The Righteous Brothers 1964-1965: The Spector years
What did they do during the spector years?
What did The Righteous Brothers do during the spector years?
In 1964, music producer Phil Spector came across the Righteous Brothers when they performed in a show at the Cow Palace in Daly City, where one of Spector's acts, The Ronettes, was also appearing. Spector was impressed enough to arrange a deal with Moonglow in early October 1964 which allowed Spector to record and release songs by the Righteous Brothers in the US, Canada and UK under his own label, Philles Records. Prior to this, all the songs Spector produced for Philles Records featured black singers; the Righteous Brothers would be his first white vocal group for the label, but they had a black vocal style, termed "blue-eyed soul", that suited Spector. Spector commissioned Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil to write a song for them, which turned out to be "You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'". The song, released in late 1964, became their first major hit single and reached No. 1 in February 1965. Produced by Phil Spector, the record is often cited as one of the peak expressions of Spector's Wall of Sound production techniques. It is one of the most successful pop singles of its time, despite exceeding the then-standard length for radio play. Indeed, according to BMI, "You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'" is the most-played song on American radio and television of the 20th century, with more than eight million airplays by the end of 1999. The Righteous Brothers had several other hit singles with Philles Records in 1965, including "Just Once in My Life" and "Unchained Melody" (originally the B-side of "Hung on You"), both reaching the Billboard Top 10. "Unchained Melody" was produced by Medley; according to Medley, it was originally intended only as an album track, and Spector had asked him to produce the albums so Spector could spend time and money on producing singles. Later copies of the original 45 release credited Spector as producer when it became a hit. After the success of "Unchained Melody", Spector started recording older songs with the Righteous Brothers, including "Ebb Tide", which reached No. 5. Hatfield was the only vocal on "Unchained Melody" and "Ebb Tide", and both were songs Bobby Hatfield had performed with his first group, the Variations. According to Medley, both the early singles "You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'" and "Just Once in My Life" featured Medley's vocal strongly, which caused some friction between the duo, and the Hatfield solos in later singles restored some balance between the two. The last single released that they recorded with Philles Records was "The White Cliffs of Dover". Although Spector focused his attention in producing singles, a number of albums by the Righteous Brothers released with Philles Records sold well. In 1965, they had a couple of guest appearances in the films A Swingin' Summer and Beach Ball. They also became the first rock and roll act to play the Strip in Las Vegas (at The Sands). CANNOTANSWER
You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'". The song, released in late 1964, became their first major hit single
The Righteous Brothers are an American musical duo originally formed by Bill Medley and Bobby Hatfield but now comprising Medley and Bucky Heard. Medley formed the group with Hatfield in 1963. They had first performed together in 1962 in the Los Angeles area as part of a five-member group called the Paramours, and adopted the name The Righteous Brothers when they became a duo. Their most active recording period was in the 1960s and '70s, and, after several years inactive as a duo, Hatfield and Medley reunited in 1981 and continued to perform until Hatfield's death in 2003. The music they performed is sometimes dubbed "blue-eyed soul".

Hatfield and Medley had contrasting vocal ranges, which helped them create a distinctive sound as a duet, also both had a strong vocal talent individually that allowed them to perform as soloists. Medley sang the low parts with his bass-baritone voice, with Hatfield taking the higher-register vocals with his tenor. His voice reached the register of a countertenor. 

Following a year-and-a-half of Top 40 non-entries on [[Billboard Hot 100|Billboards Hot 100]], the duo hit big with the late-1964 release of what would become their signature record, "You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'" – a transatlantic number one produced by Phil Spector, often considered one of his finest works and a landmark recording in popular music. Other notable hits include three US 1965 Top Tens – "Just Once in My Life" and covers of "Unchained Melody" (also a huge hit in 1990) and "Ebb Tide" – and the massive US 1966 number one "(You're My) Soul and Inspiration", plus the 1974 comeback hit "Rock and Roll Heaven". Both Hatfield and Medley also had for a time their own solo careers. In 2016, Medley re-formed The Righteous Brothers with Bucky Heard and they continue to perform as a duo.

The Righteous Brothers were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2003. They were inducted into the Vocal Group Hall of Fame in 2005. Rolling Stone ranked them no. 16 on its list of the 20 Greatest Duos of All Time.

Music career
1962–1964: Beginning
Bobby Hatfield and Bill Medley were in different groups before they met – Hatfield was in a group from Anaheim called the Variations, and Medley in a group from Santa Ana called the Paramours. Barry Rillera, a member of Medley's band who was also in Hatfield's group, suggested they go see each other's show and perform together. Later, after a member of Paramours left in 1962, Hatfield and Medley joined forces and formed a new Paramours, which included Johnny Wimber (a founder of the Vineyard Movement). They started performing at a club called John's Black Derby in Santa Ana, and were signed to a small record label Moonglow in 1962. They released a single "There She Goes (She's Walking Away)" in December 1962. However, the Paramours did not have much success and soon broke up, leaving Hatfield and Medley to perform as a duo in 1963. According to Medley, they then adopted the name The Righteous Brothers for the duo because black Marines from the El Toro Marine base started calling them "righteous brothers". At the end of a performance, a black U.S. Marine in the audience would shout, "That was righteous, brothers!", and would greet them with "Hey righteous brothers, how you doin'?" on meeting them.

The Righteous Brothers released three albums under the Moonglow label, one of these and a further compilation album were released after they had joined Phil Spector. They released 12 singles with Moonglow, but only two were moderate hits – "Little Latin Lupe Lu" and "My Babe" from their first album Right Now!. In August and September 1964, they opened for The Beatles in their first U.S. tour. However, they left before the tour finished as they were asked to appear on a new television show called Shindig!; they also felt unappreciated by the audience as they were then little known on the East Coast, and the audience demanded to hear the Beatles while they were performing. They returned to Los Angeles to tape the pilot for the show, and would later appear in the show regularly. Their next album was Some Blue-Eyed Soul; the term blue-eyed soul was first used to refer to The Righteous Brothers by black DJs, but after they became popular, the term became a general term for all white singers who sang what was then considered "black music".  In October and November 1964, they opened for The Rolling Stones on their American tour.

