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Spector’s death resurrects mixed reaction from skeptics

By JONATHAN LANDRUM Jr., Associated Press
Published: January 21, 2021, 6:00am
3 Photos
FILE - In this March 19, 2007 file photo, music producer Phil Spector and his attorney, Roger Rosen, right, leave Los Angeles Superior Court for a break during the start of jury selection in Spectors&#039; murder trial.  Spector, the eccentric and revolutionary music producer who transformed rock music with his &quot;Wall of Sound&quot; method and who was later convicted of murder, died Saturday, Jan. 16, 2021, at age 81.
FILE - In this March 19, 2007 file photo, music producer Phil Spector and his attorney, Roger Rosen, right, leave Los Angeles Superior Court for a break during the start of jury selection in Spectors' murder trial. Spector, the eccentric and revolutionary music producer who transformed rock music with his "Wall of Sound" method and who was later convicted of murder, died Saturday, Jan. 16, 2021, at age 81. (AP Photo/Nick Ut, File) (Damian Dovarganes/Associated Press) Photo Gallery

LOS ANGELES — Phil Spector was viewed as a man with two distinct personas: The late music producer was regarded as a rock ‘n’ roll genius who elevated the genre with his “Wall of Sound” style in the 1960s and created hits for several big names from the Beatles to Tina Turner.

But while Spector made his mark as a revolutionary music producer, the stories of him waving guns at recording artists and being convicted of murder overshadowed his artistry.

California state prison officials said Spector died Saturday at age 81 of natural causes at a hospital. He was convicted of killing actress Lana Clarkson in 2003 at his mansion on the edge of Los Angeles. After a trial in 2009, he was sentenced to 19 years to life.

The reaction to Spector’s death resurrected some mixed feelings about his life and legacy.

Some lauded his early contributions to rock music, while others struggled to forgive his volatile past.

Beach Boys musician Al Jardine said it would be “nice to remember him only for his songs & production talents.” He said The Ronettes’ song “Be My Baby,” which was produced and co-written by Spector, inspired by Jardine’s friend and fellow Beach Boys member, Brian Wilson.

Stevie Van Zandt of Bruce Springsteen’s E Street Band called Spector a “genius irredeemably conflicted.”

“He was the ultimate example of the art always being better than the artist,” said Zandt on Twitter. He added that Spector “made some of the greatest records in history based on the salvation of love while remaining incapable of giving or receiving love his whole life.”

Meanwhile, “The Price is Right” host Drew Carey took aim at Spector, calling him a “murderer and an abusive maniac.”

“I wish he would’ve gotten the mental health help he so clearly needed, but he didn’t,” the comedian said on social media. “And so instead of (asterisk)just(asterisk) pulling guns on people in anger or for fun, he murdered one of them.”

Spector’s former wife, Ronnie Spector, remembered him on Sunday as a “brilliant producer, but a lousy husband.” She was the lead singer of the Ronettes.

“Unfortunately Phil was not able to live and function outside of the recording studio,” she wrote on Instagram. “Darkness set in, many lives were damaged. I still smile whenever I hear the music we made together, and always will. The music will be forever.”

But Darlene Love, who sang some of Spector’s hits from “He’s a Rebel” and “He’s Sure the Boy I Love,” took a different approach despite her problematic relationship with the producer. She felt sadness after hearing of Spector’s death from her son.

“It was sad because of what Spector did, the wonderful music he created, and he spent nearly 20 years of his life in prison,” said Love, who admitted that Spector tried to “control my talent” during her singing career. She said Spector had a dangerous temperament at times, but she tried to remember the positive.

“I hope people don’t only remember the reason he spent those years in prison, but more or less what he did for rock ‘n’ roll,” she continued. “He changed the sound of rock ‘n’ roll. That’s what brought me to sadness.”

Spector was hailed as a visionary for channeling Wagnerian ambition into the three-minute song, creating the “Wall of Sound” in the 1960s that merged spirited vocal harmonies with lavish orchestral arrangements to produce such pop monuments as “Da Doo Ron Ron,” “Be My Baby” and “He’s a Rebel.”

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