I wonder if Phil Spector is still threatening to shoot people over the issue of stereo recording:
Despite the trend towards multi-channel recording, Spector was vehemently opposed to stereo releases, claiming that it took control of the record’s sound away from the producer in favor of the listener, resulting in an infringement of the Wall of Sound’s carefully balanced combination of sonic textures as they were meant to be heard. Brian Wilson agreed, stating: “I look at sound like a painting, you have a balance and the balance is conceived in your mind. You finish the sound, dub it down, and you’ve stamped out a picture of your balance with the mono dubdown. But in stereo, you leave that dubdown to the listener—to his speaker placement and speaker balance. It just doesn’t seem complete to me.”
A couple of Phil Spector stories...
Early on, he would use very small 3” speakers for his “Wall of Sound” mixing so the sound he mixed would sound like hearing it on a car radio.
During his time at Gold Star Studios, Phil had gophers to get him coffee, eats, etc - whatever Phil needed. One of his gophers, instead of getting paid, earned credits to use the studio for his own project.
The young gopher? Sonny Bono.