1964–1965: The Spector years
In 1964, music producer Phil Spector came across the Righteous Brothers when they performed in a show at the Cow Palace in Daly City, where one of Spector's acts, The Ronettes, was also appearing, and he conducted the band for the show. Spector was impressed enough to arrange a deal with Moonglow in early October 1964 allowing him to record and release songs by the Righteous Brothers in the US, Canada and UK under his own label, Philles Records. Prior to this, all the songs Spector produced for Philles Records featured African-American singers; the Righteous Brothers would be his first white vocal group for the label. However, their "blue-eyed soul" vocal style suited Spector.

Spector commissioned Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil to write a song for them, which turned out to be "You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'". The song, released in late 1964, became their first major hit single and reached No. 1 in February 1965.  Produced by Phil Spector, the record is often cited as one of the finest expressions of Spector's Wall of Sound production techniques. It is one of the most successful pop singles of its time, despite exceeding the then-standard length for radio play. Indeed, according to BMI, "You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'" became the most-played song on American radio and television of the 20th century, with more than eight million airplays by the end of 1999.

The Righteous Brothers had several other hit singles with Philles Records in 1965, including "Just Once in My Life" and "Unchained Melody" (originally the B-side of "Hung on You"), both reaching the Billboard Top 10. Medley said that he produced "Unchained Melody"; the song was originally intended only as a track on the album Just Once in My Life, and Spector had asked him to produce the albums so Spector could spend time and money on producing singles. Later copies of the original 45 release credited Spector as producer when it became a hit.

After the success of "Unchained Melody", Spector started releasing older songs with the Righteous Brothers, including "Ebb Tide", which reached No. 5. Hatfield was the only vocal on "Unchained Melody" and "Ebb Tide", and both were songs Bobby Hatfield had performed with his first group, the Variations. According to Medley, both the early singles "You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'" and "Just Once in My Life" featured Medley's vocal strongly, which caused some friction between the duo, and the Hatfield solos in later singles restored some balance between the two. The last single released that they recorded with Philles Records was "The White Cliffs of Dover". Although Spector focused his attention in producing singles, a number of albums by the Righteous Brothers released with Philles Records sold well.

In 1965, they had a couple of guest appearances in the films A Swingin' Summer and Beach Ball. They also became the first rock and roll act to play the Strip in Las Vegas (at The Sands).

1966–1967: Verve Records
The duo's relationship with Spector however ended in some acrimony; in 1966 they signed with Verve/MGM Records, leading to a lawsuit from Spector, which MGM settled with a $600,000 payment to Spector. Their next release in 1966, "(You're My) Soul and Inspiration" was a Phil Spector sound-alike song. The song was first written by Mann and Weil after the success of "Lovin' Feelin'" but not completed, and they finished the song following a request by Medley after the Righteous Brothers moved to Verve. Medley then produced the completed song, and was able to fully simulate the Spector style of production and achieve a similar sound to that of "Lovin' Feelin'". It quickly became their second No. 1 U.S. hit, staying at the top for three weeks.

After a few more top-40 hits, including "He" and "Go Ahead And Cry", their popularity began to decline. Even a collaboration with former Motown A&R chief William "Mickey" Stevenson failed to work. In 1967, before they went their separate ways, and, to capitalize on their previous hits, Verve/MGM issued a "Greatest Hits" compilation which has been modified twice: in 1983 with 10 tracks and in 1990 with two more tracks.

1968–1975: Break up and reunion
The duo split up in February 1968, a breakup that would last for more than six years, when Medley left to pursue a solo career. Medley recorded a few solo recordings on several labels, while Hatfield teamed up with singer Jimmy Walker (from The Knickerbockers) using the Righteous Brothers name on the MGM label. Medley first recorded "I Can't Make It Alone" written by Carole King, but the song failed to make much of an impact. The following single, "Brown Eyed Woman" written by Mann and Weil, performed better. However, neither he nor Hatfield was able to match their previous chart success.

Hatfield and Jimmy Walker recorded an album, Re-Birth, as "The Righteous Brothers" before disbanding in 1971. In a 2013 interview, Jimmy Walker said he had wanted to continue, but Hatfield decided to take a break and broke up the act. In 1969, Hatfield appeared in a TV movie, The Ballad of Andy Crocker, and also recorded "Only You". He released a solo album, Messin' In Muscle Shoals in 1971.

According to Medley, he was performing three shows a night in Las Vegas, but finding it too much of a strain on his voice singing solo, and under advice he sought out Hatfield to reform The Righteous Brothers; Hatfield at this point was broke and living alone in a small apartment. In 1974, Medley and Hatfield announced their reunion at an appearance on The Sonny & Cher Comedy Hour. They signed with Haven Records, run by producers Dennis Lambert and Brian Potter and distributed by Capitol Records. Within a few weeks of reforming, they recorded Alan O'Day's "Rock and Roll Heaven", a paean to several deceased rock singers which became a hit, peaking at No. 3 on the Billboard Hot 100. Several more minor hits on Haven followed. After 1975, however, the Righteous Brothers would not appear in music charts except for re-releases of older songs and compilation albums, some of which were re-recordings of earlier works.

1976–2003: Later career and solo works
Between 1976 and 1981, Hatfield and Medley stopped performing as a duo after the death of Medley's first wife, as he wanted time off to look after his son. They reunited for an anniversary special on American Bandstand in 1981 to perform an updated version of "Rock And Roll Heaven". They resumed touring intermittently, and they recorded a 21st Anniversary Celebration concert in 1983 at the Roxy on the Sunset Strip in Los Angeles, which was later released on video and was also aired on television.

