Phil Spector Series – Part V – Philles Records, The Middle Period (115-123)
It was July, 1963, and Phil Spector had already
made the Top 100 with seven chart hits. He successfully ended his partnership
with Lester Sill and began his marriage to Annette Merar. Shortly after
his marriage, Phil traveled to New York looking for more songs and new talent
for his label. Phil had been looking for a new song to follow up on the
Crystals success with “Da Doo Ron Ron.” He
found it in a song on which he collaborated again with Barry Mann and Cynthia
Weil. “Then He Kissed Me” was the perfect song for the group and Phil
put together one of his most extravagant productions for the record. The flip
side of the record was another instrumental called Brother Julius, named after
a hamburger stand near the Gold Star studio. “Then He Kissed Me” /
“Brother Julius” [Philles 115] entered the charts in mid-August and climbed all
the way to #6. (I recently read that "Brother Julius" ...
the title of one of Phil's throw away b-sides ... was named after a
guy who had a shoeshine stand near the studio. Prior to that I had always
heard that Brother Julius ran a hamburger stand near the studio.)
While he was in New York , Phil auditioned a new group for Philles, a female
trio called the Ronettes. The Ronettes were Veronica (Ronnie) Bennett, her
sister Estelle Bennett and their cousin Nedra Talley. Phil fell in love with
Veronica’s voice and immediately went about signing the group to Philles. The
trio was under contract with Colpix Records, who had issued a few singles and a
album which did not chart. With the help of Veronica and Estelle’s mother, who
simply called the company and got Colpix to release the Ronettes from their
contract, Phil immediately signed the Ronettes to Philles at the end of March.
He started rehearsing the group on a Jeff Barry-Ellie Greenwich song called
“Why Don’t They Let Us Fall In Love.” The
song was recorded at Gold Star in Los Angeles, but Phil had already decided not
to release it in favor of another Barry-Greenwich composition, “Be My Baby.” Phil readied that song for release and paired
it with yet another throw-away instrumental, “Tedesco And Pitman,” named after
two members of the Wrecking Crew. “Be My Baby” / “Tedesco And Pitman” [Philles
116] entered the charts at the end of August and soared all the way to #2.
Phil was on top of the world and had decided to undertake his largest project ever. He would produce an entire album of rock and roll Christmas songs in time for a holiday season release. He worked on the album all through the summer and finally completed work on it in September. He put it on the shelf until the holiday season began around Thanksgiving, in time for the annual Christmas shopping binge. Before then, Spector continued releasing singles.
In October, he released Darlene Love’s “A Fine Fine Boy” coupled with “Nino & Sonny (Big Trouble)” named after Nino Tempo and Sonny Bono. Although the record was a rousing production reminiscent of “Da Doo Ron Ron” with a great vocal break of “My boy … he’s a fine, fine, super-fine boy,” “A Fine Fine Boy” / “Nino & Sonny (Big Trouble)” [Philles 117] did not chart very well – only reaching #53.
The Christmas album was released on November 22, 1963, the day of the Kennedy assassination which stunned the nation, ruining everyone’s holidays. The assassination was blamed for the failure of the Christmas album, which was titled “A Christmas Gift For You From Philles Records.” A single from the album was also released, Darlene Love’s “Christmas (Baby Please Come Home).” The single is often cited as one of Phil’s best productions, and Darlene has been performing it annually on David Letterman for the past twelve-plus holiday seasons. “Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)” / “Harry And Milt Meet Hal B.” (another instrumental) [Philles 119] and the Christmas Album were both withdrawn in lieu of the Kennedy assassination.
Despite the heartache of pulling his masterpiece, Phil did release one other single in 1963. That single was the Ronettes’ follow up to “Be My Baby.” It was another Jeff Barry - Ellie Greenwich song simply called “Baby, I Love You.” It was the perfect follow-up release with an incredible production, but the country was still in shock and not in the mood for buying records. “Baby, I Love You” / ‘Miss Joan And Mr. Sam”, (yet another instrumental) [Philles 118] did manage to make it to #24.
Despite being a roaring success for Phil and Philles, 1963 ended with a thud. As Darlene Love is quoted as saying, “As Phil withdrew A Christmas Gift For You From Philles Records, so he also started to withdraw himself.” Big trouble was brewing. Phil had fallen in love with Ronnie Bennett and the British Invasion was about to begin.
