The Righteous Brothers Left Phil Spector — Then Their First Single Without Him Went to No. 1
In 1966, The Righteous Brothers faced a dangerous question.
Could they still make hits without Phil Spector?
Bill Medley and Bobby Hatfield had already become stars with records such as “You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feelin’,” “Unchained Melody,” and “Ebb Tide.”
Much of that success had been tied to Spector’s enormous production style.
His famous “Wall of Sound” had helped make the duo’s records feel dramatic, emotional, and larger than life.
Then the partnership ended.
The Righteous Brothers left Spector’s Philles Records and moved to Verve.
For many artists, losing a producer so closely associated with their sound could have been disastrous.
Instead, Bill Medley decided to prove that the group had learned enough to stand on its own.
He remembered an unfinished song written by Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil.
The songwriters had originally started “(You’re My) Soul and Inspiration” after the success of “You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feelin’.”
Then they stopped.
They worried it sounded too much like the earlier hit.
Medley did not forget it.
After leaving Spector, he asked Mann and Weil to finish the song.
They did.
Then Medley took over as producer.
His goal was clear.
He wanted to create the same kind of sweeping emotional power audiences already associated with The Righteous Brothers.
Strings.
Reverb.
Backing voices.
A huge arrangement surrounding Medley’s deep baritone and Hatfield’s soaring tenor.
Even arranger Jack Nitzsche, who had worked on many Spector productions, was involved.
The result sounded familiar.
But this time, Phil Spector was not behind the control room.
Bill Medley was.
Released in February 1966, “(You’re My) Soul and Inspiration” quickly became a massive hit.
On April 9, it reached No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100.
It stayed there for three weeks.
Remarkably, that was longer than “You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feelin’” had spent at the top.
The timing made the success even more important.
The Righteous Brothers had just walked away from the producer who had helped define their most famous sound.
Their first major single without him could easily have exposed how dependent they had been on Spector.
Instead, it did the opposite.
It proved that Bill Medley understood the formula well enough to recreate the scale and emotion himself.
The songwriters had once worried “Soul and Inspiration” was too similar to “Lovin’ Feelin’.”
The public did not seem to mind.
They sent it straight to No. 1.
For The Righteous Brothers, the record became more than another hit.
It was proof that their sound could survive a major change behind the scenes.
Phil Spector had helped build the blueprint.
Then Bill Medley took that blueprint into a new studio, produced the record himself, and delivered another chart-topper.
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Sometimes leaving the person who helped create your success can end a career.
For The Righteous Brothers, it produced another No. 1.