In the late 1970s, Medley once again began to record as a solo artist and had some success in the 1980s. In 1984, he scored country hits with "Till Your Memory's Gone" and "I Still Do", the latter also an adult-contemporary crossover hit. In late 1987, his duet with Jennifer Warnes, "(I've Had) The Time of My Life", which appeared on the soundtrack for Dirty Dancing, topped the Billboard Hot 100. It won them a Grammy Award for Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals.

In 1990, Bobby Hatfield's original recording of "Unchained Melody" was featured in the popular feature film Ghost, starring Patrick Swayze and Demi Moore. It triggered an avalanche of requests to Top 40 radio stations by fans who had seen the movie to play the 1965 Righteous Brothers' recording. This motivated Polygram (which now owned the Verve/MGM label archives) to re-release the song to Top 40 radio. It became a major hit for a second time, reaching No. 13 on the Hot 100 in 1990. It also became their second No. 1 in the UK. The duo quickly re-recorded another version of "Unchained Melody" for Curb Records. Both the reissued and the re-recorded songs charted at the same time for several weeks, and the Righteous Brothers made history as the first act to have two versions of the same song in the Top 20 at the same time. The re-recorded "Unchained Melody" hit No. 19 on the Hot 100 and was certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).

They also re-recorded other songs for a budget-priced CD, The Best of The Righteous Brothers, released by Curb Records. Medley would later describe the re-recordings as "artistically, a stupid idea; financially, a wonderfully idea". The album sold very well and received a double platinum certification from the RIAA. A greatest hits CD collection of the original recordings called The Very Best of The Righteous Brothers...Unchained Melody was released later by Verve/Polydor. This compilation album also became their first entry in the UK album chart. They began to tour extensively all through the 1990s and early 2000s and performed for about 12 weeks a year in Las Vegas.

Hatfield's death
Bobby Hatfield was found dead in his hotel room in Kalamazoo, Michigan, on November 5, 2003, shortly before he was due to perform at a concert with Bill Medley at Western Michigan University's Miller Auditorium. The autopsy report attributed his death to heart failure brought on by cocaine. Bill Medley continued to perform as a solo artist for some time after Hatfield's death, occasionally singing with a screen projection of old film footage of Hatfield.

2016: The Righteous Brothers revived
In January 2016, Medley announced he intended to revive the Righteous Brothers for the first time since 2003. The late Hatfield was replaced with singer Bucky Heard at Las Vegas's Harrah's Showroom for more than 40 shows from March 23, 2016 to November 8. The repertoire included some of the Righteous Brothers' best-known songs, such as "You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'," "Soul & Inspiration," "Unchained Melody", but also the later "Rock and Roll Heaven", as well as Bill Medley's "The Time of My Life". Medley explained that it was the encouragement of the Righteous Brothers’ fans as well as several friends, producers and contacts in Las Vegas that made him consider reviving the Righteous Brothers' name again, while acknowledging that it was a difficult choice to continue without Hatfield, saying “I’ve had a million fans hollering at me to keep the Righteous Brothers alive... I looked at a couple of guys, but you know, you can’t replace Bobby Hatfield, he’s the best in the world”. Medley was previously acquainted with Heard and watched him perform at a tribute concert to Journey, after which he realized that Heard was the only one he would consider capable of filling Hatfield's shoes, also noting that he and Heard had good chemistry together. Medley approached Heard a few days later and discussed the matter, which ended in a coin toss, which Medley won, resulting in Heard accepting Medley's proposal. Heard has since communicated that he knows he can never replace Hatfield, nor will he attempt to do so and that he intends to sing like Hatfield rather than sound like him. A new CD was released the same year, featuring several of the Righteous Brothers' hit singles sung by Medley and Heard.

Awards and nominations
The Righteous Brothers were nominated twice for a Grammy. In 1965, their recording of "You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin" was nominated in the Best Rock And Roll Recording category at the 7th Annual Grammy Awards. Their re-recording of "Unchained Melody" was nominated for Best Pop Vocal Performance by a Duo or Group at the 1991 Grammy. They were also awarded the Best New Singing Group in the Billboard Disc Jockey Poll in 1965.

The Righteous Brothers were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame on March 10, 2003. They were inducted into the Vocal Group Hall of Fame in 2005.

MembersCurrent members Bill Medley (1962–1968, 1974–1976, 1981–2003, 2016–present)
 Bucky Heard (2016–present)Former members Bobby Hatfield (1962–1971, 1974–1976, 1981–2003; died 2003)
 Jimmy Walker (1968–1971; died 2020)

Timeline

Discography
For their discography as solo artists, see Bill Medley and Bobby Hatfield.

