Much has been said ... and more questions have been raised ... about PHIL SPECTOR's "Throw-Away B-Sides," especially now that this series has been running. Let's face it ... SPECTOR usually assembled a virtual Who's Who of musicians for his recording sessions ... and that means that these guys ... members of The Wrecking Crew and some of the most elite musicians on the planet ... were subjected to playing Phil Spector's Dreck!!!
Truth is, I'm really not familiar with ANY of these so-called "Throw-Away" B-Sides ... which, of course, is EXACTLY the way PHIL SPECTOR wanted them evaluated. So what do you think, STEVE??? Should we share a few with our readers? (Believe it or not, I even got a request for LET'S DANCE THE SCREW, PART 2, the other day, too!!! lol) kk
ROFL - What kinda perverts you got on the FH list? Crazy gun toting womanizing egotistical masochists? Better keep 'em happy or they may come after you like Medley's thugs will come after me.
Ok, I'll do it, but just remember - you asked for it!
I'll send you a CD with all the 45 instrumental B sides as well as (Let's Dance) The Screw - Part II. I'll also write another segment for the series ... "Phil Spector Trash (The B-Sides)".
Actually, some of the instrumentals are not that bad, others are terrible. I'll make recommendations too (with tongue firmly planted in cheek).
Steve (SLK47)
OK, you guys ASKED for it ... so here it is!!! (lol)
I threw the ball back into STEVE KNUETTEL's court on this one, as I was not familiar with ANY of the aforementioned HORRIBLE B's!!!
Here's what he came up with!!!
Phil Spector Series – Part 13 – Spector Trash (The B-Side Instrumentals)
This was an unplanned but requested segment of the Phil Spector Series. Much has been said about the throw-away instrumentals Phil put on the B-Sides of his hit records. Although there were some really good Philles B-Sides, the focus of this segment is on the instrumental B-Sides. Believe it or not, some of you readers wanted to hear more about them and even listen to some of them. So in keeping with the spirit of “give the people what they want”, here goes …
Addressing the subject of the Philles instrumental B-Sides in his book Phil Spector Out Of His Head, Richard Williams writes “Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah also boasted Phil’s first real ‘Spector B-Side,’ a genre which would later become notorious. Spector would write a little riff and just have the sessionmen blow on it in their usually half-hearted jamming style. Each little blow lasted about two minutes, enough for a cut. He would then give these numbers silly names: ‘Nino And Sonny (Big Trouble)’, or ‘Dr. Kaplan’s Office’ (Spector’s New York analyst) or ‘Bebe And Susu’ (the Ronettes’ mothers) or ‘Annette’ (Spector’s first wife).”
In general, they sound nothing like a Phil Spector production. They lack the thunderous drumming, the chimes and bells, the castanets, the echoed layers of sound, and the soaring strings. Most are not even Rock & Roll but more like Jazzy jam sessions. They were all recorded by various members of the Wrecking Crew / Wall Of Sound Orchestra usually with little if any involvement from the credited artist who performed on the A-Sides, even though the U.S. issues credited the B-Sides to the A-Side artists. This quote is from the Spectropop web site “The infamous instrumental B-Sides of Philles singles, usually attributed to the group that recorded the A-Sides, were instead credited to ‘The Phil Spector Group’ on many U.K. London 45s”.
Even though the musicians were great, the instrumental flips sides did not necessarily reflect their talent. None of them come close to matching Phil’s “Bumbershoot” instrumental released as by Phil Harvey. The earlier of these B-Side instrumentals (pre Philles 116) were at least a little bit Rock & Roll. The later instrumental B-Sides (after Philles 115) were usually Jazz instrumentals, not geared to teenage record buyers. The buyers of these records were usually very disappointed in the “lousy” instrumental B-Sides, feeling somewhat ripped off. Phil, however, got what he wanted - the guarantee of DJs playing the intended A-Side and a lot more royalty money.
Phil has writing credits for the majority of these instrumental B-Sides. A few writing credits are given to Arnold Goland (an arranger Phil sometimes used for his records) and some are given to Annette Lee Spector (aka Annette Merar, Phil’s first wife) and others to Spector-Sands (giving credit to Phil’s sister Shirely under her pseudonym of Cory Sands) and Jerry Riopelle (an associated record producer).
