Posts Tagged Phil Spector
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January 11, 2021 by Simon Sweetman
Poem: Trivial Pursuit/s
Phil Spector high on coke, shoves his gun at Leonard Cohen’s throat, says “You know, I love you Leonard” Cohen says, “I hope so!” There are other great stories – Charlie Watts putting on a suit and punching Mick Jagger in the face after the singer had told someone to fetch his drummer. “I am […]Archive
October 9, 2019 by Simon Sweetman
Shit That’s Good! Crap Albums I Love # 11 – The Beach Boys, “The Beach Boys Love You”
The Beach Boys, The Beach Boys Love You, 1977 It’s funny what hearing the album far removed from its initial (release) context can do right? I love The Beach Boys and they have some dreadful albums – and I love those too. But I had never heard “Love You” until nearly 40 years after it […]Archive
July 23, 2018 by Simon Sweetman
The Vinyl Countdown # 388
Dion, Born To Be With You (1975) Dion DiMucci is better known as just Dion – a rock’n’roll singer that made some very interesting, sombre records in the mid-70s; this one was on my list of must-purchase albums based on its reputation. And then, just recently it popped up as part of the 1001 Albums Challenge […]Archive
May 8, 2018 by Simon Sweetman
The 1001 Albums Challenge # 59: Dion – “Born To Be With You”
Sometimes you have every reason to hear an album but just never get to it. Case in point: I love Dion DiMucci – I love so many of the albums Phil Spector produced in the 1970s (the earlier stuff too, but the ramshackle charm he brought to legends faltering, as is the case here…) and […]Archive
November 14, 2016 by Simon Sweetman
R.I.P. Leon Russell
Our heroes are dropping like flies – and it hurts. These are the people that built the pyramids and the train tracks within and to popular music. They shaped the way it works. And Leon Russell, 74, is the latest in a long line of names from this year alone. There’ll be so many more […]Archive
March 7, 2016 by Simon Sweetman
Darlene Love: Introducing Darlene Love
Darlene Love Introducing Darlene Love Columbia By now we all know the rather heart-breaking story of Darlene Love – as told through the prism of 20 Feet From Stardom; voice of a couple of huge hit singles, no authorship, no rights, no career…there she is in the film cleaning houses, hearing her songs – better […]Archive
August 2, 2015 by Simon Sweetman
R.I.P. Cilla Black
Cilla Black has died of natural causes at her Spanish villa. She was 72. She rose to fame as a pop singer in the 1960s – one of a handful of British female singers (think Dusty Springfield, Petula Clark, Lulu, Helen Shapiro) who performed cover versions, who created signature hits from working with a talented […]Archive
May 3, 2015 by Simon Sweetman
The Vinyl Countdown # 902
Leonard Cohen, Recent Songs (1979) I don’t often feel the need to listen to Leonard Cohen albums these days – I’d rather read his words. But I’m glad to have my copy of Recent Songs back, always liked this album. Loaned it out to friends a while back. This was always one of my favourite […]Archive
June 9, 2013 by Simon Sweetman
Sylvie Simmons: I’m Your Man – The Life Of Leonard Cohen
I’m Your Man: The Life of Leonard Cohen Sylvie Simmons Vintage Books We only know so much about Leonard Cohen from his poems and songs – he is both diarist and then in the truest sense of autobiography he is the unreliable narrator. With Cohen, mostly, you can tell he’s doing that on purpose, as […]Archive
February 17, 2013 by Simon Sweetman
The Vinyl Countdown # 1418
Jack Nitzsche, One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest (1975) I love the film – and have seen it a few times, but one day, about a decade ago or so, when I was working in a music store, I decided I was going to play the score in-store. I’m not sure it was the best […]Archive
December 3, 2012 by Simon Sweetman