Phil Spector

USA, 1958–2009

American record producer who developed the Wall of Sound, a dense, heavily reverberant recording technique built on doubled instruments, widely imitated in early-1960s pop.

MusicRoots documents 0 artists who influenced Phil Spector and 10 artists Phil Spector influenced in turn. Every connection cites a published source.

Which artists did Phil Spector influence?

• Petula Clark — Petula Clark's signature hit 'Downtown' was written by Tony Hatch in direct emulation of Phil Spector's Wall of Sound and girl-group productions such as The Crystals' 'Uptown'.
• The Beach Boys — Spector's Wall of Sound was Wilson's direct studio inspiration for Pet Sounds.
• The Jesus and Mary Chain — 'Just Like Honey' opens with the 'Be My Baby' drumbeat — Psychocandy is Spector's wall of sound rebuilt from feedback, by the band's own formula.
• Martin Hannett — Hannett was more heavily shaped by Spector's work and persona than is usually noted - the producer as the real author of the record.
• ABBA — ABBA's dense multi-tracked productions are Spector's Wall of Sound rebuilt in a Stockholm studio — Björn and Benny's acknowledged model.
• The Ronettes — The Ronettes' sound is Phil Spector's — he produced them, built the Wall of Sound around Ronnie's voice and married her; the group is inseparable from his production.
• The Shangri-Las — Spector's teen mini-dramas were the production template behind the Shangri-Las — Shadow Morton built their 'blazing teen morality plays' in the Wall-of-Sound idiom Spector defined.
• Jim Steinman — Spector's wall of sound is the production model behind Steinman's records - everything played at once and mixed as one mass.
• Harry Nilsson — Nilsson's first professional songwriting was done with Spector, who wrote three songs with him in the early 1960s and is described as his mentor.
• Bruce Springsteen — Springsteen's own account of what he was reaching for: Dylan's words in Spector's sound.