Tearing Down the Wall of Sound: The Rise and Fall of Phil Spector (Vintage) by Mick Brown Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of Tearing Down the Wall of Sound: The Rise and Fall of Phil Spector (Vintage)
Book Review: and the wall comes tumbling down
Summary: 5 Stars
Mick Brown's skill as a journalist is evident throughout his richly detailed exploration of the infamous Phil Spector. Brown isn't satisfied to merely recount the amazing contributions Spector made to the music industry. He delves into the events that shaped Spector's personality, most notably his father's suicide when Spector was nine. Spector's drive to dominate personal and professional relationships left him emotionally distant. His overbearing need for control was directly juxtaposed to the destructive chaos that constantly swirled around him.
Brown's book is a direct testament to the cliched intersection of genius and madness. On the surface, Spector would appear to be every musician's dream-a music producer who was also a musician. His despotic approach to recording quickly turned studio sessions into a nightmare. He viewed the process of making music as art, yet showed a lack of respect for any individual talent among musicians, especially vocalists. The only individual who was permitted to stand out was Phil Spector.
Brown's depiction of Spector engenders pity rather than sympathy. Spector cultivated a persona far beyond eccentric. His mental illness festered until it became so pervasive that the consummate control freak was no longer able to control himself. Brown's account flows smoothly, making his book a valuable addition to a collection of rock biography and history.
Book Review: Author needs to revise his own thinking
Summary: 3 Stars
I thought this book was well-researched and generally well-written, and, for the most part, I enjoyed it. I was, however, taken aback to read that Spector only became a "proper father" when his two children were born to him and his girlfriend. Excuse me, but what what about his first 3? Apparently Mr. Brown believes that if you choose to adopt, then have second thoughts much later on, all the while acting like a complete jerk and basically disowning your own kids after having kept them locked away, you can excuse yourself by simply claiming that you weren't really their parent in the first place, so it doesn't count.
Mr. Brown, this kind of thinking is as outdated as chastity belts and drawing-rooms. Spector became a "proper father" the day he adopted his first son, Donte. I hope you will revise this ill-considered sentence should the book go into future printings.
Book Review: Brilliant!
Summary: 5 Stars
I went to high school right next door to Fairfax High. I kissed and danced and made out listening to "To Know Him Is To Love Him" and yet until reading Mick Brown's book I hadn't a clue as to the real genius behind so many of my favorite sounds. This is a compelling read about a man who created something extraordinary that truly has never been duplicated. How sad that in the end Mr. Spector may reap the punishment rather than reward for his troubled, emotional state of mind. The ver same mind that gave us "the wall of sound." Book Review: Exhaustive Study
Summary: 4 Stars
With an interest in music and pop culture of the 50s-70s, this book falls right in my sights. Phil Spector and his "Wall of Sound" led the way to the British invasion in the 60s which eventually swept his Wall of Sound and girl bands from the charts. How ironic that one of his greatest accomplishments was later producing a comeback album by John Lennon?
But this is a flawed character if there ever was one. A bad upbringing with history of mental illness leads to an obsessive career to be the best, step on anyone on the way up and never look back. That's not impossible to pull off but with his personality skills or lack thereof, eventually his world crumbles as the music changes and he leads the life of a wealthy hermit with few people with which to converse.
But of course his life was to get stranger. Occasionally re-appearing from his "fortress of solitude", specifically when he is inducted in the Rock in Roll Hall of Fame, Spector shows a new side, his obsession with guns and occasional desire to force people to stay in his house thru the night against their will with threats of gun violence. Prior to Lana Clarkson's murder the last third of the book is filled with these stories.
Of course this leads to her tragic death, more Spector manipulation as he repeatedly fires lawyers and wears bizarre wigs to where we are today, a short time before his verdict. Frankly, while the defense builds a case that Clarkson chose this moment to commit suicide, I personally think this rings hollow. Spector has too much bizarre history of incidents similar for him to not be guilty, particularly when his drivers states that's what he initially said.
But this is a review of the book and its potential enjoyment. Did I like the book? Yes. Did the author do an excellent research job? Absolutely. But you have to ask yourself how much of your life do you want to devote to Phil Spector. This book took twice as long to read as most books. It is exhaustive and by the end I was happy to be able to move on from this depressing life. Phil Spector made great music years ago. But his life is not to be celebrated. Read only if you have many hours for this complete history of a man we should not be celebrating.
Book Review: Brown's sympathetic story traces Spector's incredible rise in the early '60s...
Summary: 3 Stars
Veteran U.K. music journalist Mick Brown was the last reporter to interview Phil Spector before he was arrested and charged with the murder of Lana Clarkson. During their rambling four-hour discussion, the legendary producer tellingly admitted, "I have devils inside that fight me. And I'm my own worst enemy." The story ran in the U.K. Telegraph just two days before Clarkson was found shot to death in Spector's spooky Alhambra mansion, and undoubtedly this book would not exist if it weren't for that bizarre incident. Still, Brown's sympathetic story traces Spector's incredible rise in the early '60s, with a real understanding of how the producer turned the three-minute pop song into works of art like "Be My Baby," "You've Lost That Lovin' Feeling" and "River Deep, Mountain High," only to inspire the very same British Invasion that would, at first, replace him on the charts, then ultimately give him a second chance through his work on The Beatles' Let It Be and the solo albums of John Lennon and George Harrison. It's easy to compare Spector's career trajectory to that of Orson Welles, another youthful phenom never able to top himself, whose own Citizen Kane provides a convenient parallel to the producer's eventual self-exile from the world behind the gates of his gothic manse, with his Rosebud the early suicide of his father and the constant hectoring of an overbearing mother. But that doesn't begin to explain the combination of obsession, stubbornness and unbridled ambition that led Spector to create pop masterpieces that took teen angst to mythic heights. Brown leaves little doubt that Spector's continuing fascination with guns, and his penchant for waving them around to get his way, would eventually lead to a tragedy like this, without necessarily condemning him. What we're left with is a feeling of tremendous waste. For all of Spector's accomplishments, for all his desire to create a larger-than-life image of himself that would effectively shadow his intense vulnerability and feeling of insecurity, he will undoubtedly be remembered for those final pathetic images, of a wigged nut job brought down by his own Achilles' heel. To know him is not to love him, but rather to feel sorry for him...which is something Phil Spector spent his life running from. - Roy Trakin @ BlogOnBooks