The Heart of Rock and Soul by Dave Marsh 20 BE MY BABY, The Ronettes Produced by Phil Spector; written by Phil Spector, Ellie Greenwich, and Jeff Barry Philles 116 1963 Billboard: #2 DA DOO RON RON, The Crystals Produced by Phil Spector; written by Phil Spector, Ellie Greenwich, and Jeff Barry Philles 112 1963 Billboard: #3 CHRISTMAS (BABY PLEASE COME HOME), Darlene Love Produced by Phil Spector; written by Phil Spector, Ellie Greenwich, and Jeff Barry Philles 119 1963 Did not make pop charts To hear folks talk, Phil Spector made music out of a solitary vision. But the evidence of his greatest hits insists that he was heavily dependent on a variety of assistance. Which makes sense: Record making is fundamentally collaborative. Spector associates like engineer Larry Levine, arranger Jack Nitzsche, and husband-wife songwriters Jeff Barry and Ellie Greenwich were simply indispensable to his teen-art concoctions. Besides them, every Spector track featured a dozen or more musicians. The constant standouts were' drummer Hal Blaine, one of the most inventive and prolific in rock history, and saxophonist Steve Douglas. Finally, there were vast differences among Spector's complement of singers. An important part of Spector's genius stemmed from his ability to recruit, organize, and provide leadership within such a musical community. Darlene Love (who also recorded for Spector with the Crystals and Bob B. Soxx and the Blue Jeans) ranks just beneath Aretha Franklin among female rock singers, and "Christmas" is her greatest record, though it was never a hit. (The track probably achieved its greatest notice in the mid-eighties, when it was used over the opening credits of Joe Dante's film, Gremlins.) Spector's Wall of Sound, with its continuously thundering horns and strings, never seemed more massive than it does here. But all that only punctuates Love's hysterical blend of loneliness and lust. In the end, when the mix brings up the piano and the chorus to challenge her, the best the Wall's entire weight can achieve is a draw. The Crystals' official lead singer La La Brooks was much closer to the anonymous end of the Spector spectrum, and on "Da Doo Ron Ron," the result is a much more balanced record. Basing the song in nonsense syllables can't disguise what it really is: teen desire incarnate. The battering Blaine gives his drum kit (if anything he's the star of this show), the droning background "ooo," the sassy handclaps, and Steve Douglas's raging hormonal sax riff add up to more of the same. When Blaine hits his tom-toms after each line of the chorus, the effect is like moving up into overdrive - the song smoothly surges forward. "Be My Baby" is another story. Ronnie Spector's Brooklyn accent renders her pitch always uncertain, her intonation cracks on "had" in the song's second line, and emotionally, she seems more dutiful than inspired. It doesn't matter. Phil Spector was in love with her (they eventually married). and he built a rock and roll cathedral around what little her voice had to offer. Blaine's intro is one of rock's grand statements, setting a tone of importance that Ronnie's entrance immediately cuts down to size. At the chorus, the Ronettes rise behind Ronnie, tripling her strength, and they stay with her, crooning open-throated vowels. Then there's the bridge, with its ranks of cellos, a mountainous mock-symphony that lasts for the rest of the record. Against all Created: September 25, 2021 at 12.00 pm at http://www.lexjansen.com with FPDF 1.81 Page 1 The Heart of Rock and Soul by Dave Marsh odds, Spector made an initially shaky proposition into what may be his greatest monument. Created: September 25, 2021 at 12.00 pm at http://www.lexjansen.com with FPDF 1.81 Page 2.