Philles Records

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Philles Records
Parent companyEMI Music Publishing (Sony Music Publishing)
Founded1961
FounderPhil Spector, Lester Sill
Defunct1969
StatusDefunct
Distributor(s)Legacy Recordings
GenrePop, R&B, Blue-eyed soul
Country of originUnited States
LocationLos Angeles, California

Philles Records was an American record label formed in 1961 by Phil Spector and Lester Sill, the label taking its name from a hybrid of their first names. Initially, the label was distributed by Jamie/Guyden in Philadelphia.[a] In 1962, Spector purchased Sill's stock to become sole owner at 21 years of age, America's youngest label chief at the time.

Founding and background[edit]

The label issued 12 albums over the course of its existence, but with the exception of A Christmas Gift for You, the focus was always on the single. However, Philles X-125 is a reissue of Philles 119, and X-125 exists with two different B-side tracks, as "Winter Wonderland" (1964) and "Winter Blues" (1965) were substituted for the original flipside, "Harry and Milt Meet Hal B" (1963). "Harry and Milt" and many other flipsides were deliberately undistinguished instrumentals, which were intended to focus attention on the A-sides.[1] These B-sides were originally credited to the A-side artists, but later pieces were credited to the Phil Spector Group. Also, most discographies, including the one in the Back to Mono booklet, list two items with catalogue number Philles 123. "Stumble And Fall" by Darlene Love was released and then withdrawn (both stock and promos exist) in August 1964 (according to Billboard magazine). Its number was replaced with "Walking in the Rain" by The Ronettes, which came out that October. Philles 111 also has two B-sides: "My Heart Beat a Little Bit Faster" and "Playing for Keeps." The last few singles (134, 135, and 136) received much less airplay than their predecessors. Although singles 134 and 135 were "charted" by Billboard, single 136 did not—although both promo and regular stock copies exist. The promotion-only single "(Let's Dance) The Screw" by The Crystals is known only in the form of a handful of promotional copies and one stock copy.

After the chart failures of the last few singles, Phil Spector stopped producing and releasing new records on Philles. In the summer of 1966, he signed Bob Crewe and Jeff Barry to produce The Ronettes and Ike & Tina Turner.[2][3] The label effectively ceased operations in 1967, and Spector did not return to production work for another two years.[4][5] There was one more Philles record, The Phil Spector Spectacular. It was released only to radio stations in 1972, along with a letter from Phil.[6] The Philles catalog is now administered by Sony Music Publishing, which acquired the catalogue when it bought EMI Music Publishing, with Sony Music's Legacy Recordings imprint handling distribution rights for the Philles catalog through a new licensing deal which was finalized in September 2009.[7] Prior to this deal, the Philles reissues were handled by ABKCO Records.

Production[edit]

The singles were produced by Spector, with five and one half exceptions: Philles 101, 103, and 104 were produced by Lester Sill prior to his departure from the company; Philles 133 by Jeff Barry; Philles 134 by Bob Crewe; and the B-side of Philles 136 was produced by Ike Turner. For years, The Righteous Brothers' Bill Medley has insisted that he produced "Unchained Melody" (Philles 129) but that has never been confirmed: as an album track for Just Once in My Life, Spector delegated production of such tracks to Medley. As the B-side to "Hung On You", early presses did not specify its producer on the label – Spector usually produced throwaway instrumentals on the B-side to focus on the A-side. When the track boomed in popularity, Spector eventually opted to claim credit in later presses.

Of the non-Spector productions, only "I Can Hear Music" charted and it rose no higher than 100th place. Every one of Spector's productions made the charts in the U.S., with the exceptions of Philles 136, one of the two Philles 123's, the withdrawn Philles 105, and the holiday single both times. Eighteen Philles records made the Top 40, the label topping the charts twice with Philles 106 in 1962, and again with Philles 124 in 1965.