Phil Spector had become a music idol in Britain. Ever since “He’s A Rebel” hit the charts there, he was regarded as a major rock and roll hero. His records were generally even more successful in England than they were in The States. In England it was Spectormania. Phil decided to visit England and escape the mourning United States .
The Ronettes left for England two weeks before Phil to tour with The Rolling Stones. In addition to touring with the Rolling Stones, the Ronettes also got to Meet The Beatles.
(Hey, GREAT name for an album!!! - kk)
When Phil arrived in England, he met and became good friends with Andrew Loog Oldham, the Stones’ producer who was a huge Spector fan. The Stones had yet to break the U.S. market. Phil and Andrew decided it would be great to release the Stones’ records on Philles in the United States. They approached Decca with the idea and were flatly refused. Phil and Andrew then went to Regent Sound where the Rolling Stones were recording that evening. Fellow American Gene Pitney was about to embark on a tour of England and dropped by the studio to join his friend Phil. Graham Nash and Allan Clarke of the Hollies also came by the studio that night. There’s more to come on that evening’s session in the upcoming “Loose Ends” section of this series. Meanwhile, back in The States …
Jeff Barry and Ellie Greenwich, along with Jerry Leiber, Mike Stoller and George Goldner, formed Red Bird Records. The first release on the new label was the Dixie Cups’ “Chapel Of Love.” Phil had already recorded “Chapel Of Love” by both the Ronettes and Darlene Love but had not yet released either version. He was furious with Jeff and Ellie for beating him to the market with the song and took it as an act of betrayal. He vowed to stop using their songs for his releases.
Phil was ready to release another single to replace the withdrawn “Christmas (Baby Please Come Home).” He chose a song by the Crystals titled “Little Boy.”
It was coupled with another throw-away instrumental, “Harry (From W. Va. ) & Milt.” Even though it was perhaps one of his finest releases ever, surpassing “Then He Kissed Me” and “Be My Baby” in production, it flopped. “Little Boy” / “Harry (From W. Va. ) & Milt” [Philles 119X] entered the charts in February, 1964, and rose to only # 92. The reason for its failure are only speculative including suggestions ranging from Phil was bored with Philles after the Christmas album withdrawal and did not actively promote the release, to the British Invasion overpowered all domestic releases, to the public was tired of being ripped off by the throw-away B sides on Philles, to the record was completely over-produced, to Phil was being sabotaged by the American music industry because of his independence. Perhaps there is some truth to all of these.
For the next Philles release, Phil returned to the Ronettes with a song written by Vinnie Poncia and Pete Andreoli called “(The Best Part Of) Breakin’ Up.” “Big Red” was the instrumental that Phil chose to pair with the song. Competition for chart position was tougher than ever. The British Invasion was in full swing, Red Bird was taking off, and Motown was soaring with new groups like the Supremes, Four Tops and Temptations, not to mention the Miracles. “(The Best Part Of) Breakin’ Up” / “Big Red” [Philles 120] hit the charts in early April and stalled at # 39. Phil was getting frustrated, but that did not stop his growing affair with Ronnie. The two were becoming inseparable.
Phil needed to do something different to stay on top. Berry Gordy had successfully launched his empire with the Tamla, Motown, Soul and Gordy labels. Phil decided to add other labels to the Philles family. He introduced Phil Spector Records, Phi-Dan Records, Annette Records and Shirley Records. Phi-Dan was named by combining Phil and Dan from his promotion head Danny Davis. Annette was named for his wife. Shirley was named for his sister. More is to come on these subsidiary labels in an upcoming segment - Phil Spector Series – Chapter 7 – Post-Philles Productions – Part 1.
Phil tried cracking the top of the charts again with another Ronettes record. This time it was with “Do I Love You,” a beautiful song written especially for the Ronettes by Poncia and Andreoli. Once again, Phil paired the song with a filler instrumental titled “Bebe And Susu.” “Do I Love You” / “Bebe And Susu” [Philles 121] entered the charts in late June and peaked at #34, barely surpassing the performance of “Breakin’ Up.” This relatively poor performance convinced Phil he had to change something.
