To Know Him Is To Love Him by Tosh Berman

 

To Know Him Is To Love Him by Tosh Berman

Wallace Berman's "You'll Lost That Loving Feeling" Verifax Collage (Postcard/announcement)

 

"You'll Lost That Loving Feeling" was a favorite song by my dad Wallace Berman. Here is a postcard/announcement made by Wallace for his exhibition in Beverly Glen. The image down below is art made by Wallace, called "You Lost That Loving Feeling" (1964/1965). Phil Spector got the invitation and came with Ronnie Spector to the studio and he purchased this portrait by Wallace. At this time, I imagine that the artwork is still in the Spector estate, but beyond that, I'm not sure. The original work is verifax collage.

January 17, 2021, by Tosh Berman

 

January 17, 2021

Joe Meek and Phil Spector were only 10 years apart in regards to age. Not only did they murdered women, but also for no reason, except for their insanity. One can't avoid or put off their actions, but at the same time, one has to deal with their brilliance in their field of making or capturing music in a room. That room eventually becomes a recording. Therefore, when I hear Meek and Spector's recordings, I also think of their space and how they used that room to make magic. 

Joe was more of a science geek than a musician like Phil. One can make a reasonable argument that Spector is a better songwriter and music maker than Meek. On the other hand, Joe's approach to music is more sexual or sensual than Spector. Phil captured numerous passions that are cinematic and bold. Meek captures the essence of being an outsider and queer in a mainstream music world. Of course, the music landscape is a floating world of passions spent and explored, so nothing fits in or is contained in a box. A work of art often overcomes categories and restrictions and becomes a different medium. The quirky personalities and murderous rage adds a side story or brings out a more nuanced narration. Nevertheless, I adore the aural magic produced by Phil Spector and Joe Meek. 

My father, Wallace Berman, was never far away from a turntable or jukebox in life. He was devoted to the Righteous Brothers' recording of "You've Lost That Lovin' Feeling," co-written and produced by Phil Spector. Rarely he titled his artwork, but he did so with that song title. The work is also a portrait of Spector. Phil came by the studio and purchased the work from my dad. After that, it disappeared. I'm not sure if he still had the artwork in his collection, or he may have sold it. I'm hoping that it's not lost in the collection of Charles Kane. Wallace would run into Phil at various music clubs, and at one place, Phil introduces Lenny Bruce to him. Dad was a fan of Bruce's works, and Phil was a very close friend of the comedian. I believed he paid for his funeral. 

If nothing else, the Beatles was a gravity pull for various individuals floating around the music business. Spector got pulled into the Fab Four planet. As Meek in the early 60s, he rejected The Beatles as a possible recording act.  The Beatles were very much the future, and Meek and Spector came from another not distant planet, where they called the shots, not the recording artists. It must have been odd for Spector to share production duties with Lennon, Harrison, and I guess all three (Paul stepped out) with the "Let It Be" album. Instead of an employer, he became an employee.  And Meek would never allow himself to be under the powers of the music business industry. Their temperament can never serve both of them, yet they saw the record-buying public as the true judge of their talent. They didn't make 'art' records; they made hits. And when a hit was not a hit, then their world crumbled. Meek on pills, manic behavior, and insanity killed his landlady, and Spector either shot or allowed a woman to die on his property.  Both could have been avoided if they sought what ills them, but alas, the landscape they lived and worked in was such a world where one couldn't easily find help. 

One of the last times I saw Phil was at an opening at Wallace's solo exhibition that took place several months after his death. Phil showed up with a bodyguard and told people he can have them beaten up by just the snap of his fingers. There was no reason why Spector would go up to a total stranger and tell them this. It was more weird than scary. My friend approached Phil to chat, not knowing him. Phil thought my friend was me, and when he told him that he wasn't Tosh, then Phil demanded that he bring Tosh over to him. My friend came to me and said to me that Phil wanted to speak to me, and I went over to him and said, "HI." He looked at me for long seconds and then said to me, "How do I know you're Tosh?" Not being aware of what took place that evening, I was totally not prepared for this moment. I think I said to him, "I'm not sure if I can prove I'm Tosh." After that, I have no memory of what he said or how the evening ended for him or me.  

