Cohen though -- Cohen had to be transformed and slotted into Spector's usual production machine. But the results, for me, are a lot more fascinating when he took someone like L. Cohen and used him as a vessel for his nth iteration of the Wall of Sound.

I remember seeing some handwritten notes he made for George H, regarding his vocals for the proposed track listings, his limitations and how to embellish and improve the presentation and so on, with a side order of tact and diplomacy.

Which is what a professional producer should do, right?

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Weird

Were those all just sarcastic votes for the album he had the least to do with (ie mixing only)?

seriously

Did he even mix JL/POB? Sonically, it's no different from Yoko Ono/Plastic Ono Band, and he didn't go near that one.

idk that's the wiki entry implies

Lennon and Ono returned from the US on 24 September 1970, to start working on Lennon's album a few days later.[2] Recording began at Abbey Road Studios between 26 September[4] and 27 October 1970 using Lennon, Klaus Voormann, and Ringo Starr as the core musicians,[2] with Phil Spector and Billy Preston each playing piano on a track.[1] The group jammed to a variety of songs in between recording new tracks: "When a Boy Meets a Girl", "That's All Right Mama", "Glad All Over", "Honey Don't", "Don't Be Cruel", "Hound Dog", and "Matchbox".[2] "Plastic Ono Band" refers to the conceptual band Lennon and Ono had formed in 1969 of various supporting musicians they would use on their various solo albums. Lennon asked Spector, who had produced Lennon's hit "Instant Karma!" earlier that year,[4] to co-produce the album. Spector played piano on "Love",[5] but Lennon and Ono produced the album largely on their own, as Spector was unavailable during most of the recording sessions. Spector mixed the album for three days towards the end of October

I guess that's more than "implies" lol

Ah, got it. The mix is great, but as Phil work goes, it doesn't approach the massive constructions on ATMP.

I do kinda wonder what Phil had to do that was more important than John Lennon's big solo album

I'd have to go with All Things Must Pass, in terms of production. Plastic Ono Band rules too, though.

So what does ILM think of Phil's production/alterations on Let It Be? Were John and George right, or was Paul right?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UUqHDnMPs_s

The production on this is just so bizarre, I love it. Was this mixed by Aquaman?

So what does ILM think of Phil's production/alterations on Let It Be? Were John and George right, or was Paul right?

I think John and George were right for the most part. Paul bitching about the Long and Winding Road is ridiculous; it's failings are that it is a shitty song, Spector's production is p irrelevant.

that Dion album is really, really good. even the couple tracks not produced by Spector are nicely done.

For me, Spector's productions for the ex-Beatles come out sounding too much like the Beatles, I prefer it when he produces something and it sounds like Spector (i.e. the last three options).

You know, thinking about this now, I totally disagree. Especially when it comes to the singles, like "What Is Life" or "Instant Karma," they don't sound like the Beatles at all and sure as heck sound like Spector productions.

"What Is Life" sounds to me like a typically jangly George Harrison song that was tweaked around by Spector, which makes sense because they co-produced it and Spector didn't have the final say. "Death of a Ladies Man" is more like a Spector album featuring Leonard Cohen as a special guest vocalist.

Harrison went on record that all the overdubs and over-the-top instrumentation on ATMP seemed OK at the time, but excessive in retrospect. Spector's influence on the album is huge - I strongly doubt Harrison would have overdubbed all those guitars with a different producer at the helm.

Spector's magic didn't work as well with guitar-based rock'r'roll music, and his aesthetic seemed more in concert with vocal and orchestral oriented stuff.

that said, I think he turned "The Long and Winding Road" from a really mediocre song into one that I actually wanted to listen to more than once.

nothing could save that song

the original without the strings is barely a song. mccartney railed for years that it had been ruined by spector, but honestly, i think the production saved it. the end product is treacly and maudlin for sure, but i grew to enjoy it from time to time. i heard the original on Anthology and was shocked by how shitty it was.

it's an incredibly weak melody, repeated endlessly, laden with a vacuous sentiment (in some ways, totally ideal for Spector!) - Phil did his best with it, agree it's worse without him. Spector was dealt a pretty shitty hand with the Let it Be material imo. still lots to love there but the fragmentary nature of the material and the total disinterest of the Beatles really restricted him.

it's such a weird album when you really examine it. "Dig it"? "Maggie May"? This tossed off 30 second long crap is among the BEST stuff of the recordings? And why is "Get Back" the last song rather than "The Long and Winding Road"? Very strange.

has the Glyn Johns version ever surfaced?

from wikipedia:

Days after the sessions at Apple had ended, Glyn Johns put together a rough mix acetate of several songs, for the band to listen to. A tape copy of this acetate made its way to America, where it was played on radio stations in Buffalo, New York and Boston over September 1969

no other mentions though.

this is on Youtube:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RbvXx2Ca4fc

googlin around makes it look like Don't Let Me Down and maybe Lady Madonna were possible contenders for the album at some point...? Seems like they would've been a decent addition

oh wait, here's a bootleg of it from 1999. xp

http://www.jpgr.co.uk/vt182.html

"Don't Let Me Down" was released on the "Let it Be... Naked" album that came out in the early 2000s, when Paul McCartney decided to release it as it 'should have been'.

This was left on the album to maintain the "fun atmosphere of the whole session".

you don't say

yeah i've always thought spector got a bum rap for let it be, most of the material is so lazy and tossed-off and (often) poorly performed that it was nearly unsalvageable. i'm fond of a couple songs on there ("two of us" is really nice) but it's pretty clear that the band themselves knew most of the material was way below their usual standards. the anthology version of LAWR is basically just an unadorned demo with a decent paul vocal, no way could it have been released like that. prob the best approach would have been to relegate the get back sessions to the archives and just release the rooftop concert.

that said, it's really hard not to sympathize with paul, he should have been given the chance to veto the song's release or at least rerecord it to his own satisfaction. releasing that version over his objections was a dick move on everybody's part, especially considering the band had already considered and vetoed two previous versions of the album.

"Two of Us" is the best song, George had way better material in the can (as Spector himself acknowledged in the doc, John had Yoko, Paul had rams.

part of the problem is that spector seems to have felt obliged to include all the big singles/production numbers -- "long and winding road," "let it be," and "across the universe" don't feel like they should be on the same album as offhand lennon jokes about doris day and low-key stuff like "dig a pony."

that Johns mix of Let it Be is weak

Pretty insane to record a double album and then short months later immediately go back in the studio for daily grind-style recording sessions. No wonder they broke up soon after.

Last White Album sessions were mid-Oct 1968, and Get Back started early Jan 69.

that Johns mix of Let it Be is weak

I don't think it's done. It's a rough draft or something.

Death of a ladies man is so fucking good

your naked bodeeeeeeee

such a sleazy record. feel like I need a shower after listening to it.

i think i read that Spector was drunk on Manischewitz during the entire production of that album

love how sleazy it is, love how bloated it is

the orgy line is so great

so many peaks but yea memories is just SO dramatic and wonderful

"I was born in a beauty salon..."

http://www.mybeatlescollection.com/images/asknat/lettertoklein.jpg

I don't think it's done. It's a rough draft or something.

― Poliopolice, Monday, March 2, 2015 7:19 PM (3 days ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Yeah, it doesn't really bear any of the hallmarks of Johns' work -- the drums are further back in the mix than anything he'd ever worked on, before or since.

"A heavy burden lifted from my soul, I learned that love was out of my control"

The album may be sleazy but the last few times I realized it was this spiritual truth constantly shining from the murk.