He is famous for having developed a unique production style, which featured layers upon layers of vocal and instrumental tracks and came to be known as the “Wall of Sound.” But it was his eccentric and sometimes violent behavior that made him notorious on the Los Angeles music scene. His relationship with Ronnie Spector of the Ronettes (his second wife) started as a brazen extramarital affair and ended in a bitter divorce, after which Spector reportedly dropped off a hefty alimony payment for his ex in the form of a truckload of dimes.
His most notorious moments involved guns, and the long list of people who Spector has reportedly threatened at gunpoint includes John Lennon, singer-poet Leonard Cohen and Dee Dee Ramone of the punk-rock bank The Ramones, all artists for whom Spector was working at the time.
According to the local police, Spector might have actually pulled the trigger early this week. Monday morning, Spector’s limo driver called the police after he heard gunshots coming from inside Spector’s home. Officers who arrived on the scene found the dead body of B-movie actress Lana Clarkson in the foyer of Spector’s colossal home in Alhambra, just outside Los Angeles. Preliminary reports indicate that Clarkson died of a gunshot wound. Spector had met her for the first time just a few hours earlier at a nightclub where she worked. Spector was arrested on suspicion of first-degree murder and was released by police a few hours later after posting $1 million bail. Charges have yet to be filed against him.
To get a glimpse into the dark world of rock and roll’s reclusive genius, NEWSWEEK’s Karen Fragala spoke to writer Mark Ribowsky, author of the 1989 Spector biography, “He’s a Rebel: The Truth About Phil Spector,” available in paperback from Cooper Square Press. Excerpts:
NEWSWEEK: When did Spector’s fascination with guns start?
Mark Ribowsky: He was always a great dilettante. So in the ’60s, when this whole thing with the bodyguards started coming up, he had to have the best bodyguards, the best guns. In the ’70s and ’80s, when you would mention Phil Spector to anybody, the first thing they would talk about would be the guns. So you always have this possibility, but nobody actually thought he could shoot anybody, and that’s what makes this so crazy.
Marvin Mitchelson, a Los Angeles lawyer who has known Spector for years, said he was a sweet man who wouldn’t hurt a fly.
He is not a sweet man. He is a loathsome man with an instinct to hurt people and use people for his own good. He has regarded people as mere garbage to be discarded. He never repaid people’s kindness. He’s never been a sweet man. He’s been a horrible man.
Are there any reports of aberrant behavior during Spector’s first few years in the music business?
He came of age professionally at a time when a recording session was a half an hour, you get three songs out, get your [pay] and you go home. He took it in a totally different direction. He used a simple rock-and-roll approach–three cords, and the same dumb songs that had always become hits in the ’50s–but he turned [it] up [a] notch and created something that has never really been duplicated. It took a form of mad genius to do that. He had to go up against the grain of the entire industry, moneywise, and creativitywise. He was the only guy that was really able to be a creative genius and a business genius at the same time, and you have to be ruthless in both senses in order to be able to achieve that. Nobody else that I’ve ever seen in music has been able to do that. I don’t know how he was able to do that–probably because he was mad.
In early sessions with the Ronettes or the Crystals, were there any incidents of him acting inappropriately?
No. He was very respectful with the Ronettes, and he wanted to marry Ronnie from the start. I know now that they were truly in love with each other, it was a great love story for a while, but when possession and control started taking over, as it always does with this guy, it ruined it. I saw Ronnie on TV [Tuesday] saying, “Well, he’s not really that mean a person.” It’s almost like she’s still under his thumb a little bit, even after all of the messiness and the pain. She says, “I had to run to save my life, but he’s really not that mean a person.” It’s like he still has control over her. There’s that love that will always be there between them.
Like a Tina and Ike thing?
Yes, except I wouldn’t compare him with Ike Turner, although if he did this, he went one step further that Ike ever did. Maybe on some subconscious level, he wanted to do that. He’s 62, been out of the public spotlight for so long. Maybe this is his comeback.
Is it true that Spector’s disappointment over his beloved single “River Deep, Mountain High” featuring Tina Turner (it peaked at No. 88 on the U.S. charts in 1966) was the turning point when his behavior may have become more violent and deranged?
Yes, not only because it failed, but because so many people took great pleasure in it failing and took the opportunity to stone him because he had built up so many enemies that they were waiting for him to fall. And a guy who is as insecure as he is, that’s the kind of thing that would have driven him inward into a shell, considering all of the work he put into it. It’s a great record, and it’s a timeless record, but there’s something soulless about it–something that he didn’t hit right.
Did he really pull a gun on John Lennon?
That’s one of the legends of Spector, the shot that he fired at the A&M studios in 1974 during Lennon’s “lost weekend” period, when Yoko sent him to L.A. to do an album with Spector. When he did the “Imagine” album, he let Lennon be the boss, he was the hired gun, and the relationship was good. But when Spector was back on his turf, in Los Angeles rather than in London, he just did not let Lennon be Lennon. He was another studio musician to Spector, and when John would [complain], Spector would have none of it. When he wanted to do a vocal, Spector would put it off for hours and hours. And finally he said, “Phil, let’s get to my vocal here,” and Spector exploded and shot a hole into the ceiling of [the] A&M studio. They framed the bullet hole on the ceiling as a great moment in history. Lennon’s classic line was, “If you’re going to kill me, Phil, kill me, but don’t f–k with my ears.” Because the shot rang so loud that it almost killed Lennon’s hearing.
Is there anything in his past that would suggest violent tendencies toward women in particular?
Ronnie says that he never physically abused her. I don’t know if that’s true or not. I spoke to his first wife, Annette Merar, and she said he was a loving guy then. There was not a hint of any kind of violence or abuse, but he left her for Ronnie. He did threaten Ronnie a lot, and there’s a story of how he was so insanely jealous when the Beatles came–because The Ronnettes were their opening act–that he confronted her in the office and started throwing glass at the walls. That’s the closest thing to anything physical that I’ve heard, but who knows? … The people who say they knew Phil Spector don’t know him at all. Because nobody really does.
What effect did Phil’s father’s suicide have on the young man’s life?
The key to the whole ignition is the father killing himself when Phil was 8 years old. He was mentally ill, he was obviously a completely screwed-up guy. Killed himself by running a hose from his exhaust pipe through the window of his car–on the street, so when he was dying, people were walking past his car. That had to really scar Phil Spector.
Is there any doubt in your mind, that maybe it wasn’t him, maybe it was an intruder?
I’m sure that [lawyer] Robert Shapiro will come up with something very creative. I have my doubts that he’s going to go to jail for some reason. The rich and famous have a way of avoiding what we would face if we did it.
You have described Spector’s Wall of Sound as a “rock-and-roll milestone, as significant as Chuck Berry’s guitar chords, The Beach Boys’ harmonies and Jim Morrison’s ballads.” Do you think that Spector’s accomplishments will fade into the background because of this new notoriety he’s gained, the way O. J. Simpson’s murder trial overshadowed his football career?
You mean people are going to forget about the Wall of Sound? No, I don’t. In this case, I think it goes hand in hand, because his whole life has been a method of madness anyway. This will actually intensify the legend of Spector, don’t you think? Being a musician and a harmless crazy guy is one thing, but actually being a desperado is another.
