Legendary Producer Phil Spector Arrested in Shooting Death

Contributed by an Anonymous Source. Posted by scott on Monday, February 3, 2003 at 3:54 PM (EST)

Producer Phil Spector was arrested early this morning by Alhambra, CA police in the shooting death of an unidentified woman, according to this article from KNBC-TV in Los Angeles. Probably best known to punk fans as the producer of the Ramones' 1980 album End of the Century,

Spector was arguably the most legendary producer of the 1960s and early '70s, having worked with the Ronettes, the Crystals, Ike and Tina Turner, and even the Beatles. Although Spector has reportedly recorded sessions with Molly Ringwald and Celine Dion in recent years, the man's notorious perfectionism and reclusiveness have worked against him, with nothing being released under his name since the 1981 Yoko Ono album Season of Glass. The Ramones' late bassist Dee Dee Ramone once recounted an incident during the End of the Century sessions in which Spector pulled a gun on the band.

News (32 comments)

Please login or register to post comments.What are the benefits of having a Punknews.org account?

Share your opinion by posting comments on the stories that interest you
Rate music and bands and help shape the weekly top ten
Let Punknews.org use your ratings to help you find bands and albums you might like
Customize features on the site to get the news the way you want.

Fine Print: The following comments are owned by whoever posted them. We are not respon sible for them in any way. Seriously.

Someone (February 3, 2003)

Anyone else think this has something to do with the Beatles' upcoming rerelease of "Let It Be" with his overdubs removed? story here: http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/news/03-02/03.shtml

Someone (February 3, 2003)

the Beatles rock

Someone (February 3, 2003)

good observation

Someone (February 3, 2003)

When i first read your post, i was like "Fuck. They took the guitar overdubs out of the Who's 'My generation' when they re-released it in digital format and it was worse than the original, analogue recordings." but, after i read through the article, i am kind of intrigued. i mean, the Paul McCartney songs from the "Let it Be" sessions dont seem like they would hold up enough without the orchestra. they seem like they would be really hollow and empty. I am truly interested in seeing how the Harrison songs will turn out. That guy was so fucking overlooked in the beatles, a lot of his songs are better than McCartney's. Who cares about the Ramones when you have the BEATLES to worry about?

Someone (February 3, 2003)

the strangest part of this fucking story is the fact that i was reading the Beatles Pitchforkmedia.com article as Spector Murder story was breaking on FoxNews.......it sort of freaked me out -patemo

Someone (February 3, 2003)

karma man........ shit like that has been happening to me alot right around XMAS......was talking about the space shuttle and shit at school the day before it blew up. Wierd shit

Someone (February 3, 2003)

damn, this guy should of finished the job right there and taken care of the ramones since he already had the gun out. Sorry, that may be uncalled for but i just couldn't pass that up

Someone (February 3, 2003)

Twat

Someone (February 3, 2003)

pussy

Someone (February 3, 2003)

fuckhole

Someone (February 3, 2003)

time is making up for his hesitation

Someone (February 3, 2003)

you are an idiot. i think he should have come and killed you instead.

punkmusicdotcom (February 4, 2003)

You piece of crap- you have no clue what good music is! If not for the Ramones, you wouldn't even exist.

Someone (February 3, 2003)

that's fucked up... that's about all I have to say.

Someone (February 3, 2003)

Do people really care about this guy? I mean seriously... big deal, he produced one of the Ramones later (and might I say not very good) albums. I honestly do not feel this was news worthy. Oh well, I guess it did its job, I read it and responded.

Someone (February 3, 2003)

he also worked with the Beatles, but they don't really matter do they? It's like, No Mohawk means no News to some people on this site

PorkPie (February 3, 2003)

yes, people really care about this guy. do some research on him and you might understand. -brent

Someone (February 4, 2003)

And 'End of the Century' is a great album..

Someone (February 4, 2003)

You're exactly what's wrong w/ the kids on this site. Phil Spector did a LOT more than produce a Ramones record. Try brushing up on your music history...

Someone (February 4, 2003)

Phil Spector was also admired by Brian Wilson of the Pet Sounds. Their competitive work environment led to Brian Wilson writing one of the most beautiful albums ever... that's right, I'm talking about PET SOUNDS. Even Sir Paul said that, "God Only Knows" was one of the most, if not the most beautiful songs ever written. Spector also created the "wall of sound" that you hear on all of your favorite albums. You know where you lay one thing on another. Without Spector, and his crazy ass... we wouldn't have all 100 guitar tracks on the Smashing Pumpkins, Siamese Dream. Basically, Spector created the method of recording that all bands use in a round about way. Aaron

Someone (February 3, 2003)

YEs, people care about him, because he's Phil freaking Spector, and he's responsible for a major revolution in the way albums were and still are recorded. The man was a genius (which all but lends credibility to his being crazy.)

Someone (February 3, 2003)

"Full stacks, Phil Spector sound." - The Impossibles. (REST IN PEACE)

Someone (February 3, 2003)

"SONGS THAT LAST THREE MINUTES AND FOREVER. Phil Spector brought a grand, ennobling passion to the teen love song. His 'wall of sound' moved both bodies and hearts - launching what may be the most personal and stylistically unified series of mulit-artist recordings in pop history. That Phil Spector's hits will live on in the digital age is cause for celebration." - Kurt Loder, Rolling Stones Pop music sucks, teen love songs suck, and what he did to the Beetles' album sucked. The Ramones' album "End of the Century" sucked, Celin Dion sucks, Tina Turner sucked, Molly Ringwald sucked, only Jesus rules. So what did this guy do that was so great? Oh yah, and Kurt Loder is a pansy.

Someone (February 3, 2003)

"[...]what he did to the Beetles' album sucked." I have a bootleg of the "Get Back" album and I'm with John Lennon where "Let It Be" is concerned - Spector took a shitty bunch of sloppy recordings and turned them into something listenable. "Get Back" is kind of an interesting album and probably even had some unintentional influence on the lo-fi movement a few years back, but "Let It Be" is, if nothing else, a lot more listenable. The early Beatles albums - largely recorded live in the studio - were as tight as they were because the band was performing constantly and enjoyed making music with each other. "Get Back" was pretty obviously the work of a band that hadn't performed live in two or three years, was constantly stoned, and didn't really like being in the same room with one another at that point. Incidentally, Spector also produced two of the finest post-Beatles solo albums; George Harrison's "All Things Must Pass" and Lennon's "Plastic Ono Band." "The Ramones' album 'End of the Century' sucked [...]" I don't think there's a single Ramones album that is so controversial among the group's fans; truly a "love it" or "hate it" proposition. Personally, I really love that record, but your mileage may vary.

WussEmoRock (February 3, 2003)

damn, i live about 3 mins fro alhambra. nothing cool ever goes on there, except for In N Out. *****Wuss-Emo-Rock*****

Someone (February 3, 2003)

MoHAWK Punk RoCK, Eat Shit Beetle LoverS, Death To POp Ruck FUck, The Ramones suck, So Does Jesus. but the Crass are the gooder of the the few.

Someone (February 3, 2003)

Crass is horrible. mohawks look stupid. Fuck you.

Someone (February 4, 2003)

gooder... always liked that word...

Someone (February 4, 2003)

Click CLick Clack Clack. 50 Million sold. I was afraid of that. Now my guns gone now my guns gone now my guns gone cold.