Guess I better get back to this alphabetical thing if I’m ever going to make it to Z. Made it to S so far, don’t want to fail now with the end in sight.I’ve had 11,647 things to do since I posted letter R (unfortunately 5000 of those things were $$$ in fines for criminal trespass I incurred while doing a bit of sign remodeling [billboard shenanigans as my friend Salmagundi calls it] recently).
I had some Soft Cell, The Shits, & Greg Sage slated for the S slot when I came across this gem that was in the Various Artists section.
Phil Spector’s Greatest Hits is a 1977 release by Warner/Spector Records. It is an out-of-print very, very, rare compilation of Phil Spector's songs on a double LP with a sweet gatefold jacket illustrating a great deal that is pertinent to the Spector ‘wall of sound’ (Phillies, back to mono, Veronica ‘Ronnie Spector’ Bennett, a giant Phil balloon,etc). When people talk about “He’s a Rebel” or “Be My Baby”, “Then He Kissed Me” or “Walkin’ in the Rain”, very often they can’t remember whether the Ronettes or the Crystals recorded them, or the name of the group slips their mind entirely. Instead they simply call them “Phil Spector records”.
Spector's first song was 1958s “To Know Him is to Love Him" by the Teddy Bears, a group Phil formed at age 17 with two high school classmates. Spector wrote it, produced it, played guitar on it, & sang back-up vocals behind Carol Connors' breathy lead. The song charted at Number One.
In 1964 Spector scored his greatest triumph, “You’ve Lost that Lovin’ Feelin’” with The Righteous Brothers, generally regarded as one of the truly historic records of all times. Although the song runs 3:45, Spector labeled it at 3:05 on the record so that radio stations which normally clung to the conservative 3 minute rule would be more likely to play it. Such is the cunning of PS. It worked, the song received massive air-play & went to Number One.
& we probably are all aware of Phil’s latest record...his criminal record, ba-da-bum!
This sucker starts right off with “Be My Baby”, a classic song of yearning teen-dream with an opening drum riff that is one of the most famous introductions in rock. Dig in, kiddies!
Year of Release: 1977
Label: Warner/Spector 2SP9104
Genre: “little symphonies for the kids”
Tracklist:
Side 1 -
Be My Baby - The Ronettes
Da Doo Ron Ron - The Crystals
You’ve Lost that Lovin’ Feelin’ - The Righteous Brothers
Then He Kissed Me - The Crystals
Baby, I Love You - The Ronettes
Walkin’ in the Rain - The Ronettes
Side 2 -
He’s a Rebel - The Crystals
Uptown - The Crystals
Zip-a-dee Doo-dah - Bob B. Soxx & the Blue Jeans
Not too Young to Get Married - Bob B. Soxx & the Blue Jeans
Today I Met the Boy I’m Gonna Marry - Darlene Love
Wait ‘til My Bobby Gets Home - Darlene Love
Side 3 -
To Know Him is to Love Him - TheTeddy Bears
Pretty Little Angel Eyes - Curtis Lee
I Love how You Love Me - The Paris Sisters
Every Breath I Take - Gene Pitney
Under bthe Moon of Love - Curtis Lee
He’s Sure the Boy I Love - The Crystals
Side 4 -
Spanish Harlem - Ben E. King
Unchained Melody - The Righteous Brothers
River Deep-Mountain High - Ike & Tina Turner
Just Once in My Life - The Righteous Brothers
Black Pearl - Sonny Charles & Checkmate Ltd.
Ebb Tide - The Righteous Brothers
Download: Various Artists - Phil Spector’s Greatest Hits
Download Size: 155MB (ripped at 320Kbps from 33.3rpm 33 year old vinyl)
The decryption code is in comments.
12 comments:
This one of the absolute best introductions to Phillip's little symphonies. Thanks for ripping the wax.
to Donat,
Your thanks is my reward. Gotta love those early girl groups, gotta Love Darlene.
Be My Baby is one of those pieces of perfection. Wish more "fans" would see the real-life distinction between good music and obsession over musicians who they treat with weird idolatry. Phil, here, went overboard decades ago, no idea why, but he was a fine arranger and producer for several years. Like Dylan, he didn't do much of true value or importance after that initial flash of creativity.
thank you, wonderful music for summertime listening.
for what it's worth, WinZip complained of a CRC error on "Wait 'Til My Bobby Gets Home" and didn't extract it. 7-Zip also complained of CRC, but did extract file, which seemed to play OK.
Anonymous,
Thanks for the heads-up about the Darlene Love song. I downloaded the whole thing from mediafire & it opened all files with both winzip & 7zip. Maybe just a problem when yoy dl'ed it??? Anyone else have problems with these files?
Great stuff, many thanks.
The great fuzz guitar on Zip-A-Dee Doo-Dah was played by Billy Strange. In this video interview he talks about the recording session:
http://tinyurl.com/2fw4euw
Hi,
Sorry, but I just got here. And the file is "gone like the radio that shines in yesterday" (as Mr. Dylan once said)
Any hope you might repost it? This was a great collection including "He's Sure the Boy I Love" in real {{{{Stereo}}}} and other obscurities.
Johnno
oh no, the file has been deleted by Mediafire. Can you please repost?? thank you! love your work here on DM!
to Johnno & Anonymous,
The file has been uploaded to MEGA. The decryption code is posted below. If you have any trouble, read the note in the recent Saccharine Trust post or leave a comment.
The decryption code for this file is: HHExCzsZrcy8FNu-uIAmkS939Wg0JLiZ8miCCrfVZ8k
Thank you!
Post a Comment