Biography
Prior to devising his renowned "Wall of Sound" through densely layered, single-track mono arrangements of youthful orchestral works, Phil Spector himself pursued opportunities as an aspiring vocalist and instrumentalist. His initial opening arrived in 1958, when he functioned as songwriter, guitarist, and supporting vocalist for the fleeting L.A.-based trio the Teddy Bears; the group achieved an unexpected number-one placement with Spector's earliest recorded composition, the mournful ballad "To Know Him Is to Love Him," composed as an homage to his father, who had taken his own life in 1949 during Spector's youth.
While attending Fairfax High School, Spector remained largely solitary and found little academic stimulation, yet he immersed himself in musical study, quickly mastering guitar, piano, drums, bass, and French horn. He simultaneously began composing and capturing original R&B material. Though just 17, he already exerted a compelling influence within the L.A. music community and drew early followers such as future Warner Bros. executive Russ Titelman and future Mother of Invention and Magic Band participant Elliot Ingber.
Spector soon aligned with an informal circle of aspiring musicians, producers, and studio hangers-on that included Kim Fowley, Gary Paxton, Herb Alpert, and Lou Adler, all seeking practical knowledge inside recording facilities. He absorbed techniques at Gold Star Studios on Vine Street and Santa Monica Boulevard, which had commenced operations in 1950; owners and engineers Stan Ross and Dave Gold instructed him in drum recording, arranging, mixing, and nearly every other facet of record production. There he encountered Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller, already achieving success producing singles for the Robins. Stoller had likewise attended Fairfax High, while Leiber held a packing position at Norty's Record Shop on Fairfax Avenue in central L.A.'s Jewish district, a short distance from the school.
Following his spring 1958 graduation, Spector scheduled his debut session at Gold Star. Studio time ran fifteen dollars hourly plus six dollars per reel of tape; estimating forty dollars total, he secured the sum from his mother Bertha, a steadfast backer of his pursuits. He next recruited Marshall Leib, a nineteen-year-old Los Angeles City College student concentrating in business and law who had earlier formed the Moondogs with classmates. Fellow LACC student Harvey Goldstein added ten dollars in exchange for the promise of singing bass. Annette Kleinbard, then a sixteen-year-old Fairfax High attendee possessing a powerful, emotive soprano honed in the glee club and originally from New Brunswick, NJ, supplied the remaining ten dollars after Spector agreed to include her. With the full amount secured, the session proceeded.
The initial two-hour Gold Star date focused on Spector's "Don't You Worry My Little Pet," which he performed on every instrument while also serving as producer. After completing the mix, he presented the demo to neighbor Lew Bedell, co-owner with Herb Newsome of Era Records. The pair had recently launched Dore Records expressly to document rock & roll; impressed, they extended Spector a four-single contract carrying one-and-a-half cents royalty per copy sold. In the office they settled on the name the Teddy Bears, drawn from Elvis Presley's hit recording.
At the third session, with Goldstein no longer present, Sandy Nelson joined on drums and would later enjoy his own recording career. Near the close, Spector persuaded Kleinbard and Leib to attempt another of his compositions, the repetitive, plaintive ballad "To Know Him Is to Love Him" ("to know, know, know him, is to love, love, love him"), inspired by a visit to his father's Bronx gravesite; the title originated directly from the inscription on the headstone.
Dore dispatched five hundred copies of the single to radio outlets in early August 1958. Receiving scant initial response, Goldstein and Leib resumed their studies. In September a Fargo, ND, disc jockey turned the record over and aired "To Know Him Is to Love Him," prompting an order for eighteen thousand copies from a Minneapolis distributor; within a week the track appeared on national charts. The Teddy Bears performed on American Bandstand October 29. Harvey Goldstein, however, received no invitation after Spector had removed him for inability to execute the bass line; Goldstein subsequently sued Dore and the group, ultimately settling out of court for a share of royalties earned over the ensuing decade.
