HOW MUSIC CHANGED, PART 130a – THE RISE AND FALL OF PHIL SPECTOR

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Few non-performers can qualify for status among the most influential musicians of all time, but nobody could deny Phil Spector’s touch on the music industry. Despite whatever your opinion may be of the man, his work was incredibly influential, and he made some of the most important and just plain fun records of all time. His career follows a near-perfect trajectory for a tragic biography, so we will tell his story in two parts. Today’s show covers the incredible rise of his career. Next week, we will focus on his slide into oblivion, and beyond.
For a recap, the “How Music Changed” is a series of 250 programs aimed at explaining the most important aspects of American music history. The series is presented by alternating between two timelines, one covering the early history of our music, and the second covering ‘contemporary’ artists. Phil Spector falls into the second category. To clarify the method to our madness, here are the shows that we have covered so far;
Series #1 – The Early History
Part 1 – Birth of the Recording Industry/The Great Tenors (Enrico Caruso & John McCormack
Part 2 – The Death of European Tradition – Strauss, Debussy, Satie, Dvorak, Burleigh
Part 3 – Birth of an American Identity – Stephen Foster, L.M. Gottschalk, Scott Joplin, James P. Johnson
Part 4 – Birth of American Popular Music – Sousa, Bert Williams, Billy Murray, Al Jolson
Part 5 – Birth of Jazz – Cook, Blake, Europe, Original Dixieland Jazz Band, Keppard

Series #2 – The Contemporary Artists
Part #126 – The Blues Harp – Sonny Terry, Junior Parker, Slim Harpo, Little Walter, Junior Wells, James Cotton, P. Butterfield, John Mayall
Part 127 – Bad Reputations – Ike Turner and Jimmy Reed
Part 128 – We Three Kings – Freddie King, Albert King, and Earl King
Part 129a & b (presented in two programs) – The Brill Building Couples – Goffin/King, Mann/Weil, Barry/Greenwich
Part 130a & b (presented in two parts) – The Rise and Fall of Phil Spector

Here are the tracks covered in today’s program;
1) To Know Him Is to Love Him – The Teddy Bears
2) Spanish Harlem – Ben E. King
3) On Broadway – The Drifters
4) Corinne, Corinna – Ray Peterson
5) He’s a Rebel – The Crystals
6) Da Doo Ron Ron – The Crystals
7) Then He Kissed Me – The Crystals
8) Be My baby – The Ronettes
9) Baby I Love You – The Ronettes
10) Walking in the Rain – The Ronettes
11) Christmas (Baby Please Come Home) – Darlene Love