Albums
{| class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center;"
|-
! scope="col" rowspan="2" style="width:12em;"| Title
! scope="col" rowspan="2" style="width:18em;"| Album details
! scope="col" colspan="4"| Peak chart positions
! scope="col" rowspan="2" style="width:9em;"| Certifications
|-
! scope="col" style="width:3em;font-size:80%;"| US
! scope="col" style="width:3em;font-size:80%;"| USR&B
! scope="col" style="width:3em;font-size:80%;"| AUS
! scope="col" style="width:3em;font-size:80%;"| CAN
|-
! scope="row"| Right Now!
|
 Released: 1963
 Label: Moonglow Records
 Formats: Vinyl
|  11 || 8 || — || —
|
|-
! scope="row"| Some Blue-Eyed Soul
|
 Released: 1964
 Label: Moonglow Records
 Formats: Vinyl
|  14 || — || — || —
|
|-
! scope="row"| This Is New! 
|
 Released: 1965
 Label: Moonglow Records
 Formats: Vinyl
|  39 || — || — || —
|
|-
! scope="row"| You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin''' 
|
 Released: 1965
 Label: Philles Records 
 Formats: Vinyl
|  4 || 3 || — || —
|
|-
! scope="row"| Just Once in My Life...|
 Released: 1965
 Label: Philles Records 
 Formats: Vinyl
|  9 || 8 || — || —
|
|-
! scope="row"| Back to Back|
 Released: 1965
 Label: Philles Records 
 Formats: Vinyl
|  16 || — || — || —
|
|-
! scope="row"| Soul & Inspiration|
 Released: 1966
 Label: Verve Records 
 Formats: Vinyl
|  7 || 18 || — || —
|
US: Gold
|-
! scope="row"| Go Ahead and Cry|
 Released: 1966
 Label: Verve Records 
 Formats: Vinyl
|  32 || — || — || —
|
|-
! scope="row"| Sayin' Somethin
|
 Released: 1967
 Label: Verve Records 
 Formats: Vinyl
|  155 || — || — || —
|
|-
! scope="row"| Souled Out|
 Released: 1967
 Label: Verve Records 
 Formats: Vinyl
|  198 || — || — || —
|
|-
! scope="row"| One for the Road|
 Released: 1968
 Label: Verve Records 
 Formats: Vinyl
|  187 || — || — || —
|
|-
! scope="row"| Re-Birth(Bobby Hatfield and Jimmy Walker)
|
 Released: 1969
 Label: Verve Records 
 Formats: Vinyl
|  — || — || — || —
|
|-
! scope="row"| Give It to the People|
 Released: 1974
 Label: Haven Records
 Formats: Vinyl
| 27 || — || 83 || 27
|
|-
! scope="row"| Sons of Mrs. Righteous|
 Released: 1975
 Label: Haven Records 
 Formats: Vinyl
|  — || — || — || —
|
|-
! scope="row"| The Righteous Brothers(Bill Medley and Bucky Heard)
|
 Released: 2016
 Label: Rock Canyon Records
 Formats: Digital, CD
|  — || — || — || —
|
|-
| colspan="8" style="font-size:9pt"| "—" denotes releases that did not chart or were not released to that country
|}

Compilation albums
Many compilation albums by The Righteous Brothers have been released, the following is a selection of compilation albums that received certifications.
{| class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center;"
|-
! scope="col" rowspan="2" style="width:12em;"| Title
! scope="col" rowspan="2" style="width:18em;"| Album details
! scope="col" colspan="6"| Peak chart positions
! scope="col" rowspan="2" style="width:10em;"| Certifications
|-
! scope="col" style="width:3em;font-size:90%;"| US
! scope="col" style="width:3em;font-size:80%;"| US Catalog
! scope="col" style="width:3em;font-size:80%;"| AUS
! scope="col" style="width:3em;font-size:80%;"| UK
! scope="col" style="width:3em;font-size:80%;"| CAN
! scope="col" style="width:3em;font-size:80%;"| NLD
|-
! scope="row"| The Righteous Brothers Greatest Hits|
 Released: November 30, 1967 (also reissued later on CD with more tracks)
 Label: Verve Records
 Formats: Vinyl, CD
| 21 || — || — || — || 10 || 58 
|
 Can: Gold
 US: Gold
|-
! scope="row"| Greatest Hits Vol. 2|
 Released: 1969
 Label: Verve Records
 Formats: Vinyl, cassette, CD, digital download
| 126 || — || — || — || — || —
|
|-
! scope="row"| You've Love That Lovin' Feelin|
 Released: 1982 (AUS)
 Label: J&B Records (JB 098)
 Formats: Vinyl, cassette
| — || — || 40 || — || — || —
|
|-
! scope="row"| Soul & Inspiration
|
 Released: 1987 (AUS)
 Label: J&B Records (JB 323)
 Formats: Vinyl, cassette
| — || — || 98 || — || — || —
|
|-
! scope="row"| The Anthology 1962–1974
|
 Released: July 26, 1989
 Label: Rhino Records
 Formats: Vinyl, cassette, CD, digital download
| 178 || — || — || — || — || —
|
 US: Gold
|-
! scope="row"| Unchained Melody – Best Of The Righteous Brothers
|
 Released: October 2, 1990
 Label: Curb Records
 Formats: Cassette, CD, digital download
| 161 || 1 || 5 || — || — || —
|
 AUS: Platinum
 CAN: Platinum
 US: 2× Platinum
|-
! scope="row"| The Very Best Of Righteous Brothers
|
 Released: 1990
 Label: Polydor (Verve)
 Formats: Vinyl, Cassette, CD, digital download
| 31 || 14 || 38 || 3 || — || —
|
 AUS: Platinum
 UK: Platinum
 US: Gold
|-
| colspan="12" style="font-size:9pt"| "—" denotes releases that did not chart or were not released to that country
|}

Singles
{| class="wikitable" style=text-align:center; 
!rowspan=2|Year
!rowspan=2|Titles (A-side, B-side)Both sides from same album except where indicated
!colspan=4|Peak chart positions
! scope="col" rowspan="2" style="width:7em;"| Certifications
!rowspan=2|Album
|-style="font-size:smaller;"
!width=30| US
!width=30| UK
!width=30| CAN

