Jack Nitzsche | |
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| Background information | |
| Born | Bernard Alfred Nitzsche (1937-04-22)April 22, 1937 Chicago, Illinois, U.S. |
| Died | August 25, 2000(2000-08-25) (aged 63) Los Angeles, California, U.S. |
| Genres | |
| Occupations | |
| Instruments | |
| Years active | 1955–1998 |
Spouses | |
Bernard Alfred "Jack"Nitzsche (/ˈniːtʃi/NEECH-ee;[3] April 22, 1937 – August 25, 2000) was an American musician, arranger, songwriter, composer, and record producer.[4] He came to prominence in the early 1960s as the right-hand-man of producerPhil Spector, and went on to work withthe Rolling Stones,Neil Young, and others. He worked extensively in film scores for the filmsPerformance,The Exorcist andOne Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. In 1983, he won theAcademy Award for Best Original Song for co-writing "Up Where We Belong" withBuffy Sainte-Marie.
Nitzsche was born in Chicago[4] and raised on a farm inNewaygo, Michigan, the son of German immigrants. He moved to Los Angeles in 1955 with ambitions of becoming a jazz saxophonist.[5] He was hired bySonny Bono, who was at the time anA&R executive at Specialty Records, as amusic copyist. While there, Nitzsche wrote a novelty hit titled "Bongo Bongo Bongo".[6] With Bono, Nitzsche wrote the song "Needles and Pins" forJackie DeShannon, later recorded bythe Searchers.[4] His instrumental composition "The Lonely Surfer"[4] entered theCash Box top 100 on August 3, 1963, and reached No. 37.[7]
He became arranger and conductor for producerPhil Spector,[4] and orchestrated theWall of Sound for almost all Spector's hits, perhaps best exemplified by "River Deep, Mountain High"[8] byIke and Tina Turner. Nitzsche worked withEarl Palmer,Leon Russell,Roy Caton,Glen Campbell,Carol Kaye andHal Blaine inThe Wrecking Crew, the backing band for many pop acts such asthe Beach Boys andthe Monkees. Nitzsche arranged thetitle song ofDoris Day's filmMove Over, Darling, which was a successful single on the pop charts of the time.[9]
While organizing the music for theT.A.M.I. Show television special in 1964, he metthe Rolling Stones and went on to play keyboards on their albumsThe Rolling Stones, Now! (The Rolling Stones No. 2 in the UK),Out of Our Heads,Aftermath andBetween the Buttons as well as on their hit singles "Paint It, Black" and "Let's Spend the Night Together"; he also wrote the choral arrangements for "You Can't Always Get What You Want".[8] In 1968 he introduced the band to slide guitaristRy Cooder, a seminal influence on the band's 1969–1973 style.
On several Rolling Stones records, he was credited as player of the "Nitzsche-phone". In an obituary onGadfly Online, former Rolling Stones managerAndrew Loog Oldham explained the credit:
I made that up for the credits on those Stones albums—it was just a regular piano (or maybe an organ) mic'd differently. It was all part of this package that was created around the Stones. People believed it existed. The idea was meant to be: "My god, they've had to invent new instruments to capture this new sound they hear in their brains." And they were inventing fresh sounds with old toys—therefore, it deserved to be highlighted—it was the read-up of creation, of imagination—getting credit for a job well done.[10]
He collaborated withNeil Young,[8] beginning with producing "Expecting to Fly" byBuffalo Springfield.[4] In 1968, Nitzsche and Cooder co-produced Young'seponymous solo debut withDavid Briggs.[4] As he was moving from baroque to folk and rock, Young hired Nitzsche forthe Stray Gators, the session musicians behind Young onHarvest (1972) andTime Fades Away (1973).[4]
WithCrazy Horse in early 1970, Nitzsche played electric piano and, on the studio recording of "When You Dance, I Can Really Love", acoustic piano. Despite frequent clashes withBilly Talbot andRalph Molina, Nitzsche remained with the band after Young left in 1970. Nitzsche co-produced the band's 1971self-titled debut album and sang lead vocal on "Crow Jane Lady". He left Crazy Horse after the album's commercial failure.
