Write this down as one of the more intriguing potential music collaborations in recent memory: Charlie Manson, after realizing that Phil Spector had been transferred to the same prison, has reached out to the legendary producer, hoping to collaborate on a musical project. According to New York Post’s Page Six, following Spector’s transfer to Corcoran State Prison in central California for the murder of Lara Clarkson, Manson, who is housed in a separate wing of the prison complex, sent a message to Spector via a guard. Spector’s wife, Rachelle Spector, tells Page Six, “A guard brought Philip a note from Manson, who said he wanted him to come over to his [lockup]. He said he considers Philip the greatest producer who ever lived. It was creepy. Philip didn’t respond.”

Manson’s brief musical career has revolved mostly around self-recorded projects that have been released intermittently on CD since his imprisonment. Prior to engineering the massacre that took the life of Sharon Tate and four others on August 9, 1969, Manson socialized with Dennis Wilson of the Beach Boys and Terry Melcher, son of Doris Day and a record producer. Spector is revered for his work on a multitude of albums, including the Beatles’ Let it Be and tracks such as “Be My Baby” and “Da Doo Ron Ron.”

Spector’s publicist Hal Lifson, commenting on Manson’s communique, said, “I think Manson wants to glean some musical advice from Phil, who was a ’60s music god with his ‘Wall of Sound,’ but Phil’s like, ‘I used to pick up the phone and it was John Lennon or Celine Dion or Tina Turner, and now Charles Manson is trying to get a hold of me!’ “

Music producer Phil Spector, who was recently sentenced to 19 years to life in prison for the murder of actress Lana Clarkson, has requested an iPod for his cell. In the facility, the largest state prison in California, inmates are usually allowed a few personal items. While many incarcerated people request instruments and jam together, Spector just wants a TV and something with which to listen to music. Apparently as long as he has access to some good tunes and Rock of Love Bus, Spector can live out a peaceful, bald rest of existence. One question though: if he has no computer from which to download new music, what songs will he listen to for the rest of life? (via NME)

It was back in April that Phil Spector was found guilty of second-degree murder in the death of actress Lana Clarkson after only 30 hours of jury deliberation. Now he’s been sentenced to the maximum 19 years to life.

From CNN:

That means Spector, 69, would be 88 before he would be eligible for parole.

Spector’s lawyer gave a $17,000 check to Donna Clarkson, the victim’s mother, to pay for her funeral expenses — part of the court-ordered sentence.

Read the full story here.

Despite a 10-2 discrepancy of juror’s thinking Phil Spector was guilty of second-degree murder in September of 2007, a mistrial was declared after the jury — who deliberated for 15 days — was unable to reach a verdict. Now, after only 30 hours of deliberation, the retrial of the (in)famous producer in the death of actress Lana Clarkson has resulted in a guilty verdict.

According to CNN, Spector wore a black suit with a red tie and showed no reaction as the verdict was announced. Now 69, he faces a sentence of 18 years to life in prison when he is sentenced May 29.

Asked if he agreed to the sentencing date, Spector quietly answered, “Yes.”

Superior Court Judge Larry Paul Fidler declined to allow Spector to remain free on bail pending sentencing, citing Spector’s years-long “pattern of violence” involving firearms.

“This was not an isolated incident,” Fidler said, noting Spector’s two previous firearm-related convictions from the 1970s. “The taking of an innocent human life, it doesn’t get any more serious than that.”

As I headed down 56th toward Terminal Five, the massive crowd I saw teeming outside the entrance was no shock — I knew the show had been sold out for weeks and I was definitely feeling the appropriate level of thankfulness for my job, which allowed me to walk right into the Bloc Party/Longwave show, navigate the sea of people and find an open seat on the mezzanine.

Brooklyn indie rockers Longwave just released their fourth album Secrets Are Sinister in late 2008, and though they’ve been out of the scene for about three years, you’d never really know it.

[Longwave]

Longwave’s is nothing if not a thick sound. In fact, their set seemed to principally be about sound, a wall of sound, actually (with apologies to Phil Spector), an expansive, driving force that made the vocal all more ethereal in comparison. The contrast was stark, and just right.

There was a young lady in the front row who definitely agreed, and actually seemed to be involved in some sort of religious experience, exorcism or otherwise. She was enjoying the show enough for everyone in at least the next three rows. Besides fan-girl, even those in the crowd who weren’t there to see Longwave were still really tuning in to what they were doing. Regardless of their New York fanbase, at a gig like this, they’d definitely be playing to the right type of crowd. Not that I would go so far as to compare Longwave to Bloc Party, or even to pool their influences, but it was a sound charged with a lot of the same energy, packed with those same driving, addictive rhythms and bright guitar melodies.