!width=30| NLD
|-
|rowspan=3| 1963
|align=left| "Little Latin Lupe Lu"b/w "I'm So Lonely"
| 49
| —
| —
| —
|
|align="left" rowspan="3"|Right Now!
|-
|align=left| "My Babe"b/w "Fee-Fi-Fidily-I-O"
| 75
| —
| —
| —
|
|-
|align=left| "Koko Joe"b/w "B-Flat Blues"
| —
| —
| —
| —
|
|-
| rowspan="4"|1964
|align=left| "Try to Find Another Man"b/w "I Still Love You" (from This Is New!)
| —
| —
| —
| —
|
|align="left" rowspan="3"|Some Blue-Eyed Soul
|-
|align=left| "Bring Your Love to Me"b/w "If You're Lying, You'll Be Crying" (from This Is New!)
| —
| —
| —
| —
|
|-
|align=left| "This Little Girl of Mine"b/w "If You're Lying, You'll Be Crying" (from This Is New!)
| —
| —
| —
| —
|
|-
|align=left| "You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'"b/w "There's a Woman"
| 1
| 1
| 1
| 8
|
 UK: Silver
|align="left"|You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin
|-
|rowspan=7| 1965
|align=left| "Bring Your Love to Me" /"Fannie Mae"
| 83117
| —
| —
| —
|
|align="left"|Some Blue-Eyed Soul
|-
|align=left| "Just Once in My Life"b/w "The Blues"
| 9
| —
| 6
| —
|
|align="left"|Just Once in My Life
|-
|align=left| "You Can Have Her"b/w "Love or Magic" (from Right Now!)
| 67
| —
| 17
| —
|
|align="left" rowspan="2"|This Is New!
|-
|align=left| "Justine"b/w "In That Great Gettin' Up Mornin'" (from Right Now!)
| 85
| —
| 37
| —
|
|-
|align=left| "Unchained Melody" /"Hung on You" (from Back To Back)
| 447
| 14 —
| 9 —
| 8 —
|
|align="left"|Just Once In My Life
|-
|align=left| "For Your Love"b/w "Gotta Tell You How I Feel" (from This Is New!)
| —
| —
| —
| —
|
|align="left"|Some Blue-Eyed Soul
|-
|align=left| "Ebb Tide"b/w "(I Love You) For Sentimental Reasons"
| 5
| 48
| 5
| —
|
|align="left"|Back To Back
|-
|rowspan=8| 1966
|align=left| "Georgia on My Mind"b/w "My Tears Will Go Away" (from Some Blue-Eyed Soul)
| 62
| —
| —
| —
|
|align="left"|Right Now!
|-
|align=left| "(You're My) Soul and Inspiration"b/w "B-Side Blues" (Non-album track)
| 1
| 15
| 2
| — 
|
US: Gold
|align="left" rowspan="2"|Soul & Inspiration
|-
|align=left| "He" /"He Will Break Your Heart"
| 1891
| — —
| 17 —
| —
|
|-
|align=left| "Bring Your Love to Me" (second reissue)b/w "I Need a Girl" (from This Is New!)
| —
| —
| —
| —
|
|align="left"|Some Blue-Eyed Soul
|-
|align=left| "Go Ahead and Cry"b/w "Things Didn't Go Your Way"
| 30
| —
| 27
| —
|
|align="left"|Go Ahead and Cry
|-
|align=left| "On This Side of Goodbye"b/w "A Man Without a Dream"
| 47
| —
| 42
| —
|
|align="left"|Sayin' Somethin
|-
|align=left| "The White Cliffs of Dover"b/w "She's Mine, All Mine"
| —
| 21
| —
| —
|
|align="left"|Back To Back
|-
|align=left| "Island in the Sun"b/w "What Now My Love"
| —
| 24
| —
| —
|
|align="left"|Go Ahead and Cry
|-
|rowspan=4| 1967
|align=left| "Along Came Jones"b/w "Jimmy's Blues"
| —
| —
| —
| —
|
|align="left"|''Sayin' Somethin
|-
|align=left| "Melancholy Music Man"b/w "Don't Give Up on Me"
| 43
| —
| —
| —
|
|align="left"|Non-album tracks
|-
|align=left| "Stranded in the Middle of No Place"b/w "Been So Nice"
| 72
| —
| —
| —
|
|align="left"|Souled Out
|-
|align=left| "My Darling Clementine"b/w "That Lucky Old Sun"Unreleased single
| —
| —
| —
| —
|
|align="left"|Standards
|-
| 1968
|align=left| "Here I Am"b/w "So Many Lonely Nights Ahead"
| —
| —
| —
| —
|
|align="left"|Souled Out
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| 1969
|align=left| "You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'"b/w "Let the Good Times Roll" (from The Righteous Brothers Greatest Hits, Vol. 2)UK reissue
| —
| 10
| —
| —
|
|align="left"|The Righteous Brothers Greatest Hits
|}

Notes

note a"My Babe" re-charted in 1965 at No. 101 U.S.
note b"Bring Your Love to Me"/"Fannie Mae," "You Can Have Her," "Justine" and "Georgia on My Mind" were older recordings released as singles in the U.S. by the Moonglow label to cash in on the duo's success on Philles (1964–65) and Verve (1966–67), which explains their relatively low chart positions.
note cThe 1990 re-issue of "Unchained Melody" also charted at No. 1 on the Billboard Adult Contemporary chart.
note d Three versions were ranked together as one in the Dutch Top 40 chart – the versions by the Righteous Brothers, Cilla Black, and a local cover by Trea Dobbs.

References

External links

 – The 1983 recording of their anniversary concert at the Roxy Theatre in Los Angeles
 Righteous Brothers Discography — compiled by Peter Richmond
  Righteous Brothers — by Dr. Frank Hoffmann

American pop music groups
American musical duos
American vocal groups
American soul musical groups
Sue Records artists
Musical groups established in 1962
Musical groups disestablished in 2003
Philles Records artists
Musical groups reestablished in 2016
1962 establishments in California
Phil Spector is a 2013 American biographical drama television film written and directed by David Mamet. The film is based on the murder trials of record producer, songwriter and musician Phil Spector and premiered on HBO on March 24, 2013. It stars Al Pacino as Phil Spector, Helen Mirren as defense attorney Linda Kenney Baden, and Jeffrey Tambor as defense attorney Bruce Cutler. It focuses primarily on the relationship between Spector and Linda Kenney Baden, his defense attorney in 2007 during the first of his two murder trials for the 2003 death of Lana Clarkson in his California mansion, and is billed as "an exploration of the client–attorney relationship" between Spector and Kenney Baden.

The film was controversial for fictionalizing aspects of the case and for neglecting significant evidence presented by the real life prosecution, leading to accusations that the movie was created as an advocacy piece in Spector's favor. Spector was not involved with the film and disputed its historical accuracy. Although it is based on real people and an actual event, it opens with an unusually worded disclaimer that states, "This is a work of fiction. It's not 'based on a true story.' ... It is a drama inspired by actual persons on a trial, but it is neither an attempt to depict the actual persons, nor to comment upon the trial or its outcome."

