Phil Spector cohort, Larry Levine, RIP

One of the most important people in rock 'n' roll history has joined the choir invisible. Engineer Larry Levine has died at the ripe ol' age of 80. Who is Larry Levine? Lemme tell you.

Larry is the man responsible for creating the ‘Wall Of Sound’ technique with producer Phil Spector.

Levine became Spector’s longtime recording engineer after the pair worked together on The Crystals’ ‘He’s A Rebel’, and they went on to work together on such classics as ‘Da Doo Ron Ron’, 'Be My Baby', ‘You've Lost that Lovin' Feeling’ and ‘River Deep, Mountain High’. And that's only the tip of the iceberg ladies and gents.

In addition to his fine work with Spector, Levine worked with just about anyone who was anyone... The Beach Boys, Sonny & Cher, Herb Alpert, The Carpenters, Eddie Cochran, Dr John, Wings...

Larry was born in New York on May 8, 1928 but grew up in LA, where he learned how to be a sound engineer at Gold Star Recording Studios, owned by his cousin Stan Ross. Ross told the Los Angeles Times that Levine was responsible for much of Spector’s success saying: "He made Phil Spector a genius by applying the simple logic of using echo chamber. Phil had a tendency of overbooking the room, and there were more musicians than there should have been in the studio. It gave it dimension. It sounded like it was a football field."

In a recent interview with The Associated Press, Levine recalled meeting Spector in the '60s and beginning a collaboration that lasted for many years. "He said to me he had the sound in his head that he wanted to create," said Levine, and the engineer set out to build the lush sound that involved dozens of musicians and instruments as well as echo chambers. If heaven exists, Levine's probably got the angels and makin' 'em sound a whole load more holy than before. Hats off.

Levine suffered from emphysema before his death. He is survived by his wife Lyn, sons, Rick, Rob and Michael, four grandchildren and a sister, Joyce Black.

Comments

[Mark]

The picture appears to be of drummer Hal Blaine, not Larry Levine.