Before Bloc Party hit the stage, I had been worried that their set was going to be dominated by tracks from their most recent LP, Intimacy. It wouldn’t have been a bad thing, necessarily, because I definitely gave the album high marks. It’s just that Intimacy hasn’t had quite enough time in my record collection yet to really become part of me the way Weekend In The City and Silent Alarm both have.

[Bloc Party]

Turns out though, I had nothing to worry about — they opened with “One Month Off” from Intimacy, but the rest of the set was dominated by WIC. And the response from the crowd was deafeningly audible. The second song of the night was “Hunting For Witches,” and after the screaming stopped, the moshing started — I said a silent thank you to the Gods of the All Access Pass that allowed me a birds’ eye seat to the chick getting dropped on her head while crowd surfing over the mosh pit, as opposed to being that chick who got dropped in the mosh pit.

They also pulled out “Positive Tension” from Silent Alarm and “Waiting For The 7:18″ from WIC. But it was on “Song For Clay” that they really demonstrated what it is that makes Bloc Party a band you want to see live. Lead singer Kele Okereke drew out the opening verses, milking every phrase, twisting and bending the pitches, holding the notes so long that when the transition from the intro to the verse finally arrived, it was like a bomb dropping. The crowd exploded, the stage opened up and there was no turning back.

The next appearance from WIC was “Where is Home” immediately followed by the debut single from Intimacy, “Mercury.” It butted up against a string of the band’s older tracks, and the immediate combination made it easy to hear the difference, the gradual evolution but also the conscious stylistic changes, between the albums. And of course, “Mercury” allows Okereke to be removed from the shackles of his guitar — he made a playground of the stage. He’s definitely a born performer, charming the crowd several times with no more than “How are we feeling, New York City?”

For the encore, they brought out the track that surely almost all of us had been waiting for — “The Prayer” — and ended the night with “Helicopter.” It seems only appropriate to sing to the New York crowd, “Stop being so American.”

The twelve jurors in the trial of legendary producer Phil Spector, who’s being re-tried for the 2003 murder of actress Lana Clarkson that resulted in a hung jury in 2007, will hear the final arguments from the defense today and head into deliberation tomorrow on charges that could land Spector in prison from 15 years to life.

Prosecution attorney and Deputy District Attorney Truc Do told jurors yesterday that Spector was “a demonic maniac” when he drank and “a very dangerous man” around women. “This case is about a man who has had a history of playing Russian roulette with the lives of women,” she said. “Five women got the empty chamber. Lana got the sixth bullet.”

The five women Do referred to all testified in the trial. They were women from Spector’s past who recounted incidents between 1975-1995 that involved Spector confronting them with guns when they tried to leave his presence, though no gun was fired in any of these instances.

Do presented the jury with video presentations of testimony, including that of a now deceased woman who testified in Spector’s original 2007 trial, and discussed blood spatter evidence which refutes Spector’s claims that Clarkson pulled the trigger on the gun herself. Do also referred back to testimony from a chauffeur who says Spector told him after the incident, “I think I killed somebody.” She pushed the jury to find Spector guilty of second-degree murder, not the lesser charge of involuntary manslaughter.

Attorney Doron Weinberg will present the defense argument today, with the case’s original prosecutor Alan Jackson also arguing before the jury prior to the start of their deliberations Wednesday.

The defense is expected to continue its argument that Clarkson put the gun in her own mouth six years ago. Clarkson was best known for her starring role in the 1985 cult film Barbarian Queen.

Spector, now 69, is best known for his legendary “Wall of Sound” recording technique and work with the likes of The Ronettes, The Crystals, The Righteous Brothers and Ike and Tina Turner. If convicted of second-degree murder, he faces a sentence of 15 years to life. If convicted on the lesser charge of involuntary manslaughter, he faces two to four years in prison.

When we were trying to think of a good MP3 to post, Paul Simon and brother Ed’s rendition of Davy Graham’s “Anji” got us thinking in the vein of great cover songs. Then we were tipped off to this London busking video (looks cold there) of Asobi Seksu and we were reminded of this beautiful version of the classic Crystals song.

Released back in 2007 as part of Gigantic Music’s short-lived singles series, Asobi’s version of “And Then He Kissed Me” is the B-side of their single, “Stay Awake”. What makes this interesting is the replacement of the “wall of sound” with shoegaze fuzz and how very similar they are both sonically and conceptually. Was Phil Spector the innovator of shoegaze as well?

Asobi Seksu – “And Then He Kissed Me” (Crystals Cover)

Dedicated to those songs that I can’t stop playing, humming, or thinking about; the 4+ minutes you fall head-over-heels in love with. Past instances have included Radiohead’s “Optimistic,” My Morning Jacket’s “Evil Urges”, and Led Zeppelin’s “C’mon Everybody.”

