Phil Spector
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Phillip Harvey Spector (December 26, 1939 - January 16, 2021) was an American record producer, musician, and songwriter. Dubbed the "First Tycoon of Teen" by writer Tom Wolfe, Spector is acknowledged as one of the most influential figures in pop music history. In his music career, he served as the frontman of the band The Teddy Bears and also produced and co-wrote hit songs for musical acts such as The Beatles, Leonard Cohen, The Righteous Brothers, The Ramones, and his wife Ronnie Spector.
In 2003, the actress Lana Clarkson was found dead from a bullet wound in Spector's home. He maintained to authorities and the media that she had accidentally shot herself. From 2007 to 2009, he was the subject of two trials, the second of which resulted in him receiving a life sentence.
Villainy edit
Domestic abuse claims edit
Spector's second wife, Ronnie Spector (whom he began seeing when still married to his first wife) alleged in her 1990 memoir, Be My Baby: How I Survived Mascara, Miniskirts And Madness, that Spector had imprisoned her in his California mansion and subjected her to years of psychological torment. According to Bennett, Spector sabotaged her career by forbidding her to perform, and she escaped from the mansion barefoot with the help of her mother in 1972. In their 1974 divorce settlement, she forfeited all future record earnings and surrendered custody of their children. She alleged that this was because Spector threatened to hire a hit man to kill her.
Spector's sons Gary and Donté both stated that their father kept them captive as children, and they were forced to simulate sex acts with his girlfriend.
Murder of Lana Clarkson edit
On February 3, 2003, actress Lana Clarkson was killed in Spector's mansion (the Pyrenees Castle) in Alhambra, California. Her body was found slumped in a chair with a single gunshot wound to her mouth with broken teeth scattered over the carpet. Spector told Esquire in July 2003 that Clarkson's death was an "accidental suicide" and that she "kissed the gun". The emergency call from Spector's home, made by Spector's driver, Adriano de Souza, quotes Spector as saying, "I think I've killed someone". De Souza added that he saw Spector come out of the back door of the house with a gun in his hand.
Spector remained free on $1 million bail while awaiting trial, which began on March 19, 2007. Presiding Judge Larry Paul Fidler allowed the proceedings in Los Angeles Superior Court to be televised. On September 26, 2007, Fidler declared a mistrial because of a hung jury (ten to two for conviction).
In mid-April 2008, BBC Two broadcast a special entitled Phil Spector: The Agony and the Ecstasy, by Vikram Jayanti. It consists of Spector's first screen interview—breaking a long period of media silence. During the conversation, images from the murder court case are juxtaposed with live appearances of his tracks on television programs from the 1960s and 1970s, along with subtitles giving critical interpretation of some of his song production values. While he does not directly try to clear his name, the court case proceedings shown try to give further explanation of the facts surrounding the murder charges leveled against him. He also speaks about the musical instincts that led him to create some of his most enduring hit records, from "You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'" to "River Deep, Mountain High", as well as Let It Be, along with criticisms he feels he has had to deal with throughout his life.
The retrial of Spector for murder in the second degree began on October 20, 2008, with Judge Fidler again presiding; this time it was not televised. Spector was once again represented by attorney Jennifer Lee Barringer. The case went to the jury on March 26, 2009, and 18 days later, on April 13, the jury returned a guilty verdict. Additionally, Spector was found guilty of using a firearm in the commission of a crime, which added four years to the sentence. He was immediately taken into custody and, on May 29, 2009, was sentenced to 19 years to life in the California state prison system.
Spector died in a prison hospital on January 16, 2021 from natural causes. His daughter attributed his death to complications of COVID-19, with which Spector was diagnosed in December 2020.