ABSTRACT
Much recent scholarship on record making argues that records are produced through a collaborative process, and that trying to discern who devised which pleasing effect in the studio is “like who does what to whom in bed.…Nobody knows what goes on at a record session unless you’re sitting there.” 1 There are indeed many producers who think of themselves as collaborators on the records they make—George Martin, to take a well-known example, considers that he was part of a production or composition team that created Beatles records. 2 It is noticeable that producers who worked predominantly with girl groups and other girl singers, on the other hand, tended to insist on more hierarchical roles in their work. Phil Spector, George “Shadow” Morton, and Berry Gordy became famous as much for their eccentricities and hot tempers as for their excellent musical instincts, and they often made sure that their names eclipsed the names of performers on their records. In 1960, for example, Berry Gordy advertised a new single by the Miracles (featuring Smokey Robinson on lead vocals) with a picture of himself and a write-up describing his achievements at Motown. 3 Similarly, Rolling Stones manager/producer Andrew Loog Oldham “took out a congratulatory ad in Melody Maker touting the Righteous Brothers’ recording of Barry Mann/Cynthia Weil song ‘You’ve Lost that Lovin’ Feelin’’ as ‘the great new PHIL SPECTOR record.’” 4
