Phil Spector Series – Chapter 4 – Return to LA & The Rise Of Philles Records (106-114)
It was the summer of 1962, and Phil Spector was glad to be back in Los Angeles. He began planning the Crystals’ next release. It was a song written by his friend Gene Pitney called “He’s A Rebel.” Aaron Schroeder, Pitney’s manager, called Phil and told him that Liberty Records had just recorded “He’s A Rebel” by Vicki Carr and was planning on releasing it in September. Phil had no time to waste. To record the song, he called in Darlene Love of the Blossoms to sing the song, even though he planned on releasing it as by the Crystals. The sessions began on July13, 1962. Phil gathered the top musicians and recording people on the west coast including Jack Nitzsche and Larry Levine. The record was completed and released in September in time to beat out and crush Vicki Carr’s version. “He’s A Rebel” / “I Love You Eddie” [Philles 106] sailed to #1 in the nation.
By this time, Phil had established the core of musicians he preferred working with – the so-called Wrecking Crew (later referred to as The Wall Of Sound Orchestra.) Key members included Tommy Tedesco, Howard Roberts, Glen Campbell and Bill Pitman on guitar; Carol Kaye, Ray Pohlman, Lyle Ritz and Jimmy Bond on bass; Steve Douglas and Nino Tempo on saxophone; Jay Migliori, Ollie Mitchell, Roy Caton, Virgil Evans, Lou Blackburn and Tony Terran on horns; Al Delory, Larry Knechtel, Don Randi and Leon Russell on keyboards, and Hal Blaine and Earl Palmer on drums.
Phil was on a roll and wanted complete control of Philles Records. To him, that meant his longtime friend and partner Lester Sill had to go. Lester reportedly agreed to sell out his entire interest in Philles and Mother Bertha for $60,000 and a piece of the action on the next Crystals record. When Lester called Phil to collect the check, Phil’s lawyer told him that they were still working on it, trying to calculate the loss from the lost Paris Sisters album and other deductible expenses. Lester got his own lawyer involved. The legal battle had begun, but that did not stop Phil from producing records.
The next song Phil produced was “Zip-A-Dee Doo-Dah” from Disney’s Song Of The South. For the artist on the record Phil again turned to Darlene Love of the Blossoms. Together with Fanita James and Bobby Sheen, Darlene recorded the song. Phil named the group Bob B. Soxx & The Blue Jeans. He quickly threw together an instrumental track called “Flip And Nitty” for the B side. (Flip was a nickname for Phillip, and Nitty was a nickname for Jack Nitzsche.) The incredible fuzz guitar solo break in the middle of “Zip-A-Dee Doo-Dah” was performed by Billy Strange. “Zip-A-Dee Doo-Dah” / “Flip And Nitty” [Philles 107] entered the charts in November, 1962, and climbed all the way to #8.
Next up, Phil tried another nursery rhyme type song called “Puddin’ N’ Tain”. This time, he chose a group called the Alley Cats who had been working with Lou Adler. Adler was now heading up Don Kirshner’s west coast operations. Phil agreed to split the resulting record with Lou producing the flip side of the record called “Feel So Good”. The Alley Cats were recommended to Phil by Billy Storm. The group included Gary & Chester Pipkin, Sheridan Spencer, Brice Caufield and James Barker. “Puddin’ N’ Tain’ / “Feel So Good” [Philles 108] entered the charts in January, 1963, and climbed to #43.
Tiring of the nursery rhyme idiom, Phil again turned to his Brill Building contacts for his next song. He selected “He’s Sure The Boy I Love,” written by Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil. This was to be the first Darlene Love release, but like “He’s A Rebel,” it was instead credited to the Crystals. Again, Phil slapped together an instrumental B side called “Walking Along (La La La).” “He’s Sure The Boy I Love” / “Walking Along (La La La)” [Philles 109] entered the charts in late December, 1962, and climbed all the way to #11. Oddly, some copies of the record bear the label number 109 X while most copies have the record number as 109. Supposedly, Phil did this to pull a fast one on Lester Sill and his attorney, saying that 109 X was the next Crystals release which Sill had demanded as part of the separation settlement. It fooled no one. Once again, Darlene Love was angry for not getting credit for her work and started demanding that Phil give her label credit. He promised he would.