The following is a list of the Philles (and subsidiary label) instrumental B-Sides / along with the A-Side titles / and writer credits:
Flip And Nitty / Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah / Phil Spector
Walkin’ Along (Tra La La) / He’s Sure The Boy I Love / Phil Spector
Dr. Kaplan’s Office / Why Do Lovers Break Each Others Heart / Phil Spector
Git It / Da Doo Ron Ron / Arnold Goland
Annette / Not Too Young To Get Married / Phil Spector & Cory Sands
Brother Julius / Then He Kissed me / Arnold Goland
Tedesco And Pitman / Be My Baby / Phil Spector
Nino And Sonny (Big Trouble) / A Fine Fine Boy / Phil Spector
Miss Joan And Mr. Sam / Baby I Love You / Phil Spector
Harry And Milt Meet Hal B. / Christmas (Baby Please Come Home) / Phil Spector
Harry (From W. Va.) & Milt / Little Boy / Phil Spector
Big Red / (The Best Part Of) Breakin’ Up / Annette Lee Spector
Bebe And Susu / Do I Love You / Phil Spector
Irving (Jaggered Sixteenths) / All Grown Up / Arnold Goland
Winter Blues / Christmas (Baby Please Come Home) X-125 / Phil Spector
Blues For Baby / Born To Be Together / Phil Spector
The Cash Box Blues / I’ll Never Need More Than This / Phil Spector
Beatle Blues / Ringo I Love You / Annette Lee Spector (Annette Records)
Jose / You’re My Baby / Annette Merar (Annette Records)
Uncle Kev / Oh Baby / Annette Merar (Annette Records)
Pete Meets Vinnie / Hold Me Tight / Annette Merar (Shirley Records)
Larry L. / So Young / Annette Lee Spector (Phil Spector Records)
Chubby Danny D / Why Don’t They Let Us Fall In Love / Phil Spector (Phil Spector Records)
Our Song / Home Of The Brave / Jerry Riopell (Phi-Dan Records)
Torpedo Rock / Rare Masters album cut / Phil Spector (Phil Spector International Records)
Ronnie Spector does sing on “Blues For Baby,” but it’s more like jammin’ with the band and obviously not intended as a hit song but a throw-away B-Side.
Phil titled these songs to give special credit to those people around him as a thank you gesture.
“Flip And Nitty” was named for Phil (Flip) and Jack Nitzsche (Nitty).
“Dr. Kaplan’s Office” was named for Phil’s psychiatrist, Dr. Harold Kaplan.
“Annette” was named for his wife Annette Merar (Annette Lee Spector).
“Brother Julius” was named after a hamburger stand near the Gold Star Studio.
“Tedesco And Pitman” was named after Wrecking Crew guitarists, Tom Tedesco and Bill Pitman.
“Harry & Milt Meet Hal B.” was named after Hal Blaine. I have no idea who Harry and Milt were.
“Harry (From W. Va.) & Milt” - Again, I have no idea who Harry & Milt were.
“Big Red” – I have no idea on this one either. Some say it was Phil’s bodyguard, George Brand.
“Bebe And Susu” was named after the Ronettes mothers (Beatrice Bennet and Susan [?] Talley).
“Irving (Jaggered Sixteenths)” – Again, I have no idea who Irving was.
“Larry L.” was named after Larry Levine.
“Chubby Danny D.” Was named after Danny Davis, Phil’s promotion man.
“Pete Meets Vinnie” was named after songwriters Peter Andreoli and Vincent Poncia.
“Miss Joan And Mr. Sam” – Joan is probably Joan Berg, Phil’s secretary / personal assistant. I have no idea about Mr. Sam.
“Nino And Sonny (Big Trouble)” is named after Nino Tempo and Sonny Bono.
For today’s songs, there are four of the earlier more Rock & Roll instrumentals and (as an example of how disappointing they were) one of the Jazzy instrumentals – the rarest one - “Winter Blues,” the flip of the very rare 1965 version of “Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)".
Today’s Songs:
“Winter Blues” – Darlene Love
“Flip And Nitty” – Bob B. Soxx & The Blue Jeans
“Dr. Kaplan’s Office” – Bob B. Soxx & The Blue Jeans
“Walkin’ Along (La La La)” – Crystals
“Git It” – The Crystals
And, by special request ...
LET'S DANCE THE SCREW, Part 2
>>>Phil, however, got what he wanted - the guarantee of DJs playing the intended A-Side and a lot more royalty money. Steve (SLK47)
And THAT was the name of the game ... NOBODY was gonna play the wrong side of one of PHIL SPECTOR's records!!! (lol) And, with the "equal royalty" deal that was set up at the time, SPECTOR managed to earn SUBSTANTIAL extra income by having written and published these little instrumental throw-aways. (kk)
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