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Is This What I Get For Loving You

Overview

Is This What I Get For Loving You --- 1996

Of all of the never released recorded material that Phil Spector produced in his career the ill fated recording sessions with the talented vocalist Celine Dion rank as perhaps the most sought after songs in the careers of both Phil Spector and Celine Dion. In 1995 after having heard Celine Dion sing the song “River Deep Mountain High” on a late night television show, Phil Spector was moved to contact the management of Celine Dion with the offer to produce a few tracks for her next record album. An initial agreement was made between Spector, Ms. Dion’s husband and manager Rene and a representative of Sony Music who Dion was exclusively contracted to at the time. Several recording sessions did occur with pop music giants such as Brian Wilson of the Beach Boys attending these recording sessions which were held at Ocean Way Recording Studios in Hollywood, California. Unfortunately a major difference of opinion happened between Phil Spector and Dion’s management. The arguement was so heated that the contractual agreement was blown up. Since Phil Spector had paid for all of the recording expenses, all of the recordings belonged to Spector and he refused to sell them to Sony Music. This breakdown was widely covered in the entertainment news industry of the time because Spector had not had a major musical release in quite some time. During these record studio production sessions, a limited number of cassette worktapes were created to enable reviews of the various stages of the musical productions. In the mid 1990s cassette worktapes had largely replaced acetates as a review medium for record producers and other parties directly involved in the recording projects. In the last twenty five years after the recording of the now legendary 1995 Celine Dion / Phil Spector sessions only the recording a handful of cassette worktapes from the Spector / Dion recording project appear to have survived. With the passing of Phil Spector it is unknown if the recordings from the original multitrack master tapes will ever surface. The recording of “Is This What I Get For Loving You” by Celine Dion is nothing like the recording of the same song done by the Ronettes in the 1960s. The Dion version has been slowed down to perhaps a third of the 1960s Ronettes version. The slowed down tempo gives Dion a chance to reveal the emotion of the song in a way that the faster Ronettes version does not.