While remaining prolific throughout the 1970s, he began to suffer from depression and problems connected to substance abuse. His relationship with Young began to deteriorate during the 1973 support tour forHarvest that yieldedTime Fades Away. During rehearsals, drummerKenny Buttrey demanded a salary of $100,000 to compensate for lost session work, leading Nitzsche (with support from bassistTim Drummond) to prevail upon Young to extend this salary to the other band members. Although Young reluctantly agreed, Nitzsche thought Young never got over it. Nitzsche frequently spewed obscenities into his vocal mike (leading Young's sound engineers to disconnect it) and often quarreled withDavid Crosby, who joined the tour's final dates to assist with vocal harmonies. After he publicly castigated Young in a 1974 interview, the two men became estranged for several years and collaborated only sporadically.[11] Later that year, he was dropped from theReprise roster after recording a song criticizing executiveMo Ostin. This period culminated in his arrest for allegedly breaking into the home of and then raping ex-girlfriendCarrie Snodgress, formerly Young's companion, with a gun barrel on June 29, 1979. Snodgress was treated at the hospital for a bone fracture, cuts and bruises and had 18 stitches. The charge of rape by instrumentation (which carries a five-year sentence) was dismissed.[12]
In 1979, Nitzsche producedGraham Parker's albumSqueezing Out Sparks. Nitzsche produced threeMink DeVille albums beginning in the late 1970s:Cabretta (1977),Return to Magenta (1978) andCoup de Grâce (1981). Nitzsche said DeVille was the best singer he had ever worked with.[13]
Nitzsche began to concentrate more on film music rather than pop music in the mid-1970s, becoming one of the more prolific film orchestrators in Hollywood during the period. In 1983, he received the Academy Award for Best Song for co-writing "Up Where We Belong" (from the 1982 filmAn Officer and a Gentleman)[5] withWill Jennings andBuffy Sainte-Marie. Nitzsche had also worked on film scores throughout his career, such as his contributions to the Monkees movieHead, the theme music fromVillage of the Giants (recycling an earlier single, "The Last Race") and the soundtracks forPerformance (1970),The Exorcist (1973),[8]One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975),[8][14]Hardcore (1979),The Razor's Edge (1984) andStarman (also 1984). He was nominated for theAcademy Award for Best Original Score and a Grammy for his contributions toOne Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, his first of many studio projects withScott Mathews.[14][15]
In the mid-1990s, an inebriated Nitzsche was seen being arrested in Hollywood in an episode of the television showCops after brandishing a gun at some youths who had stolen his hat.[citation needed] Attempting to explain himself to the arresting officers, he is heard exclaiming that he was an Academy Award winner. In 1997, he expressed interest in producing a comeback album forLink Wray, although this never materialized due to their mutually declining health.[citation needed]
In 2000, Nitzsche planned to work withMercury Rev onAll Is Dream. Nitzsche intended to produce and orchestrate the record, having praised the band's 1998 albumDeserter's Songs, but he died before pre-production.[16]
Nitzsche met his first wife, singer Gracia Ann May, while he was working for Capitol Records, who would later jointhe Blossoms.[5] His second wife wasBuffy Sainte-Marie, with whom he co-wrote the Academy Award winning song for 1982, "Up Where We Belong".[17][6] Married on March 19, 1982; they were married for seven years.
He also had a relationship with actressCarrie Snodgress,[6] who was previously in a relationship with Neil Young. In 1979, Nitzsche was charged with threatening to kill her after he barged into her home and beat her with a handgun. He pleaded guilty to threatening her, was fined, and placed on three years' probation.[18][19]
Nitzsche suffered a stroke in 1998 which ended his career. He died in Hollywood'sQueen of Angels – Hollywood Presbyterian Medical Center in 2000 ofcardiac arrest brought on by a recurring bronchial infection.[8][20] His interment was atHollywood Forever Cemetery. He was survived by one son.[5]