 When I'm in London, I go to Joe's studio, where he lived and worked. Also, the location of the killing. There is a black plaque on the wall on the building, but no mention of the landlady Violet Shenton, nor that he died from suicide. Gold Star Studios is where I consider is Phil's real home. Unfortunately, the studio was burned down in 1984 and was replaced by a strip mall. Phil Spector and Joe Meek never met, but there is a story that Spector called Meek, and Joe refused to either accept the call or hung upon him. Either way, they are two stars on the same ship. Spector died sometime yesterday, but in actuality, ever since he ended up in prison for murder, he was already dead at that point. Meek was also on his last legs in the music business. The world went by those two, yet, the essence of their recordings are still powerful and influential. I have a collection of Meek's work, both on vinyl and CD, and Phil's same goes. Oddly enough, my favorite Phil is his first band, The Teddy Bears. Even on that first recording that he made as a teenager, he sounded doomed. Meek was obsessed with death and the after-life. For whatever reasons, both of them made a decision early in life to head toward a direction that would lead them to works of genius but left them shattered and broken. I imagine it must be painful for Violet and Lana Clarkson's friends and family to come upon the names of Meek and Spector in the media and elsewhere.  I play the recordings by these two giants, but I never forget Violet and Lana. 

Phil Spector on Tosh Talks

Phil Spector on Tosh Talks

At times I feel like I made up Phil Spector in my imagination, perhaps due that he's a figure that seems cinematic more than human to me.  I love everything he has done from his first 'band' The Teddy Bears to The Righteous Brothers to The Crystals/The Ronettes, and the entire 'Wrecking Crew" world.   Here on "Tosh Talks," I explore the darkness in his work, which at times reminds me of Martin Scorsese and David Lynch's exploration of evil.   Gerry Goffin and Carole King's incredible song "He Hit Me, and it Felt Like a Kiss" as well as the nature of the girl groups all play in the cinematic world of Phil Spector.   To Know him is to love him.  Still, that's troublesome.  - Tosh Berman

Music I Listened to today on Vinyl (June 14, 2016)

Music I Listened to today on Vinyl (June 13, 2016)

December 26, 2014

December 26, 2014

I love the world, but the world doesn’t love me, or at the very least, they misunderstood me.  I never wanted to cause harm, but I usually don’t have any choice in the matter, due that I bring my work out in front of the public, yet, I’m met with indifference, or at the very least, ridicule.  I’ve been laughed at ever since I was a child, and it got worse when I turned into a teenager.   The rejection of my father’s death, as well as going through a painful teenage era, left me scarred, but from that pain, I have become a stronger person - even a stronger artist.  In my own fashion, I try to bring the beauty to the world, but somehow it always turns into disgust.

I made the perfect album in the late 1950s, with my pals Marshall Leib and Annette Kleinbard.  I wrote a lot of the songs, but also played guitar and sang back up.   At the time, I was going through a lot of emotional pain, but I feel that the album best expressed the times I lived in.   Sadly, the album didn’t sell, but I did have a song that became a hit, with a stunning vocal from Annette.   Yet, I decided being in a band or the artist was sort of the loser’s position, when you can actually work in the back room, and therefore be able to have a vision of the world that is out there.

The thing is you can place yourself anywhere you want on the record, but you never escape from yourself.  I’m always walking alone in the darkest side of the street.  If I had the choice I would bring nothing but joy to the world, but something fucks up for me, and I don’t understand why the world is so hostile towards me.  I can’t go on, to lose the one, I hold so dear, which is my audience. “I’m dealing in rock ’n’ roll.  I’m, like, I’m not a bona fide human being. ”

I went to Tosh’s dad’s art opening, and I remember finding myself in a crowd of fools.   I started to speak to Tosh, and then Tosh said to me “I’m not Tosh, but I can bring you to Tosh.” I told him to bring him over here.  Tosh came to me and said “Hey man how are you doing?” I said to him, “How do I know you’re Tosh?” It really bugged me when people give me shit, especially in public. I feel that they are going out of their way just to embarrass me.   I had my bodyguard with me, and I went up to people I didn’t know, and told them I can just snap my fingers and have them beaten up.  I positioned my thumb over my shoulder and told them, “see that guy there, all I have to do is snap my fingers, “ and you’re through man.”

