They Lost That Lovin' Feeling

If the reason for reading Mick Brown's Tearing Down the Wall of Sound had been to investigate the relationship between madness and genius in this particular case, which it was, I'm not disappointed. I think it's always particular to each case, though. In this case, the insecurities of a small, geeky man who at least had the talent to develop his obsession with the pop music on the radio into a deep understanding of how it was made.

'Genius' is a big word but, like Thomas Edison might have meant, it's not necessarily all innate and requires some nurturing. Spector knew how to make a pop record, though.

Having read Ronnie's account in Be My Baby, though, there are differences to be found in perspectives to be had. Ronnie presents herself as a picture of innocence whereas Brown thinks she knew plenty, not least in marrying Spector for the benefit of her career. It effectively lasted four months although the wedding night was ominous enough.

Spector was most concerned that his girlfriend wasn't left with the Rolling Stones, especially, when touring the UK and would engage in long late night phone calls when she was away in a hotel to assure himself she was with nobody else. That contrasts with Yoko Ono's attitude to her marriage to John when she suggested he should have an affair with May Pang, much to both of their surprise, but they did as they were told. 

Maybe Lennon didn't have easy relationships with anybody, not unlike Spector, and so it is almost inevitable that they soon find difficulties of their own. I might take issue with Mick Brown that Lennon's Rock'n'Roll album, some of which was retrieved from sessions produced by Spector, was soon forgotten because Stand By Me is the best solo Lennon thing there ever but, yes, George was the most immediately successful Beatle with All Things Must Pass because he had all the songs The Beatles wouldn't do saved up for a triple album.

Books on pop music history aren't all as good as they could be, being written sometimes by devoted admirers or from a partisan point of view but it is usually of interest to find out what was going on behind those beguiling confections on the wireless. It would appear that the initial failure of You've Lost that Lovin' Feeling in America was a decisive fracture in Spector's run of success and resulted in a loss of self-belief, which is a big loss for someone who needed as much of it as he did. However, Mick Brown's job on Phil Spector is as compelling, and deeply researched, as any I can think of. It doesn't leave us thinking any better of Spector. We are surely all on Ronnie's side but even she in a way invited some of her troubles in. It is a book without an obvious hero. The story of pop music remains the story of what horrors went on beneath its surface while the disc jockeys played us so many wonderful records.