David Axelrod on Phil Spector in Wax Poetics

The new Wax Poetics is out, with the usual music nerd's treasure trove we've come to expect from Andre and the gang. I even contributed a little Dangerdoom interview, on page 28. We'll be having a release party tonight at APT (downstairs section), with our own Monk One joining KOOL DJ RED ALERT on the wheels.

And here's a little snippet from the cover story on David Axelrod:

So, your production and arranging style wasn't a response to that of, say, Phil Spector?

I nevr paid a lot of attention to him anyway. I wasn't aware of him. What did I care what Phil spector was doing? I didn't listen to his records. And I never went for that "Wall of Sound" thing. Spector just booked the studio. It was Jack Nitzsche who did the arrangements. He was a weird dude, but I liked him a lot.

So you're saying that the arranger should have gotten credit for developing the Wall of Sound?

I always thought the engineer at Gold Star [Studios] should have gotten about half the credit for that. He had a studio that would hold fourteen people, and in walks Spector with twenty people. You have to give credit to the engineer to make it possible to hear anything. And still have room to record the singers. He probably called Spector a f**king idiot.

We can't print that, can we?

Why not? Is he paying your salary? F**k him...