Murder Conviction for Wall of Sound Producer

Phil Spector, who produced The Righteous Brothers, the Ronettes, George Harrison, John Lennon and many others, has been convicted of murder.

Spector developed the "Wall of Sound" production approach, where he would literally have a number of pianos and guitars playing the same chord at the same time and classical-sounding string sections--all to provide a "thick" at times majestic sound to fairly simple songs.

His influence can be particularly heard on Bruce Springsteen's "Born to Run" album, although Spector didn't have the same technology available when he was making his recordings in the early and mid-1960s.

Some may say that his approach went overboard in his production of Tina Turner's "River Deep Mountain High," which American djs felt buried her vocals, while the record was celebrated in England. Spector was apparently bitter about the failure of this record stateside, since he considered it a masterpiece.

Spector's first success was in the early years of rock 'n' roll, with the Teddy Bears' "To Know Him Is To Love Him" a title Spector took from his father's gravestone. His father had committed suicide.

For more on the conviction, check out this report from the BBC here.