Instant Karma

There were audible chuckles in the audience during Living In The Material World, Martin Scorcese's meticulously researched documentary on George Harrison, when Phil Spector first appeared on screen to be interviewed. It puzzled me then, as it does now, why he seems to be regarded as a kind of caricature, despite having been responsible for producing (and in some cases, writing) some of the biggest hits of the 60s and 70s. So I was glued to ABC2 the other night when they aired The Agony and the Ecstasy of Phil Spector, which featured interviews with him that were recorded at his home in 2009, before the start of his second murder trial that same year. This time he was convicted, after his 2007 trial resulted in a hung jury.

Whether it's the weird (real?) hair, those big unblinking blue eyes, or emphatic way of conversing, it's understandable how Spector could come across as an oddball. This idea is reinforced even more by tales of his being a perfectionist, and hence being difficult to work with (a perception he maintains is largely due to his preference for working alone). Hearing about the ostracism he faced at school, and his own father's suicide, it's easy to see where at least some of his drive and desire to succeed have come from. On this point, he speaks at length about how the theme for his graduating class was to 'dare to be different', cuttingly pointing out that none of his classmates have gone on to do anything with their lives resembling that statement. Implicitly, he's the only one who has. Spector makes a rivetting and sympathetic interview subject, cutting a rather lonely figure. Despite his trailblazing, and elevating the status and influence of music producer beyond that of a mere technician, he makes it clear that his achievements have gone largely unappreciated - by his peers and the media. You get the feeling that although he is well aware of the magnitude of all he has done, he seems resigned to the fact that he will never receive the recognition he feels is deserved.

The way the documentary is structured is clever, using the songs Spector helped create as a soundtrack to the footage from his 2007 murder trial over the death of small time actress, Lana Clarkson. Although the viewer only gets to see a fraction of what happens in the courtroom, if you look at it as a whodunnit, there are some (forensic and logistic) points that make it hard to conceive how Spector could have pulled the trigger. Stranger still, I found myself thinking this despite his previous bad behaviour towards women and known fondness for firearms. Regardless, the doco isn't terribly interested in Spector's innocence or guilt, but instead shines some light on the massive achievements of this much maligned and ridiculed public figure. Sadly, the memory of Spector's eccentricity and brief involvement with an actress who wound up dead in his home (and apparently by his hand) might outweigh his contribution to pop music that stretched over several decades. When asked about what will happen to him if he was to be found guilty, he smiles and says that (in jail) he'll probably become someone's wife and get torn a new a***hole.