Spector became involved in music and with his band, the Teddy Bears, he wrote and recorded a hit song. "To Know Him is to Love Him" was released in 1958 and sold more than a million copies. The title of the song is based on Spector's father's epitaph.
In the early 1960s, Spector began working in music studios and by 1961 was producing recordings for established artists such as Gene Pitney and for girl groups such as the Ronettes and the Crystals.
Spector developed his "Wall of Sound" with large orchestras of musicians generating a full sound which became his trademark.
Spector produced a number of hits in the 1960s and was hired to produce the Beatles Let It Be album in 1969.
Producing John Lennon's original Rock And Roll sessions, Spector displayed erratic behaviour. He's rumored to have fired a gun in the studio and to have "kidnapped" the master recordings.
On February 3, 2003, Spector was arrested after 40-year-old actress Lana Clarkson was found shot dead at his home in Alhambra, California.
Harry Nilsson first met Phil Spector at Perry Botkin's office in late 1964. "Phil was walking down the hallway and he heard my demo and he said, 'Who's that?' Turns out that Perry Botkin used to publish Phil when Phil was a teenager, and he said, 'That's Harry Nilsson.' Phil said, 'That's a good song. Did he write it?' Perry said, 'Yeah, well, he and I wrote it.'"
Harry and Phil wrote three songs together - "This Could Be the Night" (recorded by the Modern Folk Quartet), "Paradise" (recorded by the Ronettes and the Shangri Las), and "Here I Sit" (recorded by the Ronettes).
Nilsson later worked with Spector when Phil produced "Nilssonny and Cher" singing "A Love Like Yours" in 1974. Spector also produced John Lennon's original Rock And Roll sessions which Harry attended.
Harry Nilsson met producer Richard Perry at a party hosted by Phil Spector.
(Sources for the above include Dawn Eden's One Last Touch of Nilsson and Curtis Armstrong.)