"To Know Him Is to Love Him" ascended to the top pop position nationwide and surpassed one million sales before Christmas 1958. The trio appeared on The Perry Como Show January 3, 1959. By mid-January they had departed Dore amid royalty disputes and moved to Lew Chudd's Imperial Records, which issued their next single that month. Spector soon learned that Chudd would neither permit him production control nor authorize use of Gold Star Studios or vocal stacking. The Teddy Bears completed only two additional singles plus remaining material for the album The Teddy Bears Sing before exiting Imperial. They next signed with Trey Records, owned by Lee Hazlewood and Lester Sill, the latter having previously co-founded Spark Records with Leiber & Stoller. Legal restrictions prevented reuse of the Teddy Bears name, so the two Trey releases appeared as The Spectors Three; neither charted, prompting Spector to dismiss his partners and dissolve the group.
Kleinbard sustained injuries in a September 1959 automobile accident yet recovered and pursued a solo singing career. Although she secured multiple recording deals, her principal accomplishments emerged as a songwriter. She co-wrote "The Night the Lights Went Out in Georgia," which earned a gold record for Vicki Lawrence in 1973 and a country hit for Reba McEntire in 1992, as well as "Hey Little Cobra" for the Rip Chords and "Gonna Fly Now," the theme from the first Rocky film starring Sylvester Stallone. She contributed themes for Sophie's Choice and Mr. Mom and accumulated two Academy Award and four Emmy nominations across her career.
Leib toured as one of the Hollywood Argyles and contributed guitar to several Duane Eddy sessions; he later served as musical supervisor for select low-budget 1970s films. He and Kleinbard collaborated on the score for the film Tulips.
After the Teddy Bears disbanded, Phil Spector returned to New York and worked with Leiber and Stoller in 1960. Alongside Leiber he co-wrote "Spanish Harlem," a major hit for former Drifter Ben E. King, and played guitar on the Drifters' "On Broadway." He soon joined Dune Records as staff producer, overseeing Ray Peterson's Top Ten single "Corinna, Corinna." Operating thereafter as a freelance producer and A&R executive for Atlantic, he produced hits for Gene Pitney. In late 1961 he co-founded Philles Records with Lester Sill and promptly achieved success producing and writing for the Crystals, the Ronettes, Bob B. Soxx and the Blue Jeans, the Righteous Brothers, Ike and Tina Turner, John Lennon, George Harrison, and numerous others. Spector entered the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame as a non-performer in 1989 and remains among the central figures of modern pop music.
While attending Fairfax High School, Spector remained largely solitary and found little academic stimulation, yet he immersed himself in musical study, quickly mastering guitar, piano, drums, bass, and French horn. He simultaneously began composing and capturing original R&B material. Though just 17, he already exerted a compelling influence within the L.A. music community and drew early followers such as future Warner Bros. executive Russ Titelman and future Mother of Invention and Magic Band participant Elliot Ingber.
Spector soon aligned with an informal circle of aspiring musicians, producers, and studio hangers-on that included Kim Fowley, Gary Paxton, Herb Alpert, and Lou Adler, all seeking practical knowledge inside recording facilities. He absorbed techniques at Gold Star Studios on Vine Street and Santa Monica Boulevard, which had commenced operations in 1950; owners and engineers Stan Ross and Dave Gold instructed him in drum recording, arranging, mixing, and nearly every other facet of record production. There he encountered Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller, already achieving success producing singles for the Robins. Stoller had likewise attended Fairfax High, while Leiber held a packing position at Norty's Record Shop on Fairfax Avenue in central L.A.'s Jewish district, a short distance from the school.
Following his spring 1958 graduation, Spector scheduled his debut session at Gold Star. Studio time ran fifteen dollars hourly plus six dollars per reel of tape; estimating forty dollars total, he secured the sum from his mother Bertha, a steadfast backer of his pursuits. He next recruited Marshall Leib, a nineteen-year-old Los Angeles City College student concentrating in business and law who had earlier formed the Moondogs with classmates. Fellow LACC student Harvey Goldstein added ten dollars in exchange for the promise of singing bass. Annette Kleinbard, then a sixteen-year-old Fairfax High attendee possessing a powerful, emotive soprano honed in the glee club and originally from New Brunswick, NJ, supplied the remaining ten dollars after Spector agreed to include her. With the full amount secured, the session proceeded.
