PHIL SPECTOR 5 LP BOXET BACK TO MONO + BOOK + BADGE

$

100

 BACK TO MONO (1958-1969)

PHIL SPECTOR

Ultrarare Excellent-Condition 5LP Box Set of Spector's Classic 1960s Tracks

Produced by Phil Spector * Mastered in Analog Under His Supervision by Larry Levine and Jody Klein * Huge Book Packed with Photos, Liner Notes, Essays, and Lyrics * 5 Discs * 73 Tracks Total, Many Previously Unreleased

Limited Pressing * Out-of-print in All Formats!

Among producers, his name remains the simile of choice. If some hotshot studio whiz emerges in, say, hip-hop, he's inevitably labeled "the Phil Spector of rap." That's quite a statement given that decades have passed since this boy from the Bronx remodeled rock & roll to suit his own visions of grandeur. The story of the girl-group auteur is a fascinating one. Spector composed a No. 1 hit at 17 (the Teddy Bears' "To Know Him Is to Love Him," its title inspired by the inscription on his father's tombstone). By 19 he was head of A&R for Atlantic Records. By the time he was 22, he'd founded his own label (Philles) and was churning out Wall of Sound hits at an unprecedented clip, beginning with the Crystals' "He's a Rebel." The four-disc [5LP] Back to Mono befits its singular subject in both presentation (the richly annotated booklet includes a piece by Tom Wolfe) and content (60 songs cut between 1958 and 1969, plus the entire classic Yuletide LP A Christmas Gift for You).

--- Steven Stolder

At the time Back to Mono was released in 1991, Phil Spector's reputation as one of pop's great visionaries was intact, but there was no way to hear his genius. It wasn't just that there were no collections spotlighting his productions, there weren't collections of artists he produced. It wasn't until Back to Mono that there was a thorough overview of Spector's greatest work, and while it's not without flaws, it still stands as one of the great box sets. Some may complain that there are no selections from his superstar '70s productions for John Lennon, George Harrison, Leonard Cohen, and the Ramones, but that's for the best, since their presence would have been incongruous, taking attention away from the music that forms the heart of Spector's legacy. All of that music is here, not just on the first three discs, all devoted to singles, but also on the fourth disc, his seminal 1963 holiday album, A Christmas Gift for You, which isn't just the greatest rock Christmas album, but a crystallization of his skills. It could be argued that the song selection overlooks some obscure fan favorites, such as "Do the Screw," but that's simply nitpicking, because what's here are all the great Spector records, which were hardly just great productions, they were great songs as well. As the set plays, it's hard not to be stunned by the depth of the material and clarity of Spector's vision for his famed Wall of Sound, whether you've heard these songs hundreds of times or not at all — especially because they gain power when grouped together. Many producers have been credited as the true creative force behind many rock records, but usually that's hyperbole. In Spector's case, it wasn't, as this set gloriously proves.

 --- Stephen Thomas Erlewine

With Allen Klein dead and Phil Spector incarcerated, who knows what limbo the classic Spector recordings are in?  Back to Mono (which was rated #64 on Rolling Stone's 2003 list of The 500 Greatest Records of All Time) was the ultimate answer for everyone who wanted to hear the Wall of Sound in all its early 60s glory in the 70s and 80s, but couldn't find the records anywhere -- when this box set was released in 1991, it marked the first time these massively influential recordings had been properly anthologized.  This was fairly early on in the CD era, however, so there were lots of complaints about the digitizing of these tunes (the CD's do sound pretty awful), which were frankly always meant to be heard on vinyl, so true aficionados instead sought out the 5LP version of the box set, which was available for a time in the 1990s and eventually slipped out of print.

Incredibly, the set is out of print in all formats today -- my best guess is that this has something to do with Spector's legal woes.  With the man having been sentenced to spend at least 19 years in prison (at 69, he's probably not coming out again alive), perhaps we will never see this set made available again.

What's here?  Well, four LP's covering Spector's legendary work from his first 1958 single for the Teddy Bears ("To Know Him is to Love Him") through his early 1969 recordings with Sonny Charles and the Checkmates (notably "Black Pearl").  In between are all of the classic records by the Ronettes, the Crystals, Darlene Love, the Righteous Brothers, Ike & Tina Turner, etc.  Plus we get the entire holiday classic A Christmas Gift for You on a fifth platter.  There is a huge, extensively annotated book with long essays by Tom Wolfe and David Hinckley, complete lyrics and personnel info, liner notes, and photographs.  (And you get a cute little "Back to Mono" pin like the one that Spector was given to wearing in the late 1980s and early 1990s.)

This particular copy was purchased new over 15 years ago and is in near-mint condition overall -- I am the original owner, no marks, no skips, no surface noise, all sounds great.  The book is perfect, and the outer shell shows virtually no traces of shelf wear ONLY left upper corner split ( see scan).  The pin is intact and included  In short, this is as nice a copy of the vinyl Back to Mono as you are likely to find without ponying up mucho cash for an overpriced sealed version

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