However, the next record Darlene recorded for Phil would not be a Darlene Love record but another Bob B. Soxx & The Blue Jeans release. This one was “Why Do Lovers Break Each Other’s Hearts”. Again, Phil slapped together an instrumental for the B side. This one was named “Dr. Kaplan’s Office,” after his psychiatrist. “Why Do Lovers Break Each Other’s Hearts” / “Dr. Kaplan’s Office” [Philles 110] entered the charts in mid-February, 1963, and climbed only to #38.
Next, Phil went into the studio with the Crystals and his lawyer and recorded “(Let’s Dance) The Screw – Parts 1 & 2”. Phil had no intention of ever releasing the awful record but allegedly produced it only to rid himself of Lester. Eventually, the split was finalized. Phil was now in full control of Philles Records and Mother Bertha Music. “(Let’s Dance) The Screw – Part I” / “(Let’s Dance) The Screw – Part II [Philles 111] was only released on promotional copies and was quickly withdrawn. The few copies that do exist are extremely rare and valuable selling for up to $3,000 each. Blue bootleg copies of the record do exist and can be purchased in the $5 - $25 range.
Now Phil was ready to make good on his many promises to Darlene Love. For her “debut” he selected “(Today I Met) The Boy I’m Gonna Marry.” The song was written by Ellie Greenwich and Toni Powers, but from this time forward, whenever Phil collaborated with writers on songs he produced, he also demanded writing credits. Two different B sides for “(Today I Met) The Boy I’m Gonna Marry” were released. One is a Spector-Greenwich-Powers song called “My Heart Beat A Little Bit Faster”, and the other (throwing a bone to sister Shirley) is a Spector-Sands song called “Playing For Keeps.” Both releases bear the record number Philles 111, replacing the withdrawn “(Let’s Dance) The Screw” catalog number. “(Today I Met) The Boy I’m Gonna Marry” entered the charts in early April, 1963, and climbed to #39, a disappointing showing for such a fantastic song, singer and production.
Phil had been overlooking the real Crystals in favor of Darlene Love. Reportedly, Gene Pitney met the Crystals in Washington DC when “He’s A Rebel” was just beginning to chart and had to teach them the words to his song before they went on stage. The Crystals added a new member to their group named Dolores (La La) Brooks. Phil had intended his next production to be “Da Doo Ron Ron” by Darlene Love, but when he heard La La Brooks sing the song, he loved her voice and, in an odd turnabout, actually used the Crystals instead of Darlene Love. Another instrumental called “Git It” was used as the B side of the record. “Da Doo Ron Ron” / “Git It” [Philles 112] entered the charts in late April, 1963, and climbed all the way to #3. With its thunderous drums, “Da Doo Ron Ron” (written by Phil Spector, Ellie Greenwich and Jeff Barry) was Phil’s biggest production to date, and it is generally regarded as the true beginning of the now famous Wall Of Sound.
Since his return to Los Angeles, Phil had been dating Annette Merar. At this time, Phil was 22 and Annette was only 19. Despite her parents concern that she was too young, Phil and Annette were married on February18, 1963. Perhaps that was the reason that Phil chose a song called “Not Too Young To Get Married” for his next release. Phil chose Bob B. Soxx & The Blue Jeans for the record. The flip side was another instrumental called simply “Annette.” As a token of his love for her, Phil started stamping “Phil + Annette” in the run off grooves of Philles releases. “Not Too Young To Get Married” / “Annette” [Philles 113] entered the charts in June, 1963, and climbed only to # 63.
For his next release, Phil again turned to Darlene Love with a Spector-Greenwich-Barry song called “Wait Til’ My Bobby Gets Home.” The flip side was yet another Spector-Sands composition called “Take It From Me.” “Wait Til’ My Bobby Gets Home” / “Take It From Me” [Philles 114] entered the charts in late July, 1963, and climbed to # 26. There is no question that 1963 was proving to be a very successful year for Spector and Philles, but the best was still yet to come.
Today’s songs:
Zip-A-Dee Doo-Dah – Bob B. Soxx & Blue Jeans
Puddin’ 'N’ Tain – Alley Cats
He’s Sure The Boy I Love – Crystals
(Today I Met) The Boy I’m Gonna Marry – Darlene Love
Wait 'Til My Bobby Gets Home – Darlene Love
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