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| Cant Catch Me |
I don't buy the "tortured genius" shit one bit. Maybe for Einstein or Van Gogh, but not in this case. Spector's just a talented man who appears to have done something absolutely fucked up but also absolutely commonplace. People murder others all the time (doesn't make it right, tho!) in the suburbs, the cities, the trailer parks, and unless the murderer is a celebrity nobody talks about how talented he/she was.
I can see THAT now ... "Oh, it was Fritz, the man down the street, the electrician? Well, come to think about it, he always was such a genius at wiring an' figuring out those electricity things that I knew it was only a matter of time til he flipped out and went on a killin' spree so I guess I can't say I'm surprised it was him ... " |
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| stonedinaustralia |
CCM i'm not sure that entirely understand your point but i don't think anyone, well at least i wasn't, was trying to suggest that spector's genius (or talent if you'd rather and i agree, "genius" is an overworked term and now, upon reflection, my use of the word in my earlier post was, perhaps, a little hyperbolic) excuses or even explains what he's alleged to have done
as jb pointed out, his treatment of ronnie (spector)was diabolical and there are other instances of similiar weirdness throughout his career
from what i know of his history spector's always been a bit of a neurotic and (certainly in the early part of his career)he saw his art as his "revenge" against those he percieved as being out to get him or to have wronged him at some stage (and he's not the first on that score nor will he be the last)
i'll still stand by my assertion that weird behaviour in those with extreme talents is not unusual - 'tho i agree talented people don't have a mortgage on that - as you say crazy shit goes down everywhere everyday
i'd say it's not his talent/genius that fucked him up but rather the success he achieved with those talents - anyone who becomes a millionaire at age 21 is a prime candidate for becoming a self obsessed ego maniac used to having eveything his/her own way and getting away with things that your "man down the street" would have absolutely no chance of doing - esp. if he/she's got the psychological predisposition to that sort of thing anyway - but as this story shows even those who live in rarefied atmospheres can still push the outside of the envelope a bit too far and not even being phil spector means you can get away with murder (if that is what he did -at this stage he's still innocent)
still if he hadn't achieved the success he did who's to say he wouldn't have pulled the same kind of stunts he has supposed to have done over the years - 'tho i suspect his fame and money have provided many a shield and get out of jail free card for things that would have brought him unstuck many years ago if he didn't have them
and having said all of that nothing that spector does as a man is going to detract from the fact that much of his work is "genius" - i guess it just comes back to the notion of not confusing the artist with his/her art
unfortunately, to me the news comes as no surprise at all -and i'll be interested to know what the facts of the matter are
[Edited by stonedinaustralia] |
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| telecaster |
http://www.livingdollproductions.com/
Kinda of morbid but here is the victims website |
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| Cant Catch Me |
Completely understood, SIA, and I didn't mean to take issue with you or your earlier post. You're right on in explaining further that fame can be wrongly used to explain or excuse unacceptable behavior, which is what I intended to attack.
I say it's the fame, or money and insulation from the ordinary, etc., that leads to famous people going off the deep end, more so than their talent. After all, countless people with extraordinary talents are able to express their genius without being homicidal, while other people with very ordinary or below-ordinary talents go psycho all the time. |
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| Prodigal Son |
These are some very candid points. The guy was alrteady being heralded as a pop "genius" and a millionare at 21. All the things in his life just piled on to make him truly fucked up. His paranoia at people trying to get him out of the biz is notorious. Interesting Rolling Stone article on him from it's Illustrated History of R&R book. They talk about how he once went by in his limo while in San Fransisco. When he stopped at a park, there was some hippie picnic going on with a bunch of musicians includind everyone's favourite tye-dye hippie John Sebastien. Sebestien noticed Spector and as Phil went back into his limo he starting praising, "Hey Phil Spector. Man, you're a genius! Hey everyone, this cat is Phil Spector!" All the stoned hippies came over and wanted to hear him preach or something stupid and talked about how he could help them change the world. The guy got so freaked out he went back in his car and told the interviewer, "Oh my god, those things! What the fuck do they think they're doing" while practically hyperventilating. "They touched me. Dear God, that was terrible." The guy was so egotistic he got all creeped out by his fans and people who loved his work. Though they were scary hippies, he was so weirded out by the fact that hippie people loved him so much and wanted to know him that he just told them all to get the fuck away and back off (literally). Another thing that might've led to his inner eccentricities was the fact his father committed suicide when he was just 9. That is a haunting artifact for anyone's past. |
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