Notable artists[edit]

Singles discography[edit]

Catalogue Release Date Hot 100

Chart Peak

Song Title Writer(s) Artist Time
Philles 100 10/61 #20 There's No Other (Like My Baby) Phil Spector and Leroy Bates The Crystals 2:31
Philles 101 3/62 Here I Stand Tony Mottola Joel Scott
Philles 102 3/62 #13 Uptown Cynthia Weil and Barry Mann The Crystals 2:19
Philles 103 /62 Malagueña Ernesto Lecuona Ali Hassan
Philles 104 6/62 Lt. Colonel Bogey's Parade Lester Sill Steve Douglas and His Merry Men
Philles 105 7/62 withdrawn He Hit Me (It Felt Like A Kiss) Gerry Goffin and Carole King The Crystals 2:32
Philles 106 9/62 #1 He's A Rebel Gene Pitney The Crystals 2:25
Philles 107 10/62 #8 Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah Ray Gilbert and Allie Wrubel Bob B. Soxx & the Blue Jeans 2:49
Philles 108 1/63 #43 Puddin' N' Tain Gary Pipkin, Alonzo Willis, Brice Coefield The Alley Cats 2:48
Philles 109 12/62 #11 He's Sure the Boy I Love Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil The Crystals 2:44
Philles 110 1/63 #38 Why Do Lovers Break Each Others Hearts Ellie Greenwich, Tony Powers, Phil Spector Bob B. Soxx & the Blue Jeans 2:48
Philles 111 Early 63 special use only (Let's Dance) The Screw, Part 1 Spector The Crystals
Philles 111 4/63 #39 (Today I Met) The Boy I'm Gonna Marry Greenwich, Powers, Spector Darlene Love 2:48
Philles 112 4/63 #3 Da Doo Ron Ron Ellie Greenwich, Jeff Barry, Phil Spector The Crystals 2:17
Philles 113 5/63 #63 Not Too Young to Get Married Greenwich, Barry, Spector Bob B. Soxx & the Blue Jeans 2:27
Philles 114 7/63 #26 Wait ‘til My Bobby Gets Home Greenwich, Barry, Spector Darlene Love 2:23
Philles 115 8/63 #6 Then He Kissed Me Greenwich, Barry, Spector The Crystals 2:37
Philles 116 8/63 #2 Be My Baby Greenwich, Barry, Spector The Ronettes 2:40
Philles 117 10/63 #53 A Fine Fine Boy Greenwich, Barry, Spector Darlene Love 2:46
Philles 118 12/63 #24 Baby, I Love You Greenwich, Barry, Spector The Ronettes 2:50
Philles 119 11/63 Christmas (Baby Please Come Home) Greenwich, Barry, Spector Darlene Love 2:45
Philles 119x 1/64 #92 Little Boy Greenwich, Barry, Spector The Crystals 2:59
Philles 120 4/64 #39 The Best Part of Breakin' Up Vini Poncia, Pete Andreoli, Phil Spector The Ronettes 3:02
Philles 121 6/64 #34 Do I Love You? Poncia, Andreoli, Spector The Ronettes 2:50
Philles 122 7/64 #98 All Grown Up Greenwich, Barry, Spector The Crystals 2:49
Philles 123 8/64 withdrawn Stumble And Fall Poncia, Andreoli, Spector Darlene Love 2:22
Philles 123 10/17/64 #23 Walking in the Rain Weil, Mann, Spector The Ronettes 3:16
Philles 124 11/64 #1 You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin' Weil, Mann, Spector The Righteous Brothers 3:46
Philles X-125 12/64 Christmas (Baby Please Come Home) Greenwich, Barry, Spector Darlene Love 2:45
Philles 126 2/65 #52 Born to Be Together Weil, Mann, Spector The Ronettes 2:57
Philles 127 4/65 #9 Just Once in My Life Goffin, King, Spector The Righteous Brothers 3:56
Philles 128 5/65 #75 Is This What I Get for Loving You? Goffin, King, Spector The Ronettes 3:21
Philles 129 7/65 #4 Unchained Melody (originally B side to "Hung On You") Hy Zaret and Alex North / "Hung on You" by Gerry Goffin, Carole King and Phil Spector The Righteous Brothers 3:37
Philles 130 11/65 #5 Ebb Tide Carl Sigman and Robert Maxwell The Righteous Brothers 2:48
Philles 131 5/66 #88 River Deep – Mountain High Greenwich, Barry, Spector Ike and Tina Turner 3:40
Philles 132 10/66 #118 White Cliffs of Dover Walter Kent and Nat Burton The Righteous Brothers 2:20
Philles 133 10/66 #100 I Can Hear Music Greenwich, Barry, Spector The Ronettes 3:00
Philles 134 10/66 Two to Tango Dick Manning, Al Hoffman Ike and Tina Turner 2:45
Philles 135 5/67 #114 I'll Never Need More Than This Greenwich, Barry, Spector Ike and Tina Turner 3:27
Philles 136 8/67 A Love Like Yours (Don't Come Knockin' Everyday) Eddie Holland, Lamont Dozier, Brian Holland Ike and Tina Turner 2:57