The initial two-hour Gold Star date focused on Spector's "Don't You Worry My Little Pet," which he performed on every instrument while also serving as producer. After completing the mix, he presented the demo to neighbor Lew Bedell, co-owner with Herb Newsome of Era Records. The pair had recently launched Dore Records expressly to document rock & roll; impressed, they extended Spector a four-single contract carrying one-and-a-half cents royalty per copy sold. In the office they settled on the name the Teddy Bears, drawn from Elvis Presley's hit recording.
At the third session, with Goldstein no longer present, Sandy Nelson joined on drums and would later enjoy his own recording career. Near the close, Spector persuaded Kleinbard and Leib to attempt another of his compositions, the repetitive, plaintive ballad "To Know Him Is to Love Him" ("to know, know, know him, is to love, love, love him"), inspired by a visit to his father's Bronx gravesite; the title originated directly from the inscription on the headstone.
Dore dispatched five hundred copies of the single to radio outlets in early August 1958. Receiving scant initial response, Goldstein and Leib resumed their studies. In September a Fargo, ND, disc jockey turned the record over and aired "To Know Him Is to Love Him," prompting an order for eighteen thousand copies from a Minneapolis distributor; within a week the track appeared on national charts. The Teddy Bears performed on American Bandstand October 29. Harvey Goldstein, however, received no invitation after Spector had removed him for inability to execute the bass line; Goldstein subsequently sued Dore and the group, ultimately settling out of court for a share of royalties earned over the ensuing decade.
"To Know Him Is to Love Him" ascended to the top pop position nationwide and surpassed one million sales before Christmas 1958. The trio appeared on The Perry Como Show January 3, 1959. By mid-January they had departed Dore amid royalty disputes and moved to Lew Chudd's Imperial Records, which issued their next single that month. Spector soon learned that Chudd would neither permit him production control nor authorize use of Gold Star Studios or vocal stacking. The Teddy Bears completed only two additional singles plus remaining material for the album The Teddy Bears Sing before exiting Imperial. They next signed with Trey Records, owned by Lee Hazlewood and Lester Sill, the latter having previously co-founded Spark Records with Leiber & Stoller. Legal restrictions prevented reuse of the Teddy Bears name, so the two Trey releases appeared as The Spectors Three; neither charted, prompting Spector to dismiss his partners and dissolve the group.
Kleinbard sustained injuries in a September 1959 automobile accident yet recovered and pursued a solo singing career. Although she secured multiple recording deals, her principal accomplishments emerged as a songwriter. She co-wrote "The Night the Lights Went Out in Georgia," which earned a gold record for Vicki Lawrence in 1973 and a country hit for Reba McEntire in 1992, as well as "Hey Little Cobra" for the Rip Chords and "Gonna Fly Now," the theme from the first Rocky film starring Sylvester Stallone. She contributed themes for Sophie's Choice and Mr. Mom and accumulated two Academy Award and four Emmy nominations across her career.
Leib toured as one of the Hollywood Argyles and contributed guitar to several Duane Eddy sessions; he later served as musical supervisor for select low-budget 1970s films. He and Kleinbard collaborated on the score for the film Tulips.
After the Teddy Bears disbanded, Phil Spector returned to New York and worked with Leiber and Stoller in 1960. Alongside Leiber he co-wrote "Spanish Harlem," a major hit for former Drifter Ben E. King, and played guitar on the Drifters' "On Broadway." He soon joined Dune Records as staff producer, overseeing Ray Peterson's Top Ten single "Corinna, Corinna." Operating thereafter as a freelance producer and A&R executive for Atlantic, he produced hits for Gene Pitney. In late 1961 he co-founded Philles Records with Lester Sill and promptly achieved success producing and writing for the Crystals, the Ronettes, Bob B. Soxx and the Blue Jeans, the Righteous Brothers, Ike and Tina Turner, John Lennon, George Harrison, and numerous others. Spector entered the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame as a non-performer in 1989 and remains among the central figures of modern pop music.
Albums
