Los Angeles (AFP)
The American music producer Phil Spector, who died in prison on Saturday, has often been called a musical genius, notably by ex-Beatle John Lennon, because he had succeeded in creating an inimitable sound for the greatest rock artists.
His legend will however have been largely tarnished by a conviction for the murder of actress Lana Clarkson, shot dead, in 2003. Incarcerated since 2009, he died in detention on Saturday.
Before becoming the most famous producer, arranger and sound recordist of the pop music of the 60s, Phil Spector had been a member of the pop group The Teddy Bears which had its heyday in the late 1950s.
Harvey Phillip Spector was born on December 26, 1939 in the Bronx, New York, to a middle-class family from Russia.
In 1953, four years after his father's suicide, he moved with his mother and sister to Los Angeles.
Little interested in school, he studied guitar and piano.
He managed to raise funds with some friends and recorded in 1958 "To know him is to love him" (to know him is to love him), a title directly inspired by the epitaph engraved on the grave of Phil's father.
The disc, initially burned in 500 copies, climbed to the top of the hit parade.
At 21, Phil Spector is a millionaire.
He then branched off to a career as a producer.
In 1961, he founded his production company, Philles Records, with a partner, Lester Sill.
He began by recording the Crystals ("There's no other like my baby") in October of the same year.
He then made a series of unforgettable recordings from "Da Doo Ron Ron" of the Crystals to "Be My Baby" of the Ronettes (of which he would marry singer Veronica "Ronnie" Bennett), including "Unchained Melody" of the Righteous Brothers.
- At the bedside of the Beatles -
Phil Spector, who was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1989, will also work with Ike and Tina Turner ("River deep, mountain high"), Leonard Cohen '"Death of a ladies's man" and the Ramones ("End of the century ").
He invented the technique known as the "sound wall", which consisted of superimposing several sounds to densify the production, in particular many instruments, by taking advantage of new technologies which were gradually entering recording studios.
"I get angry when people say rock and roll is bad music," said the producer, known for his pickiness and fondness for guns.
"It has a spontaneity that does not exist in any other musical form (...) It is the only and authentic American culture."
Expensive suits, sunglasses, this puny little man also marks by his style and his elusive personality, both dark and whimsical.
In 1970, the console wizard was called to the bedside of the Beatles, to produce the group's last album.
From recordings made under difficult conditions by musicians in the process of separation, he extracts "Let It Be", hailed by critics and the public.
Subsequently, he produced the first solo albums of the Beatles John Lennon ("Imagine", "Instant Karma") and George Harrison ("All things must pass").
He composes with Mick Jagger "Little by little".
But his musical career came to a halt in the course of the 70s. Weighted down by a sulphurous reputation, he lost his aura and no longer found success.
He is also caught up with chronic psychological disorders, his "demons", to use his expression.
In 2003, after more than two decades in the shadows, he made the headlines when police discovered the body of actress Lana Clarkson in the producer's home in Alhambra, California.
Phil Spector claims the 40-year-old shot herself in the mouth, a version cut to pieces by the prosecution.
At the end of two trials, Phil Spector was sentenced in 2009 to a minimum sentence of 19 years imprisonment.
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