Cast

Production

Script
In an interview in 2013, Phil Spector'''s writer and director, David Mamet, explained that, although he enjoyed Phil Spector's music, he knew nothing about Spector and paid little attention to the murder case against him until 2010, the year after Spector's conviction for murder in his second trial, when he viewed Vikram Jayanti's 2009 BBC documentary The Agony and the Ecstasy of Phil Spector. The documentary included a compelling interview with Spector that took place just before his first trial in 2007 and news footage of the trial itself, and Jayanti said he intended it to leave the audience with the impression that the charges against Spector were unproved. Mamet said that the documentary gave him an idea to dramatize the story of Spector's first trial by depicting Spector as "a mythological character" and "a man avowed by all to be a monster" like "the Minotaur." Mamet also said he found it challenging "to take an irrefutable proposition – the guy's obviously guilty – and see if I could refute it" by writing a drama about Spector's case. In a 2013 interview, he described the resulting film as "not a documentary...It's basically a fable. It's the fable of the Minotaur, or the fable of beauty and the beast. It's the attraction and repulsion between the young virgin, Helen Mirren, and the Minotaur, Phil Spector."

Mamet drew on court transcripts for portions of the film, and the movie discusses key pieces of evidence that actually were used at Spector's trial. In 2013 interviews, Mamet asserted that "none of the facts in the case have been misrepresented...none of the testimony has been misrepresented" and that the film quotes actual court documents verbatim. However, Mamet also claimed that Phil Spector is otherwise "purposefully hypothetical," that in the film "almost everything is hypothetical," and that "the reason it's not a true story is that that didn't happen." He explained that Phil Spector is "a fiction about what might happen backstage at the defense team if I were the lead defense attorney. I would say, okay, here are the facts, here's what I think we should do; here's an alternative version that makes sense to me." Mamet said his script addresses the question, "'How might the facts suggest reasonable doubt to a jury of 12 people?' Which is very, very different, of course — and this is the point of the film — from innocence." Both Mamet and Mirren said that Phil Spector is a mythological story, which Mamet said is about the fictional version of Linda Kenney Baden "coming to grips with the notion of what is reasonable doubt and what is prejudice."

Mamet called Spector "a fascinating speaker, and like a lot of us autodidacts, he was very interesting to listen to, because his mind ranged wide and unfettered by any system." The dialogue he made up for the fictional Spector in the movie represented Mamet writing in the way he believed Spector spoke.

Cast and crewPhil Spector originally was supposed to star Bette Midler as Linda Kenney Baden, but Midler left the project two and a half weeks after filming began after suffering a back injury and, according to Helen Mirren, having to be carried off the set. Mamet recalled that the loss of Midler put completion of the film in jeopardy, as it could have led to the loss of Pacino and of the locations and sets as well, and that Mirren's willingness to take on the role on short notice saved the film.

In a December 2002 interview with Spector biographer Mick Brown, Spector stated that he had a lifelong dream that his favorite actor, Al Pacino, one day would portray him in a film about his life and career. In an article in The Daily Telegraph written at the time of Phil Spector premiere on television in the United Kingdom in June 2013, Brown noted the irony of Pacino later portraying Spector, but in a film about his murder trial rather than about his life and career.

Linda Kenney Baden served as a consultant for the film, and Mamet said in a 2013 interview that he discussed the Spector case with her at length during production of Phil Spector to ensure it depicted legal thinking and procedures accurately, although she declined to discuss her conversations with Spector, which were protected by the attorney–client privilege. Mamet also said that he attempted to visit Spector in prison before filming began, but Spector refused to see him.

Mamet and Barry Levinson both were executive producers for Phil Spector.

Historical accuracy

Although Phil Spector is based on real people and an actual event, it opens with an unusually worded disclaimer that states "This is a work of fiction. It's not 'based on a true story.' It is a drama inspired by actual persons in a trial, but it is neither an attempt to depict the actual persons, nor to comment upon the trial or its outcome." In reviewing the movie, NPR's David Bianculli wrote that opening disclaimer demands attention and, given Linda Kenney Baden's role as a consultant for the film, that "... even though her [Kenney Baden's] exchanges with the real Phil Spector are protected by attorney-client privilege, you get the feeling — at least I do — that Mamet may not be winging it as much as he claims to be with that disclaimer."

In an article in The Telegraph written at the time of Phil Spector's premiere on television in the United Kingdom in June 2013, Mick Brown, author of Tearing Down the Wall of Sound: The Rise and Fall of Phil Spector, addressed issues related to how fictional – and how historically accurate – the film's depiction of people and events is. In Brown's view, the movie selectively included evidence supporting Spector's defense and glossed over or ignored prosecution evidence.  Specific examples of inaccuracies that Brown cites are:

 The fictional Bruce Cutler's assertion at the beginning of the movie that a magazine article – a real-life article based on an interview Brown had with Spector in December 2002 – that appeared in the Telegraph magazine had been faxed to Spector on the day of the shooting and had "set him off" is incorrect.  The article was not published until after Clarkson's death. 
 The fictional Cutler's assertion in the film that Spector had been "cold sober" for ten years prior to Clarkson's death is incorrect.  Spector began drinking again two months before her death. 
 The fictional Linda Kenney Baden declares in the film that she will not "attack the girl," i.e., Clarkson, in court to defend Spector.  In fact, Kenney Baden's defense of Spector did include attacking Clarkson in court, and the real Kenney Baden showed a video of Clarkson in blackface imitating Little Richard during the trial, unlike the fictional Kenney Baden, who rejects it. 
 The film emphasizes the defense's real-life argument about how Spector pulling the trigger in Clarkson's mouth would have created a massive blood spatter on his clothes and that no such blood stain occurred, and this was a major part of Kenney Baden's defense. However, the movie ignores the prosecution's ballistics evidence that Spector pulling the trigger at arm's length would instead have resulted in a misting pattern of blood stains that was found on both Spector's and Clarkson's clothes, consistent with Spector pulling the trigger.
 In real life, the defense countered the prosecution's evidence that Spector told his chauffeur that he had just killed somebody by arguing that the chauffeur simply misheard Spector. In the movie, the Nick Stavros character introduces a fictitious theory that corrupt detectives were coercing the chauffeur into his testimony about Spector's statement, but in real life the chauffeur never wavered in his statements about what Spector said.
 Brown claims that the film's depiction of Spector's arrival at his trial in an outlandish wig is a "distortion," but he declines to give a reason for this opinion.

