Saturday, February 14, 2015

Unreleased Phil Spector Acetate: Lucy in London (1966)




Unreleased Phil Spector Acetate: Lucy in London (1966)

To feature on the Lucille Ball London special, it appears that Phil Spector was commissioned to provide the main title theme. The song was finally aired in 1966 along with clips of Lucille going All Mod and Fab in and around London…”It was Lucy with The Dave Clark Five…Lucy with a mini skirt on” You can hear and see the full version here

  

To my knowledge, it was never released in its own right. Lucy in London is a delightful kitsch yet invigorating uptempo melodic winner. Featuring Phil Spector on lead vocals, the full version has that full Gold Star glistening treatment along with a near Pet Sounds dream sequence middle bit.

Now about this acetate. I believe this version is completely unheard up to now. I bought it thinking it would be the full version, but no. This is something completely different. It appears to be the original demo sung by Phil Spector with piano, drums and a cute celeste part. This version already features the full arrangement ideas but without the orchestration and is 4:20 long. I’m not sure if it’s a Gold Star recording or not and who is playing with Phil. More info is most welcome.

For obvious reasons I am not featuring the full version, but here is an edit


2 comments:

Anthony Reichardt said...

The finished recording was cut on a Gold Star acetate as well.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RsmK34oZBQ8

Anthony Reichardt

Robin Wills said...

Thanks. I must admit when I got the acetate that it was a demo and not the glorious full version