By AP
Phil Spector, the eccentric and revolutionary American music producer who transformed rock with his 'Wall of Sound' method and was later convicted of murder, has died.
He was 81 years old.
The California Prison System indicated that
Spector passed away on Saturday of natural causes in a hospital.
Spector was in prison after being convicted of murdering actress Lana Clarkson in 2003 at her mansion on the outskirts of Los Angeles.
After a trial in 2009, he was sentenced to 19 years in prison.
Although most sources indicate that Spector was born in 1940, after his arrest it was recorded in documents that it was in 1939. His lawyer confirmed that date to The Associated Press.
Clarkson, the star of "Barbarian Queen" and other B movies, was found shot to death in the foyer of Spector's mansion in the hills overlooking the Alhambra, the modest suburban town on the outskirts of Los Angeles.
Until the actress's death, which Spector claims was an "accidental suicide," few residents knew that the mansion belonged to the lone producer, who spent the rest of his years in a prison hospital in western Stockton.
[Mexican singer-songwriter Armando Manzanero dies]
Decades earlier, Spector had been praised as a visionary for channeling Wagnerian ambition into the three-minute song, creating the 'Wall of Sound' that fused lively vocal harmonies with lavish orchestral arrangements to produce pop monuments like 'Da Doo Ron. Ron ',' Be My Baby 'and' He's a Rebel '.
"The best recording producer in history"
He was the unusual self-conscious artist in the early rock years and created an image of mystery and power, with his dark shadows and impassive expression.
Tom Wolfe declared him the "first teenage mogul."
Bruce Springsteen and Brian Wilson openly replicated his recording techniques and explicit romanticism, and John Lennon called him "the best recording producer in history."
Mexican singer-songwriter Armando Manzanero dies
Dec. 28, 202002: 52
The secret of their sound:
an overlay of sounds with
a saturation of instruments, voices and effects
, which changed the way pop records were recorded.
He called the result "little symphonies for children."
In 1969, Spector was approached to rescue The Beatles' album 'Let It Be', a complicated production that "went back to basics" marked by disagreements in the band.
Although Lennon praised Spector's work, Paul McCartney was furious, especially when Spector added strings and a chorus to McCartney's song 'The Long and Winding Road'.
Years later, McCarteny would oversee the remastering of "Let It Be" removing Spector's contributions.
