GOIN’ MONO-A-MONO WITH STEREO

Continuing with the theme of the previous post, we’re going to look again at the Wall of Sound (WOS) phenom. As with any new musical discovery, it really started to catch on. In the same era, WOS-style numbers can be heard from the Beach Boys (God Only Knows, Wouldn’t It Be Nice, Pet Sounds), some of the hits of Dusty Springfield – called the “Anglicized Wall of Sound” (You Don’t Have To Say You Love Me) and The Walker Brothers (The Sun Ain’t Gonna Shine Any More), Harry Nilsson (Everybody’s Talkin) and even some early ABBA hits, (Waterloo, Dancing Queen)! And the list doesn’t end there. It’s obvious the Baby Boomers artist and producers of the 60s weren’t the only ones who understand the grandeur, the import of this sound. Wikipedia has a whole article on the WOS, but we'll just sample the following:

Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band's landmark 1975 Born to Run album — which includes more than thirty guitar tracks — is perhaps the most extensive and faithful updating of Spector's early-60s "Wall of Sound" production style.

The list goes on, but we’ll stop here so we can have ourselves a retro-listen to a couple of these vintage greats. Just listen to the Wall!!

The Beach Boys - God Only Knows, from the album Pet Sounds


The Walker Brothers, The Sun Ain't Gonna Shine Any More






Photo from Wikimedia Commons
BB video by YT member Alixx2
Walker Bro video by YT member garageband66