Like every music lover on the planet, I have a very complicated relationship with Ike & Tina. For that matter, Tina Turner herself had a very complicated relationship with Ike & Tina. Ike Turner was, in the best light, a world class dick head. A talented, rock ‘n’ roll volcano of a dick head, but dick head nonetheless. His mistreatment of Tina have become so well documented that they’ve become inseparable with the legend of “Ike & Tina.” You can’t listen to their music any more without reading into it. This was rich music to begin with, but with a story behind it, the music becomes that much more interesting. In a similar fashion, previously so-so movies like “Interview With A Vampire” and “Conspiracy Theory” have become fascinating since the stars of those movies have gone wacky.

The allure of Ike & Tina’s music remains strong as ever, and when I began my music collection in earnest during college, they made my early list of grabs. But like a neglected Netflix queue, they lingered in collection limbo. I don’t know if I’ll ever stop bumping movies ahead of “Far From Heaven,” but a few years ago I finally pulled the trigger by picking up a collection of Ike & Tina, mostly for “River Deep, Mountain High.” The song digs so deep into what rock ‘n’ roll should sound like that you wonder if you’ll ever bother listening to “Proud Mary” again. Obviously “Proud Mary” remains fantastic in all the ways Ike & Tina were, but it’s nowhere near the atomic bomb of “River.” I had my song and I was “happy.”

Only “happy” though. Discussing the Turners without eventually mentioning how Ike abused his wife feels disrespectful. In fact, that’s what kept me away from buying the album for so long. Even though my better judgement informed me that I wouldn’t be directly supporting or endorsing spousal abuse, I didn’t enjoy its proximity. It’s uncomfortable. Enjoying this music sometimes felt like watching someone get mugged and not telling anyone about it or helping the victim. I just felt dirty after.

I’m not tactless enough to infer that the Turners’ marital problems made their music better, but I am stupid enough to assume that the knowledge of such problems makes their music more interesting. So when you take that powerful story and put it behind something as monumentally rocking as “River Deep”, then you’ve got the balls. When she starts out singing about that rag doll (the only doll she ever owned), I believe her. It feels authentic. I know Tina was born poor and struggled her young life to make ends meet, so it’s only natural to assume that she pulled from these experiences to give such lines strength. This would lead me to believe she either really, truly, honestly loves someone in the chorus, or she’s just the greatest actress/performer in the world. Or maybe both. Whatever the reason, I believe it because she believes it, and through her sincerity, my fears drop away and I sing along. Scream along. Dance along.

On the other hand, whenever any bit of historical context returns it makes the song weird again. It’s essentially a love song, or at least an “I Love You” song, so when Tina blasted out how her love gets stronger “in ev-a-ry way,” was she really thinking about Ike? Was she pretending to think about Ike, but deep down was thinking of escaping from his grip? Did this fool him, or did he see through it and just get angry? Or did she really actually love the guy and he still got pissed off at her? I only call it “fascinating” while qualifying that “fascinating” just means it’s very, very interesting.

Since it’s impossible to completely remove the complexities of the band from this song, perhaps a new tactic could prove more successful. This tactic comes in the form of one of my favorite hypothetical questions: which five songs would you play if aliens landed and they asked you about rock ‘n’ roll? “My Generation” usually gets kicked in, as does a healthy dose of Ramones and such. The thinking friend will consider the gravity of the situation more closely. These aliens are beings who have never heard a rock song in their whole existence (if they do, in fact, age as we do). They need to hear a song which not only exemplifies the standards of rock music, but elevates those standards beyond normal human capabilities.

These aliens would be presented Tina Turner’s vocals, Ike’s big-nuts backing instrumentation, and one of Phil Spector’s best production jobs (which is saying something, but the aliens would never know the difference). Translated with an amazing pill, they would wonder aloud, “Are all flute solos as ‘kick ass’ as the one in this song?” Their disappointment in the fact that most flute rock is not as good would be quickly forgotten by the return to the pre-chorus, and they would pine for the ability to grow hair so that they might toss it around in an Earthling manner. Without any knowledge of the strange emotional baggage behind the song, the aliens would still understand what it is to rock hard, and they would choose this song to perk up any party, mix, or long space flight to the store. They wouldn’t understand the concepts behind the words, but the truth behind the song would ring inside their mighty brains. They would most likely assume that the female Tina truly loved her mate Ike, and we Earthlings would quickly change the subject while avoiding eye contact.

Video & Song Note: To complicate matters, there are many versions of the song. I’m talking mostly about this rock-roots style of bad ass seen in the attached video. Search out the other version, but I think you’ll find this version to be far superior not only to the other version of this song, but to most music in general.

Written By Phillip Mottaz

Ike Turner
Tina Turner