Phil turned back to the Crystals for his next release. He went back to his vaults and resurrected a song he had produced earlier by the Crystals called “All Grown Up,” which was a Jeff Barry - Ellie Greenwich collaboration. This time around, he added a Beach Boys like surf guitar to the thinly disguised rip-off of Chuck Berry’s “Almost Grown.” For the flip side, another instrumental named “Irving (Jaggered Sixteenths)” was selected. “All Grown Up” / “Irving (Jaggered Sixteenths)” – Philles 122 – entered the charts at the beginning of August for one week peaking at a pathetic #98. The record failed miserably and deservedly so. It was the last Crystals record Phil released. They were given the axe and quickly signed with United Artist Records.
Phil went back to his vault and picked two Darlene Love songs for his next release. There would be no filler instrumental on the next Philles release. Phil paired two great songs – “Stumble And Fall” / “(He’s A) Quiet Guy” [Philles 123]. It was a brilliant two-sided record, but Phil quickly withdrew it from release in favor of a great new song he produced for the Ronettes. Today, that Darlene Love record is very collectible, commanding $200+.
Using the same record number as the withdrawn Darlene Love single, Phil released the new Ronettes record. The song was a Spector-Mann-Weil composition called “Walking In The Rain.” Phil tried for perfection on the song, including an actual thunderstorm for the song’s introduction. It was a beautiful record. To help ensure the record’s success, Phil stuck with the idea of not using an instrumental filler on this release and pulled another Ronettes song from the vault for the flip side. “Walking In The Rain” / “How Does It Feel” [Philles 123] entered the charts in late October and climbed to #23. It was a good performance but still not what Phil was hoping for. He longed to be back at the top of the charts - just a Top 40 showing was not good enough. He feared that the girl group sound was over and that he needed to look elsewhere for a chart topper.
In his own mind, SPECTOR needed to remain a viable, trend-setting producer ... not only in tune with what was happening in the music industry ... but, in fact, LEADING the way by breaking new ground in that industry. Plain and simple ... PHIL SPECTOR NEEDED a hit!!! (kk)
Today’s songs:
Then He Kissed Me – Crystals
A Fine Fine Boy – Darlene Love
Little Boy – Crystals
Do I Love You – Ronettes
Stumble And Fall – Darlene Love
With the holiday season just behind us, we'll explore more closely PHIL SPECTOR's LEGENDARY Christmas Album in tomorrow's segment. Also, I don't know about YOU guys ... but I can't wait to read more about this recording session at which THE ROLLING STONES, GENE PITNEY and a couple of THE HOLLIES were present!!! And, did you notice the degree to which SPECTOR went out of his way to throw absolute GARBAGE on the B-SIDES of many of his records?!?!? Part of this was a strategy to ensure that the RIGHT side of the record received radio airplay ... but JUST as big a factor was the fact that back then the B-SIDE of the record earned EQUAL ROYALTIES to the A-Side of the record ... so if PHIL SPECTOR produced a SMASH, he would earn DOUBLE the money in royalties because HIS throw-away composition was stuck on the other side!!! (kk)
WOW - some really nice COMMENTS from the readers. Since I'm so familiar with the material, I quickly skip through it (looking for errors and any changes / additions you have made) because I really look forward to the comments, and they have been great. Hope this continues.
Steve (SLK47)
People are LOVIN' this series!!! You did an EXCELLENT job ... so enjoy the kudos!!! (kk)
Kent ~
Great job!! I'm enjoying the Phil Spector series!
Keep up the good work.
Linette :D
Hi Kent,
Thanks, Guys! I love this whole idea you had. Kudos!
I was Ex'specting good script when you said you would be tackling 'The Life and Times of Phil Spector,” but I didn't realize it would turn out to be This Great!
Don't care much for the man himself but you can't beat his productions and knowledge.
Keep up the challenging and most informative
work. We all out here appreciate the efforts you’re putting into this.
Edie Andrews
Kudos again to STEVE KNUETTEL who
put together EXACTLY the kind of series we love to run here in FORGOTTEN HITS. According to the volume of mail that we've
already received, BE MY BABY appears to be MOST of your VERY favorite PHIL
SPECTOR Productions of all time ... quite a few of you have gone so far as to
name it the greatest record every made. (BEACH BOY BRIAN WILSON would be
the FIRST to agree with you!!!) And, before this series is over,
you'll hear a couple of OTHER versions of this song that were ALSO produced by
PHIL SPECTOR! Steve Knuettel tells us
that the Philles Records' logo tag line was "Tomorrow's Sound Today"
… and we seem to be experiencing that all over again during the course of this
series! (kk)
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