Posted on 02/03/2003 9:37:28 PM PST by HAL9000
ALHAMBRA, Calif. (AP) -- Legendary record producer Phil Spector, whose "Wall of Sound" helped change pop music in the 1960s, was booked for investigation of murder Monday in the deadly shooting of a woman at his hilltop mansion, sheriff's deputies said. A weapon was seized.The victim was identified as 40-year-old Lana Clarkson, of Los Angeles, said Los Angeles County sheriff's Deputy Richard Westin. Investigators would not say what her relationship was to Spector.
Spector, 62, was arrested around 5 a.m. at the castle-like estate 15 miles northeast of Los Angeles, and was released shortly after 7 p.m. after posting $1 million bond, said Deputy Rich Pena.
Sheriff's Lt. Daniel Rosenberg said Clarkson was found in the foyer. He said deputies found the gun used in the shooting but declined to say where in the house it was located. The county sheriff has taken over the murder investigation for the suburban police department.
Defense attorney Robert Shapiro commented by telephone before his client's release.
"I don't know answers to any of this," he said when asked about the facts of the case. "My feeling today is it's of no benefit to my client or any client to make public statements."
Shapiro, who was at the center of the O.J. Simpson criminal trial, said he's changed his attitude since. "What's happened with trial by tabloid is disgusting and I'm not going to participate in it."
Police went to Spector's home after a report of shots fired. That call came from inside the residence, sheriff's Lt. Rosenberg said.
"Someone else was there at the time of the shooting," he said, declining to elaborate.
"I heard the boom, boom, boom. It was about three or four shots," neighbor Terrie Arias told Los Angeles television station KNBC. "I just ignored them because I never thought it was a shooting."
When asked where the shots came from, Arias turned her head towards Spector's home and said: "From up there."
Spector lived alone in the $1.1 million home that he bought in 1998, according to records and close friend Marvin Mitchelson, a prominent Los Angeles attorney.
A black Mercedes-Benz sedan with the driver's door open was parked in the driveway, cordoned off by police tape, until authorities towed it away.
Spector is famous for creating the "Wall of Sound" effect that involved overdubbing scores of musicians to create a full, dramatic sound. The technique, which combined instruments, vocals and sound effects, changed the way pop records were produced. It brought fame to singing groups like the Ronettes and the Crystals.
Spector's second wife was Ronnie Bennett, lead singer of the Ronettes. They divorced in 1974. He has five children from his marriages.
Marky Ramone, drummer for the Ramones, described Spector as confident and passionate.
"I don't think he would hurt a fly. Until anything happens, you're innocent until you're proven guilty. I don't think Phil had it in him to murder anybody," Ramone told the Fox News Channel.
Spector's last major album was a 1980's collaboration with the Ramones, "End of the Century." During the session, the late bassist Dee Dee Ramone said Spector pulled a gun on the band.
"A lot of these things were overblown and a lot of these things were alcohol-induced," Marky Ramone said. "You can have a gun and wave it around but that doesn't mean you're gonna use it. ... There's no way Phil would have shot Dee Dee Ramone."
"I'm hoping this is not something he's guilty of," said Lawrence Levine, a longtime friend and sound engineer for Spector. "In the old days, I could have seen it as accidental, waving a gun around. But he hasn't been that way for a long time. He was really in a good place."
Attorney Mitchelson said he and Spector had been trying to put together a movie treatment about Spector's life, and that Spector had been in a good frame of mind.
"His mental state has been great -- very rational, very together, super intelligent, a very funny man," the attorney said. He said Spector didn't have a girlfriend.
Spector's session players, known as the "Wrecking Crew," included guitarist Glen Campbell, pianist Leon Russell, drummer Hal Blaine and the late Sonny Bono, who learned the producer's trade under Spector.
He produced a string of '60s hits, including the Crystals' "Da Doo Ron Ron" and "Then He Kissed Me," the Ronettes' "Be My Baby" and "Walking in the Rain," and Love's "Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)" and "(Today I Met) the Boy I'm Gonna Marry."
Spector produced records for Elvis Presley, Ike and Tina Turner, the Righteous Brothers, the Crystals and Darlene Love. He produced the last Beatles album, "Let It Be," in 1970.
He later worked with John Lennon on "Imagine" and helped Yoko Ono produce Lennon's work after the singer was killed in 1980. He also helped George Harrison on "All Things Must Pass."
In 1989 the eccentric producer was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
Spector worked on Leonard Cohen's 1977 album "Death of a Ladies Man."
"I never thought I'd give up that much control," Cohen said.
"... I knew he was mad, but I thought that his madness would be more adorable, on the ordinary, daily level," Cohen said. "I love the guy, but he's out of control."
"It had to stop," Spector said of his behavior in a Los Angeles Times interview that year. "Being the rich millionaire in the mansion and then dressing up as Batman. I have to admit I did enjoy it to a certain extent. But I began to realize it was very unhealthy."
Spector was a 17-year-old student at Fairfax High School in Los Angeles when he wrote and produced his first No. 1 hit for the Teddy Bears, a ballad called "To Know Him Is to Love Him." Its title was taken from the inscription on the gravestone of his father, Benjamin, who committed suicide when Spector was 9-years-old.
Understandable why this guy has some serious "issues". Often a fine line between genius and madman, especially if you don't have a fundemental understanding of the Gospel.
Now, he has seen the light.
Any word or sighings of Web?
Oh, come ON, Marky! Spector's freakin' NUTS!
For the record -
I'm not posting those messages on her web site.
LC lists among her character credits in advertisements
White Trash Housewife, "Katie Earline Wilson" (KMart--two ads)
"Dr. Hilda Brawn"/ German Scientist (Mercedez Benz)
She also lists working for Roger Corman, famous B movie director (perhaps the most famous?).
In her biography there is a photo of her riding a horse when she was 11.
No life is worth taking (at least not under ordinary circumstances). Looking just from the outside, this does not seem to be another "Beretta" or even anywhere near close. (I could be wrong, but that is just the way it seems to me.) It's too bad.
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