Tag Archives: River Deep Mountain High

May 28 in music history

Happy birthday John Cameron Fogerty (born May 28, 1945) (read more)

But I think beautiful is simple and elegant, like a ballad with simple harmony.
~John Fogerty

Even though I have often recorded alone, I still feel the best music is made by musicians playing off each other.
~John Fogerty

john fogerty
 Aaron Thibeaux “T-Bone” Walker (May 28, 1910 – March 16, 1975) was a critically acclaimed American blues guitarist, singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist, who was one of the most influential pioneers and innovators of the jump blues and electric blues sound. He is the first musician recorded playing blues with the electric guitar. In 2003, Rolling Stone ranked him at #47 on their list of “The 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time”.  t-bone walker
 Gary Stewart (May 28, 1944 – December 16, 2003) was a country musician and songwriter known for his distinctive vibrato voice and his southern rock influenced, outlaw country sound. During the peak of his popularity in the mid-1970s Time magazine described him as the “king of honkytonk.”  He is remembered for a series of country chart hits from the mid- to late- 1970s, his biggest hit being “She’s Actin’ Single (I’m Drinkin’ Doubles),” which topped the U.S.  gary-stewart_jpg_627x325_crop_upscale_q85
 “River Deep – Mountain High” is a may 1966 single by Ike & Tina Turner. Considered by producer Phil Spector to be his best work, the single was successful in Europe, peaking at #3 in the United Kingdom, though it flopped on its original release in the United States. Spector claimed to be pleased with the response from the critics and his peers, but he then withdrew from the music industry for two years, beginning his personal decline. After Eric Burdon covered the song in 1968, it was re-released a year later, and has since become one of Tina Turner’s signature songs.In 1999, “River Deep – Mountain High” was inducted in the Grammy Hall of Fame.  Ike & tina turner Riverdeep-mountainhigh
Bob Dylan: Verona, Italy 28 May 1984 (video & audio) bob dylan verona 1984

Spotify Playlist – May 28

Today: Phil Spector is 73

PS

I am dysfunctional by choice, and I love my attitude problem.
~Phil Spector

If the average man is made in God’s image, then Mozart was plainly superior to God.
~Phil Spector

Strictly speaking, Phil Spector wasn’t even a performer — he’s a musician, but he very rarely released records under his name. However, as a producer — and, to a significant extent, songwriter, label owner, and session player — he has influenced the course of rock & roll for more than all but a handful of performers.
~Richie Unterberger (allmusic.com)

The Ronettes – Be My Baby – Stereo:

From Wikipedia:

Birth name Harvey Phillip Spector
Born December 26, 1939 (age 73)
Origin The Bronx, New York City, U.S.
Genres Pop, rock
Occupations Record producer, songwriter, session musician
Instruments Guitar, piano
Years active 1958–2009
Labels Philles Records, A&M Records, Apple Records, Warner Spector, Phil Spector International, Pavillion Records, ABKCO Records, Sony Legacy
Associated acts The Ronettes
The Crystals
Darlene Love
The Righteous Brothers
John Lennon
The Teddy Bears
Ike and Tina Turner
George Harrison
Dion DiMucci
The Ramones
The Beatles (Let It Be)
Leonard Cohen
Ben E. King
Gene Pitney
Bob B. Soxx & the Blue Jeans
The Wrecking Crew
Starsailor, Ronnie Spector, Sonny Charles and the Checkmates Ltd., Cher, Cher & Harry Nilsson, Jerri Bo Keno.
Website http://philspector.com

PS2

Ike & Tina Turner – River Deep – Mountain High:

Phillip Harvey “Phil” Spector (born Harvey Phillip Spector on December 26, 1939) is an American record producer and songwriter.

The originator of the “Wall of Sound” production technique, Spector was a pioneer of the 1960s girl-group sound and produced over 25 Top 40 hits in 1960–1965. Some of his famous girl groups are The Ronettes and The Crystals. After this initial success, Spector later worked with artists including Ike and Tina Turner, John Lennon, George Harrison, and the Ramones with similar acclaim. He produced The Beatles’ album Let It Be, and the Grammy Award–winning Concert for Bangladesh by former Beatle George Harrison. In 1989, Spector was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a non-performer. The 1965 song “You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feelin'”, produced and co-written by Spector for The Righteous Brothers, is listed by BMI as the song with the most U.S. airplay in the 20th century.

In 2009, Spector was convicted of second-degree murder in the 2003 shooting death of actress Lana Clarkson in his Alhambra, California home. He is serving a prison sentence of 19 years to life.

Righteous Brothers – You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feelin’:

The Wall of Sound:

The Wall of Sound is a music production technique for pop and rock music recordings developed by record producer Phil Spector at Gold Star Studios in Los Angeles, California, during the early 1960s. Working with such audio engineers as Larry Levine and the session musicians who became known as The Wrecking Crew, Spector created a dense, layered, reverberant sound that came across well on AM radio and jukeboxes popular in the era. He created this sound by having a number of electric and acoustic guitarists perform the same parts in unison, adding musical arrangements for large groups of musicians up to the size of orchestras, then recording the sound using an echo chamber.

Album of the day:

Back to Mono (1958–1969) – Released November 12, 1991

backtomono

 

At the time Back to Mono was released in 1991, Phil Spector’s reputation as one of pop’s great visionaries was intact, but there was no way to hear his genius. It wasn’t just that there were no collections spotlighting his productions, there weren’t collections of artists he produced. It wasn’t until Back to Mono that there was a thorough overview of Spector’s greatest work, and while it’s not without flaws, it still stands as one of the great box sets.
~Stephen Thomas Erlewine (allmusic.com)

Back to Mono is not available on spotify… So we’ll have to do with another collection:

Phil

Other December 26:

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