I don’t even know why I react that way.   It just builds up in me, and I finally just couldn’t take it anymore.  I just want to punch all of them in their faces, but that is my peculiar version of a kiss.  It’s a sign of love, and yeah, even if I throw the cripple down the stairs, I’m going to come out as a winner.   You know I’m a cripple inside, and "no one in the family is safe when I sashay."

"Stone Free" by Andrew Loog Oldham

I'm totally obsessed with music in all its forms, and I think one of the great relationships on this planet is the one between the manager and their artist.  In other words the manager/producer Andrew Loog Oldham and his artist The Rolling Stones. From 1963 to 1967, Oldham made great records with the Stones as well as building up their public image as the 'darker' brothers to the much lighter Beatles.    Oldham is a visionary who made The Stones into a compelling and fascinating narrative.  He was a genius to market the Stones as the anti-Beatles at the height of Beatle-mania.  Of course it was an illusion, and a great manager/producer should be an illusionist in the seductive pop music landscape.

In his third (and his best) book “Stone Free,” Oldham paints a picture of 1960's pop music world and beyond.  The book is a mixture of memoir with a focus on his fellow 'hustlers' and visionaries.  He writes beautifully on figures such as Serge Diaghilev (early role model for Oldham), Larry Parnes, Albert Grossman, and Allen Klein.

The most moving chapter is on Phil Spector, a man Oldham looked up to and knew quite well in the 1960's.  The downfall of this mighty talent is a mixture of frustration and deep sadness.  Someone with Spector's talent should be wealthy, healthy and still be doing creative work.  But what we get here is the total opposite and it is truly heartbreaking that Spector chose or went on a different self-destructive path.  His chapter on Spector is probably one of the best pieces written on him.  And it is also the saddest.

 Oldham has a keen psychology with respect to writing about his contemporaries.  There are two separate type of hustlers displayed in this book.  There's the bad ass border line thuggery of Don Arden and Allen Klein.  Both had an understanding of power and how to use it.  On the other hand, there is the manager as an artist in the manner they handled their business.  The visionaries in this grouping are Brian Epstein, and the endlessly fascinating Kit Lambert & Chris Stamp, who managed The Who and started up Track Records.   Oldham belongs in that camp with Brian, Kit and Chris in that he sees the world as a large cinemascope presentation.   Music works on many levels, for instance there is the sound, but also the visuals that feed the aural aspect of an artist.

 The beauty of this book is one can hear Oldham's voice, and it is a mixture of showing respect, but still highly opinionated about the music business and the citizens of that world. Oldham was not only influenced by the Fashion industry, but also the world of cinema.  With the Rolling Stones and his books he made a film without a movie camera.  And that is what makes him such an unique figure in pop music.  He visualize the music business of the 60's as a theater piece.  Each actor or hustler has a role, and Andrew totally understood his part in the adventure that was the 1960's rock world.

Oldham has a deep appreciation for his fellow travelers in the entertainment world.   And all of them are deeply interesting figures. Oldham can 'read' people really well, and his ability to put that on paper makes this book such an enjoyable read, and in specific chapters, an emotional experience. Any reader that has an interest in 60's rock n' roll culture must get this book.  In one word, essential.

Phil Spector's Bob B. Soxx and the Blue Jeans

A very cool and warm album from planet Phil Spector.  "The Wall of Sound" can be sometimes very intimate and on your lap - and Darlene Love is a vocalist who just gets it right all the time.  This album has a couple of soulful or bluesy tunes that cut the rain (in Los Angeles at the moment) into a wrapped around warm blanket.  "Everything's Gonna Be Alright" is just, a wow record.  Slow and burning.

This is another beautiful cut:  My Heart Beat A Little Bit Faster

The Crystals Twist Uptown

A beautiful album by The Crystals via Phil Spector.   I got this album from the "Phil Spector Presents The Philles Album Collection" which is great.  Hearing a work, especially when you know the songs so well over the years, in its original packaging and concept...is simply wonderful.  There is a strong 'dream' aspect to Spector's work, and I love it for that reason alone.

Spanish Harlem (demo) - Phil Spector (1960)

Phil Spector's demo for "Spanish Harlem." Its a beaut! How I would love it if there was an album of Phil Spector singing and playing guitar. Yes, that would be lovely.