Famed music producer Phil Spector, who was convicted of murder, has died at 81 - CBS News

Phil Spector, the eccentric and revolutionary music producer who transformed rock music with his "Wall of Sound" method and who later was convicted of murder, has died.

Clarkson, star of "Barbarian Queen" and other B-movies, was found shot to death in the foyer of Spector's mansion in the hills overlooking Alhambra, a modest suburban town on the edge of Los Angeles.

Until the actress' death, which Spector maintained was an "accidental suicide," few residents even knew the mansion belonged to the reclusive producer, who spent his remaining years in a prison hospital east of Stockton.

When "River Deep-Mountain High," an aptly-named 1966 release that featured Tina Turner, failed to catch on, Spector shut down his record label and withdrew from the business for three years.

Although Lennon praised Spector's work, bandmate Paul McCartney was enraged, especially when Spector added strings and a choir to McCartney's "The Long and Winding Road." Years later, McCartney would oversee a remastered "Let it Be," removing Spector's contributions.

A documentary of the making of Lennon's 1971 "Imagine" album showed the ex-Beatle clearly in charge, prodding Spector over a backing vocal, a line none of Spector's early artists would have dared cross.

Spector worked on George Harrison's acclaimed post-Beatles triple album, "All Things Must Pass," co-produced Lennon's "Imagine," and the less successful "Some Time in New York City," which included Spector's picture over a caption that read, "To Know Him is to Love Him.".

He was imperious, temperamental and dangerous, remembered bitterly by Darlene Love, Ronnie Spector and others who worked with him.

According to witnesses she had agreed, somewhat reluctantly, to accompany him home from the Sunset Strip's House of Blues in West Hollywood, where she worked Shortly after their arrival in Alhambra in the pre-dawn hours of February 3, 2003, a chauffeur reported Spector came out of the house holding a gun, blood on his hands, and told him, "I think I killed somebody.".

Bernard Spector, his father, was an ironworker.

In 1947, Spector's father committed suicide because of family indebtedness, an event that would shape his son's life in many ways.

Four years later, Spector's mother moved the family to Los Angeles, where Phil attended Fairfax High School, located in a largely Jewish neighborhood on the edge of Hollywood.

At Fairfax, Spector performed in talent shows and formed a group called the Teddy Bears with friends.

He began working with star composers Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller, who had met at Fairfax High a few years before Spector arrived.

As his marriages deteriorated, recording artists also began to quit working with Spector and musical styles passed him by.

A Spector box set retrospective was called "Back to Mono.".

He would emerge occasionally to work on special projects, including Leonard Cohen's album, "Death of a Ladies' Man" and The Ramones' "End of the Century." Both were marred by reports of Spector's instability

In 1973, Lennon worked on an album of rock 'n roll oldies with Spector, only to have Spector disappear with the tapes

In 1982 Spector married Janis Lynn Zavala and the couple had twins, Nicole and Phillip Jr

Six months before his first murder trial began, Spector married Rachelle Short, a 26-year-old singer and actress who accompanied him to court every day