Reception
The film has received mixed-to-positive reviews from critics. Review aggregator site Metacritic has given the film a score of 60 out of 100, signifying "mixed or average reviews".

In his June 2013 article in The Telegraph, Mick Brown wrote that "Phil Spector is a masterfully executed piece of drama. The dialogue crackles in vintage Mamet fashion, and the performances are uniformly excellent. In his jittery, trembling demeanour, and his flights of self-aggrandising, wounded rhetoric...Pacino seems to be channelling Spector, albeit a Spector possessed of Mamet's considerable erudition and articulacy." Reviewing Phil Spector for TimeOut, Ben Keningsberg wrote that the film makes "an essentially Socratic argument about the legal system's potential to try someone on perception," and that the real pleasure in watching the movie came from seeing Pacino and Mirren deliver Mamet's dialogue, which he described as including many "treasurable retorts." NPR reviewer David Bianculli wrote that Mamet's dialogue is "crisp and thought-provoking" and that Paccino and Mirren "make the most of it," and that he was "impressed and entertained" by the movie, although he warned that no viewer should trust it for its depiction of events, saying that the movie's opening disclaimer might as well have been Mamet saying, "Don't anybody sue us. I'm just making stuff up, using names and a few bits of court testimony that are in the public record."

In the New York Times, Alessandra Stanley had a more negative impression, saying that in the film "there isn't much to provide dramatic tension" between Pacino and Mirren, although it is a credit to them that "they can sustain a story with so little traction," adding that the scenes between Pacino and Mirren seem "a lot like a revisionist re-enactment and maybe even absolution" for Spector, with "the facts of the case and characters...molded to allow viewers to doubt Mr. Spector's guilt," although "there is not much anyone can do to make the audience care." Stanley describes Pacino as playing Spector as "palsied, choleric, and monomaniacal, but not entirely repellent," with "an occasional flash of self-awareness in his eyes and a glint of humored reason in his grandiose diatribes," and that Mirren's portrayal of Linda Kenney Baden, while "refined and regal," is nothing like the real-life Kenney Baden, who Stanley described as a "bleached-blonde scrapper." Los Angeles Times television critic Robert Lloyd found the film's opening disclaimer that it is not based on a true story "disingenuous, if not absurd, given the movie's title, its sprinkling of true facts, and a cast dressed and coiffed to look like the characters whose names they bear," and declared the film "a vexing piece of work" that is "well-crafted, with interesting Big Talent attached," and "better than most films of its kind, even as it remains unsatisfying as historical re-creation, philosophical meditation, or pure drama." Lloyd felt that Phil Spector "plays as a brief for the defense, a one-sided argument for Spector's probable innocence" that makes Clarkson "look pathetic" with no one speaking for her, and that "Pacino doesn't attempt an imitation of his real-life counterpart...this Spector feels more Al than Phil."

Controversy
Spector's wife Rachelle said that the movie was "cheesy." She complained that the movie depicted Spector inaccurately as "a foul-mouthed megalomaniac."

In his June 2013 article, Brown claimed that when Phil Spector premiered on HBO in March 2013, "it achieved the rare feat of offending or upsetting just about everyone" and that unspecified critics have termed it a "moral mess." Brown wrote that "Mamet ignores the evidence that doesn't fit his thesis, so that in the end Phil Spector becomes less an 'exploration' [of the relationship between Spector and Kenney Baden] than an act of advocacy," and he described the movie as "dishonest."

Asked in 2013 whether he thought Spector shot Clarkson, Mamet responded, "I have no idea. And see, the point of the legal system is that nobody has any idea. That's why the opposite of a guilty verdict is not 'innocent,' it's 'not guilty.' In the wisdom of the American jurisprudence system, the onus is on the state. And if the state cannot prove its case, you've got to let the guy go free, whether or not, in the back of all our minds, we think that he actually did it." Addressing his own view of the Spector case more specifically, Mamet told The Financial Times'' in 2011, "Whether he did it or not, we'll never know, but if he'd just been a regular citizen, they never would have indicted him." When Mick Brown asked him in 2013 what he thought about the case, however, Mamet replied "It's nobody's business. That's what the movie is," although he addressed his 2011 statement by adding, "I do think there's reasonable doubt. But that's very different from saying he was railroaded." When Brown asked him why he had given so little attention to the prosecution's case in his script, Mamet replied, "Well...I'm not making a film about the prosecution." Mamet also dismissed Brown's concern that the film would mislead many viewers, who would assume it was an accurate depiction of history and would never bother to look up the facts of the case, saying, "I'm entitled under the First Amendment to write whatever the hell I want, and if someone's fool enough to put it on television that's their problem. But the right is moot if there's going to be some overriding authority that at some point says, 'Aha! But what about x, y and z?' Well that's a problem between me and God, you know...I don't give a shit about the facts."

Awards and nominations
The film was nominated for eleven Primetime Emmy Awards, including Outstanding Miniseries or Movie, Outstanding Lead Actor in a Miniseries or Movie for Al Pacino, Outstanding Lead Actress in a Miniseries or a Movie for Helen Mirren, and Outstanding Directing and Writing for a Miniseries or Movie for David Mamet.

