Phil’s Spectre on your turntable

In many of my posts I’ve referred to the holy trinity of Spector soundalike compilations, Phil’s Spectre vol. 1, 2 and 3 put out by legendary UK reissue label Ace Records during the 00s. All three volumes are indespensable and revelatory in that they show how far-reaching the Wall of Sound was in terms of aspiring producers, engineers and artists to go for a similar approach with the cream of the crop ending up on these fine compilations.

The three volumes in the Phil’s Spectre series.

Some obvious choices couldn’t be included due to licensing problems but suffice to say, the majority of the very best 60s soundalikes can be enjoyed on the comps. Now, if only Ace would put out a 4th volume? Or even continue into the 70s, – a decade ripe with blatant Spector imitation. See my blog post about this here: https://cuecastanets.wordpress.com/2015/08/02/that-70s-wall-of-sound/

Oh well, we can dream, can’t we?

In the meantime it would appear as if Ace is gathering choice cuts from all three volumes for a special vinyl release under the ‘Phil’s Spectre’ moniker. A few days ago, the label let it be known via their Facebook page that they had a new LP underway in March followed by this nice-looking cover sporting the familiar image of Spector at the Gold Star console.

No info or track listing yet on the Ace Records website but my guess is that this is basically just a ‘Best of’ Phil’s Spectre-type of release. Not that this isn’t way cool in itself though! Vinyl was the medium these tracks were made for so it’s great to see that the format’s resurgence can lead to something like this.

Let’s hope Ace shifts a lot of copies and may look into releasing more Spector-relevant material on vinyl or otherwise.