The 69-year-old record producer, serving at least 19 years for the murder of actress Lana Clarkson, arrived Monday at the California Substance Abuse Treatment Facility and State Prison in Corcoran, corrections officials said. A prison spokesman said Spector was housed in a medium-security 'special needs' unit designed for inmates who need extra protection. Those offenders include former gang members, those whose crimes -- such as sexual assault -- make them targets and high-profile inmates. 'Mr. Spector is high notoriety,' the spokesman, Stephen Smith, said. Other famous inmates who have passed through the prison include Robert Downey Jr. and 'Prison Break' actor Lane Garrison. Spector will be permitted to have musical instruments in his cell, and inmates in his unit often sing and play music together, Smith said. 'The facility he is on now, there are a bunch of inmates that have instruments and they all play together on the exercise yard,' Smith said. The prison is also a frequent assignment for elderly and inmates and those in wheelchairs because it is on flat land and has handicapped-accessible areas, Smith said. Spector has health problems, including precancerous tumors in his throat and a tremor that he has said at least one doctor suspected was Parkinson's disease. Spector was previously held in the Los Angeles County jail and then an intake center in Kern County, where corrections officials evaluated him and assigned him to the Corcoran facility. Spector's wife, Rachelle, welcomed the transfer and said it would be an improvement from the Kern County prison where, she said, she was unable to visit her husband or speak to him by phone. 'Anywhere is better than that place,' she said. The prison, like the entire state system, is seriously overcrowded. Built to accommodate 3,424 inmates, the prison houses 7,628. 