10 Greatest Phil Spector Songs Epilogue (The Beatles)

Phil had two major phases of his career, the first was his girl group records in the early to mid sixties, and the second was his work with the Beatles, and then two ex- Beatles, at the end of the sixties and into the '70's. Before they broke up he produced their Let It Be album in 1970 which is generally thought of as one of their worst albums. I like it a lot though, it's a Beatle's record that sounds very different from the others. It also doesn't sound like a Phil Spector, Wall Of Sound record. He lays back on most of the songs and it actually ends up being one of their rawest albums. The notable exceptions are Paul's "Let It Be" and "The Long and Winding Road". Paul supposedly hated Phil's production and felt like his arrangements were drowning out the songs. The arrangement on "The Long and Winding Road" is a little bit sappy but it ends up adding strength to what ultimately is just a sappy song. He didn't write the thing Paul, he just reacted to it; sometimes a song needs some goddamn strings. Paul re-released "Let It Be" as "Let It Be- Naked" a couple years ago and took off Spector's production and laid the tracks pretty bear. I like it, it sounds cool, but it's not as good as the original.









Next he produced George Harrison's first solo album, "All Things Must Pass", which was a big hit. "My Sweet Lord" was the number one single off it that George would later get sued for due to it's sounding too similar to The Chiffon's "He's So Fine". The record is a little over rated but it still has some good songs. Here are a couple,








Between 1970 and 1975 Phil produced four John Lennon solo records and two of them were genius. First was John's first album after the Beatles, "Plastic Ono Band". It's one of the great records and Phil lays way back on it, letting Lennon scream for his mother not to go when she'd been dead since he was 9. The best suffering is done alone and Phil knows it well. He's so subtle on this record that you hardly know he's there. the most part, Though he's known for his mountainous sound, here Phil leaves the wall of sound at home, it's not always about having a good time.




Then he produced John's next album, "Imagine". It's a great record with more of a Phil Spector type sound. The tracks are fuller than on "Plastic Ono Band", with more orchestration and bigger arrangements. The title track is the classic song, and "How Do You Sleep At Night" is a venemous attack on Paul McCartney. The price for bad art is death, or the equivalent vicious curse of a genius. John could be a vicious snake in the grass like all honest souls at some point are. The world is too cruel not to hate it sometimes. Phil brought forth the two sides of John's coin, the gentle and the brutal, the empathy and the napalm; and it came natural to Phil because that's what he was. A snake in the grass who made beautiful songs. John struck a deep chord with Phil, and a testament to that fact is that the last song that he produced, in 2007 and on trial for murder, was entitled "Crying For John Lennon". It's by a singer named "Hargo" and the song's not good, but there's still something there because Phil's there. It could have been different; wasted promise; something beautiful dying. It's a common thread, it's in all of his songs, the most beautiful ones and the mediocre ones too. Phil, you could have been a star. You could have been huge.