|
Donald's Encyclopedia of Popular MusicA B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y ZNITZSCHE, Jack(b Bernard Nitzsche, 22 April 1937, Chicago; d 1 September 2000) Producer, songwriter, arranger. Went to high school in Michigan, music college in Hollywood; began copying music, writing lead sheets etc '57; worked with Sonny Bono at Specialty, with Original Sound label '59 (author credit on instrumental hit 'Bongo Bongo Bongo' '60 by Preston Epps), worked with Lee Hazlewood, then was recommended to Phil Spector when Spector relocated to the West Coast from NYC. He collaborated with Spector on most of his biggest hits from no. 1 hit 'He's A Rebel' '63 until the inexplicable failure in USA of 'River Deep, Mountain High' '66. He also released his own instrumental 'The Lonely Surfer' on Reprise (briefly in top 40 '63), an album of the same title and two other obscure solo LPs. Other early credits included co-writing the Searchers' hit 'Needles And Pins' with Bono, also work with Doris Day, Terry Melcher, Frankie Laine, the Monkees, Tim Buckley, Bobby Darin, Marianne Faithfull, mainly as an arranger; he produced the Jackie De Shannon LP Me About You '68 on Liberty and Ron Nagle's Bad Rice '70 on WB. He played piano with the Rolling Stones c.1968 and wrote some arrangements for them; he had arranged Neil Young's epic 'Expecting To Fly' for Buffalo Springfield, later played piano in Young's backing group Crazy Horse, wrote string arrangements on Young's Harvest LP and toured with them once, his only work on the road. He worked on the Mick Jagger film Performance '70 with Randy Newman (including co-writing 'Gone Dead Train'). The album St Giles Cripplegate on Warner/Reprise '72 had six compositions, numbered rather than titled, played by the London Symphony Orchestra (reissued '81 on UK indie label Initial). He continued to work in films including The Exorcist '73, One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest '75 (score nominated for an Oscar), Blue Collar '78 (co-wrote 'Hard Workin' Man' with Cooder and Paul Shrader, performed by Captain Beefheart in the soundtrack), several more. More album production work included three early LPs by Mink De Ville including their highly praised debut, and the Graham Parker LP Squeezing Out Sparks '79. The versatile backroom boy carried on with film music: An Officer And A Gentleman '82, The Jewel Of The Nile '85, Mermaids '90, many more. |