Hearing Is Believing: The Jack Nitzsche Story: 1962-1979 [CD]

A great overview of an artrist who helped shaped the architecture of rock and pop...his closing theme from the soundtrack of "One Flew Over The Cuckoo Nest" is an absolute masterpiece-it's beauty is surpassed only by it's emotional wonder and splendour.What a track!

The story of keyboardist Bernard Nitzsche, born in Chicago on April 22, 1937, has far less to do with personal charted singles (he only had two as Jack Nitzsche) but rather far more as a renowned producer, arranger and composer, and that story is told here as only Ace of London can do it, with their usual immaculate sound reproduction and background information.

After spending his early life on a farm in Newaygo, Michigan, and attending the Westlake College Of Music, he hit the road to sunny California at age 18 fully intending to pursue a career as a jazz saxophonist. Instead he became gainfully employed as a musical score copyist for Sonny Bono, then serving as the A&M man for Specialty Records and first displayed his writing talents when he and Bono wrote Needles and Pins, which became a minor hit in 1963 for Jackie DeShannon (but a much better one in 1964 for The Searchers, again a minor entry in 1977 for Smokie, and a decent one in 1986 for Tom Petty & Stevie Nicks). That led to his being hired by Lee Hazelwood as an arranger.

Not long after, Hazelwood and his partner, Leonard Sill, parted company with Sill opting to go work with Phil Spector on his new Wall Of Sound Concept, and he took Mitzsche with him and, for about four years, he had a major part in the arrangements of those memorable Philles hits. He also signed as a solo artist with Sinatra's Reprise label in this period, eventually recording four albums, the first of which produced the hit single The Lonely Surfer. Unlike all the other "surf" records cropping up all ovcr the place, this was an orchestration featuring strings, French horns and Bill Pittman's 6-string bass. It made it to a modest # 39 Hot 100 in August 1963 on Reprise 20,202 b/w a cover of the 1956 Mitch Miller hit Song For A Summer Night. The A-side is here but not the flip.

Several months later he had his "big band" version of the Link Wray 1958 hit Rumble top out at # 91 Hot 100 in November on Reprise 20,225 b/w Theme For A Broken Heart (again, only the A-side is here). And that would be it insofar as personal charted singles were concerned. But his work as an arranger/producer would help pay the bills for years to come, serving as the conductor/arranger for a studio group formed by Hal Blaine, The Wrecking Crew, which would, at various times, include some of what would become the biggest names in music (e.g Glen Campbell, Leon Russell, Earl Palmer, Al Casey, James Burton, Plas Johnson, Nino Tempo, Billy Strange, Carol Kaye, Bill Pittman, Barney Kessell, Tommy Tedesco, Ollie Mitchell and Don Peake, among others), which can be heard as the backing musicians for groups like The Beach Boys and The Monkees. Nitzsche also played electric piano for the group Crazy Horse.

His work on musical scores for film is legendary, among over 35 some of the most notable being One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest, The Exorcist, An Officer And A Gentleman (from which he won an Academy Award along with then wife, Buffy Sainte-Marie, for their Up Where We Belong), Stand By Me and The Jewel Of The Nile. He also produced/arranged albums for Bob Lind, The Rolling Stones, The Buffalo Springfield, Neil Young, Graham Parker and Willy De Ville.

Personal problems dogged him throughout his life, including an assault charge for beating up girlfriend Carrie Snodgress in 1979 and brandishing a loaded weapon in public in the 1990s. In 1998 he suffered a stroke and two years later died from cardiac arrest while being treated in hospital for a bronchial infection.

This is easily the best compilation of just some of his work on the market today.

Read the playlist carefully. When I say all the artists attributed to this album I got starry eyed. But when I listened, I realized most of the songs were duds.