Albums discography[edit]

Catalogue Release Date Chart Peak Album Title Artist Time
PHLP-4000 8/62 Twist Uptown The Crystals
PHLP-4001 2/63 #131 He's a Rebel The Crystals
PHLP-4002 2/63 Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah Bob B. Soxx & the Blue Jeans
PHLP-4003 7/63 Sing the Greatest Hits, Vol. I The Crystals
PHLP-4004 10/63 Philles Records Present Today's Hits Various Artists
PHLP-4005 11/22/63 #13 A Christmas Gift for You Various Artists 34:12
PHLP-4006 11/64 #96 Presenting the Fabulous Ronettes featuring Veronica The Ronettes
PHLP-4007 1/65 #4 You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin' The Righteous Brothers
PHLP-4008 6/65 #9 Just Once in My Life The Righteous Brothers
PHLP-4009 12/65 #16 Back to Back The Righteous Brothers
PHLP-4010 1/66 Lenny Bruce Is Out Again Lenny Bruce
PHLP-4011[b] 9/66 unissued River Deep - Mountain High Ike and Tina Turner
PHLP-100 1972 DJ only The Phil Spector Spectacular Various Artists

Albums 4007, 4008, and 4009 were issued simultaneously in stereo with an ST- prefix. The Monarch job number for ST-4006 indicates that the stereo release of this album came in July 1966. Album 4000 was released in mono only in 1962. It was released through the Capitol Record Club in both mono and rechanneled stereo. Based on the catalog number of the record club issue, that release was in late 1966.

See also[edit]

Notes[edit]

  1. ^ Jamie labels used an unusual and distinctive matrix number system, consisting of a code representing the artist followed by the number of the artist's recording. For example "TCY" was short for "The Crystals" on Philles. "DE" was short for "Duane Eddy" on Jamie. Sometimes Philles matrix numbers had a P or PH prefix.
  2. ^ Only a few copies of the album were pressed, and covers never made, before it was canceled by Philles. This LP was released with slightly different content on A&M Records in 1969. Only a few copies of LP-4011 were pressed, and covers never printed, before it was canceled by Philles. By popular demand, Phil Spector released the album in the United Kingdom, with liner notes written by Decca's promotion man, Tony Hall. Hall included a quote from Spector reading, "We can only assume that England is more appreciative of talent and exciting music than the U.S.."

References[edit]

  1. ^ "These B-sides were created to ensure that the focus would be 100 percent top deck." Richard Williams, Phil Spector: Out of His Head, 2009 (unnumbered page).
  2. ^ "Spector Sets Prod. Deals With Jeff Barry & Bob Crewe" (PDF). Cash Box: 7, 48. August 13, 1966.
  3. ^ "Barry, Crewe Ink" (PDF). Record World: 4. August 6, 1966.
  4. ^ Billboard, March 11, 1967, p. 29 -- attributing Spector's leaving the business to the failure of "River Deep, Mountain High"
  5. ^ For Phil's return on A&M, see Billboard, March 11, 1969, p. 30, announcing two new singles.
  6. ^ "VARIOUS ARTISTS - The Phil Spector Spectacular".
  7. ^ "Sony Music Entertainment and EMI Music Publishing Strike Historic New Licensing Deal To... - NEW YORK, Sept. 30 /PRNewswire/". Prnewswire.com. Retrieved 2014-08-01.