Album: Back to Mono (1958-1969)
Artist: Various Artists
Release Date: November 12, 1991
Genre: Brill Building Pop
Length: 3:26:12
Label: ABKCO
Producer: Phil Spector
Rolling Stone Top 500 (2012): #65
Rolling Stone Top 500 (2020): #489
3.5 hours of pure joy...
Back to Mono (1958-1969) is a compilation album of the legendary work from world renowned record producer, Phil Spector. Spector is known for his famous production technique called the Wall of Sound, which utilized the studio space to bring forth an incredibly clear and heavy sound that was unlike anything released at the time.
Starting off with the track "To Know Him Is to Love Him" by The Teddy Bears released in December of 1958 going to "Love Is All I Have to Give" by The Checkmates, Ltd. released in May 1969, Back to Mono (1958-1969) contains fourteen Top 10 singles, including three #1 hits across the sixty track listing. The compilation album also contains Phil Spector's Christmas album, A Christmas Gift for You from Phil Spector (I will review separately at another time as it is featured in the 1,001 albums book and the 2012 Rolling Stone Top 500 list), which brings the track listing to a total of 73 total tracks across the entire box set.
The three #1 hits include "To Know Him Is to Love Him" by The Teddy Bears, "He's a Rebel" by The Crystals, and "You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'" by The Righteous Brothers. These three tracks are easily some of the most memorable on the album, but every song that charted in the top 10 is memorable. This all comes down to the chemistry within the group, the melodies shared with the background vocalists, and the overall progression of the track. "He's a Rebel" for instance takes all of these points and soars above expectations. The song features a marvelous instrumentation progression from the fierce yet jolly piano intro, to the various saxophone licks in between. The Crystals also put so much energy and emotion behind a song that wasn't even written by them.
Some of the notable bands on the 73 total tracks are The Ronettes with 19 songs, The Crystals with 14 and The Righteous Brothers with 5. These groups created some of the strongest songs on the record which undeniably were the songs that also rose up the charts. A lot of the tracks by these groups show off the signature Wall of Sound philosophy heavily as you can hear each and every part of the song without it being muddled with noise. The song by The Ronettes "(The Best Part Of) Breakin' Up" features clear orchestral sounds mixed with the flawless dynamics of the background vocalists while keeping all the main parts of the song at the forefront.
Every song on the album was written with the Brill Building philosophy of songwriters: writing songs and issuing the lyrics to groups to sing. This philsophy can come with a consequence for some songwriters in that they can become obscure in the music industry. However, some of these songwriters have become some of the most popular names in the songwriting world, such as Carole King, Gerry Goffin, Barry Mann, Cynthia Weil, Spector himself, Ellie Greenwich, Jeff Barry, Vini Poncia, and Pete Andreoli. Obviously, some of them have had successful careers themselves after songwriting for other artists, like Carole King, but others aren't particularly household names yet the songs they created are widely known.
The compilation of these songs across the entire Back to Mono (1958-1969) has some of the most impressive production for any song, especially during this time. The amount of depth within each track, from the orchestral arrangements, the backing band and obviously the singer's talent were all made possible with Spector's talent as a producer. The backing band (The Wrecking Crew) should not go unnoticed though because they played on the majority of the songs on this compilation are considered some of the most famous session musicians without most people knowing who they are since they were just the instrumentation parts.
I personally think this album is impossible to rate so I'm not going to give it one. Given its length, the amount of different artists, different sounds throughout and different songwriters, the only consistency is The Wrecking Crew and of course Phil Spector. It's tough to listen to an entire compilation of songs produced by Spector without acknowledging how horrible of a human being he was, but that has to be something in the back of your head or it'll ruin your view of the talent present throughout. I can't recommend this being an album you pop on and listen in one sitting, because I know I didn't, but it is one that you should listen to over a period of time. These songs are essentially foundations of music today and without them music would not be the same. Phil Spector might have been a murderous psychopath but he also had an ear for great music, so go ahead and appreciate the art, just don't support the person...
Notable tracks: "Corrine Corrina", "Uptown", "He's a Rebel", "Da Doo Ron Ron (When He Walked Me Home), "Chapel Of Love", "Be My Baby", "Hold Me Tight", "Walking In the Rain", "You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'", "River Deep - Mountain High", and "I Wish I Never Saw The Sunshine"