The film has also been nominated for two Golden Globe Awards for Best Actor – Miniseries or Television Film (Pacino) and Best Actress – Miniseries or Television Film (Mirren).

The film has also been nominated for two Screen Actors Guild Awards for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Miniseries or Television Movie (Pacino) and Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Miniseries or Television Movie (Mirren), with Mirren winning.

Pacino was also nominated for the Critics' Choice Television Award for Best Movie/Miniseries Actor at the 3rd Critics' Choice Television Awards.

References

External links
 

2013 television films
2013 films
2013 biographical drama films
2010s legal drama films
American biographical drama films
American films
American legal drama films
Biographical television films
Drama television films
Films about music and musicians
Films directed by David Mamet
Films scored by Marcelo Zarvos
Films set in the 2000s
Films with screenplays by David Mamet
HBO Films films
HBO original programming
Phil Spector Maurice Spector (March 19, 1898 – August 1, 1968) was a Canadian politician who served as the chairman of the Communist Party of Canada and the editor of its newspaper, The Worker, for much of the 1920s. He was an early follower of Leon Trotsky after Trotsky's split from the Communist International.

Early life
Spector was born in the Russian Empire and immigrated to Canada with his family as an infant. He graduated from Queen's University and practiced labour law in Toronto when he was not employed in political positions.

First radical political activity
Spector was influenced by Trotsky's work The Bolsheviki and World Peace,, which was published in the Toronto Mail and Empire in January 1918 and by Social Democratic Party of Canada (SDP) Dominion Secretary Isaac Bainbridge, who introduced him to Lenin's writings and inspired him to join the SDP. Spector engaged with the left wing of the Canadian SDP and eventually left to form the Communist Party of Canada.

Turn to Trotskyism
In 1928, Spector, while attending the Sixth Congress of the Comintern in Moscow, accidentally got hold of a copy of Trotsky's Critique of the Draft Programme of the Communist International, which criticized the position of Nikolai Bukharin and Joseph Stalin and especially the theory of "socialism in one country". The critique was a landmark in the ideological arming of the International Left Opposition. In a truly-prophetic statement, Trotsky warned that if this position were adopted by the Communist International, it would inevitably mark the beginning of a process that would lead to the nationalist and reformist degeneration of every communist party in the world. Three generations later, his prediction, which was then ridiculed by the Stalinists, has been shown to be correct.

Stalin had no intention of circulating Trotsky's document, but by a strange accident of history, that is what happened. The Stalinist regime had not yet been consolidated, and the Communist International still had to observe certain norms of democratic centralism, which permitted the circulation of minority opinions. Although Trotsky had been expelled from the Russian party a year earlier, he took advantage of the Congress to appeal to the Communist International. In the process, he submitted his document on the Draft Programme. Through a blunder in the apparatus, it circulated Trotsky's document to the heads of the delegations, including members of the programme commission. It was then that the American James Cannon and Maurice Spector first saw and read Trotsky's document.

Cannon recalled:

"Through some slip-up in the apparatus in Moscow," recalls Cannon, "which was supposed to be airtight, this document of Trotsky came into the translating room of the Comintern. It fell into the hopper, where they had a dozen or more translators and stenographers with nothing else to do. They picked up Trotsky's document, translated it and distributed it to the heads of the delegations and the members of the programme commission. So, lo and behold, it was laid in my lap, translated into English by Maurice Spector, a delegate from the Canadian party, and in somewhat the same frame of mind as myself, was also on the programme commission and he got a copy. We let the caucus meetings and the Congress sessions go to the devil while we read and studied this document. Then I knew what I had to do, and so did he. Our doubts had been resolved. It was as clear as daylight that Marxist truth was on the side of Trotsky. We had a compact there and then - Spector and I - that we would come back home and begin a struggle under the banner of Trotskyism."

Spector was a founder of the Canadian Trotskyist movement, which was first constituted as a branch of the Communist League of America in 1929.

Workers Party of Canada 
In 1932 he co-founded, with Jack MacDonald, the Workers Party of Canada. The new organization represented the first Canadian section of the International Left Opposition.

Leaving Canada 
Spector moved to New York City in 1936 and became a leading member of the Trotskyist movement there. He presented the International Report at the founding convention of the Socialist Workers Party at the end of 1938 but dropped out of the party in 1939. (Contrary to some reports, he did not take part in the 1939-40 debate between James Cannon and Max Shachtman.)

He joined the Socialist Party of America shortly after leaving the SWP in 1939 and remained on its executive body until 1958, when he resigned after breaking with Max Shachtman and his proposal to merge Shachtman's Independent Socialist League with the Socialist Party, which Spector anticipated would move the SP to the right.

In his later, Spector became editor of a children's magazine published by the Labour Zionist movement.

Deportation threat
Canada had revoked Spector's citizenship, and in 1941, the Federal Bureau of Investigation learned that Spector was in the United States illegally and had him detained. As Canada refused to accept him, the United States began proceedings to deport him to the Soviet Union. The American Civil Liberties Union defended Spector on the grounds that as a Trotskyist, his life would be in danger if he was deported to the Soviet Union. Spector eventually regained his Canadian citizenship and was permitted to remain in New York.

Later life
Spector was employed for part of his post-Trotskyist career by the American Council for Judaism and was director of the New York trade union division of the National Committee for Labor Israel in his later years.

Spector died on August 1, 1968 at the age of 70.

Footnotes

External links
 Maurice Spector Internet Archive, Marxists Internet Archive, www.marxists.org/

1898 births
1968 deaths
Canadian Trotskyists
Leaders of the Communist Party of Canada
Members of the Communist League of America
Members of the Socialist Workers Party (United States)
Members of the Socialist Party of America
Ukrainian emigrants to Canada
Jewish Canadian politicians
Jewish socialists
Emigrants from the Russian Empire to Canada
Queen's University at Kingston alumni
Labour lawyers
Lawyers in Ontario