Unchained Melody-Teddy Bears-'58-Imperial LP 12010.wmv

SONG ARE COURTESY of my friend peter van wilsem form Holland.....
(Harvey) Phillip Spector was born in the Bronx, New York, on December 25, 1940. His parents, Benjamin and Bertha Spector, were second-generation Jewish immigrants. Severe debt led to his father committing suicide in 1949. In 1953, Phillip's mother took him and his older sister to Los Angeles, where she got a job as a seamstress. Drawn to music while attending Fairfax High School, Spector excelled on the guitar, piano, drums, bass and French horn. After graduating in 1958, Spector briefly considered studying court reporting, but decided he wanted to pursue a career in music instead.

The Teddy Bears

In the Spring of 1958, Spector booked a two-hour session at Gold Star Studios, but had to come up with $40 before he could record anything. The first $10 came from his mother, the remaining $30 came from Marshall Lieb (a friend from Burroughs Junior High), Harvey Goldstein (a student at Los Angeles City College who put up $10 in exchange for singing bass), and Annette Kleinhard (a Fairfax High student who insisted on singing soprano on the record). Having raised the necessary fee, the four recorded "Don't You Worry My Little Pet," written by Spector; Spector acted as producer, and also played all the instruments. The Teddy Bears, a name taken from the Elvis Presley song, sent the single to Dore Records, which signed them to a four-record deal.

The Teddy Bears next recorded "Wonderful, Lovable You," another Spector-written song, but that song went nowhere. "To Know Him is to Love Him," which features the beginnings of Spector's "Wall of Sound" trademark, was the next single to be recorded, and it became the B-side of "Don't You Worry My Little Pet." Dore sent 500 copies of the record to radio stations in August 1958, but none appeared interested. Deciding that music wasn't the best career path, Goldstein and Leib decided to go back to college. Then, in September, a deejay in Fargo, North Dakota, played the B-side. Soon after a distributor in Minneapolis ordered 18,000 copies of the single. The Teddy Bears came back together to appear on American Bandstand on October 29th, and by Christmas "To Know Him is to Love Him" was a million-selling #1 hit.

The Teddy Bears released their second record in late 1959, and on January 3, 1960, they sang "To Know Him is to Love Him" and "It's Only a Paper Moon" on The Perry Como Show. Soon after, however, disagreements over royalties led the group to leave Dore and sign with Imperial. "I Don't Need You Anymore" was released in mid-January, but enjoyed little commercial success. The group left Imperial after recording two singles and one album. Legal issues forced them to change their name to The Spectors Three upon signing with Trey Records, but neither the name change nor label change produced success. The group disbanded, and Spector decided to give up being a musician in favor of being a music producer.Awards and Honors

Academy Award for the Let It Be soundtrack, in 1971.

Grammy for The Concert for Bangla Desh, in 1972.

BMI Country Song of the Year Award in 1989 for "To Know Him is to Love Him," which was recorded by Dolly Parton, Emmylou Harris and Linda Ronstadt under the group name Trio.

Inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1989 as a non-performer.

Inducted into the City of Philadelphia Hall of Fame and received the Philadelphia Award in 1993.

Inducted into TEC Hall of Fame and received its Lifetime Achievement Award (sponsored by Mix Magazine) in 1995.

2003, actress Lana Clarkson shot to death in his Alhambra, California, home; charged with murder in the second degree; 2007 trial ended in mistrial; convicted in 2009 and currently serving 19 years to life

Category:

Music

Tags:

• Unchained
• Melody-Teddy
• Bears

[TL250Rider]

An Other Phil Spector Production

The Fence of Sound 

[mrearlygold]

Wow, Phil Spector and the Teddy Bears. Thanks for posting this.