Jack Nitzsche

Jack Nitzsche was one of the true wildmen of American popular music. His reputation was made as arranger on Phil Spector's classic recordings and a pillar of his Wrecking Crew, but his reach is so much wider and deeper than that that's it's a wonder that Hearing Is Believing isn't a multi-disc box set instead of a 26-track, single-CD compilation.

A film that helped to cement Jack Nicholson's reputation as an actor willing to take roles on the bleeding edge, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest was also notable for giving director Milos Forman a solid position in American cinema…and for giving composer Jack Nitzsche a place to show what he could do. As it is, the edgy nature of the film extends into the score, giving it a profoundly disturbing feel at times – even when it appears to be relatively normal. The music has a tendency to always be a little off-kilter, and from time to time it tilts completely over into a strange little world of its own (something very familiar to fans of Van Dyke Parks, with whom Nitzsche worked quite a bit). It's a pity that this score has faded from sight over the time since its 1991 remastering; the music has certainly continued to stand up well over time.

"Starman" is a 1984 American science fiction romance film directed by John Carpenter that tells the story of a non-corporeal alien named Star Man who has come to Earth and cloned a human body (portrayed by Jeff Bridges) in response to the invitation found on the gold phonograph record installed on the Voyager 2 space probe. The soundtrack to "Starman" was released on December 14, 1984. The album also contains a rendition of "All I Have to Do Is Dream" performed by stars Jeff Bridges and Karen Allen. All music is composed by Jack Nitzsche (except "All I Have to Do Is Dream," written by Felice and Boudleaux Bryant).

By the late summer of 1963, Reprise Records — the independent record label founded by Frank Sinatra three years earlier — had run into a few financial difficulties, partly because the label hadn’t produced any major chart hits, and was purchased by Warner Bros. Morris “Mo” Ostin, Reprise’s vice-president and general manager, had brought in ""whiz kid"" producer Jimmy Bowen in 1963. Bowen’s main job, at least in the beginning, was to produce hits for some of the younger Reprise acts, including a brand-new recording artist, arranger/producer Jack Nitzsche. Those Bowen-produced Reprise singles, released under Jack Nitzsche’s own name between July 1963 and October 1965, were compiled together for the first time and released by Hanky Panky Records on “The Reprise Singles 1963-1965.”

Behind many of the great rock’n’roll instrumental acts of the late 1950s and early 60s was a great producer. The Fireballs had Norman Petty, the Champs had Dave Burgess, the Ventures had Bob Reisdorff, Sandy Nelson had Richie Podolor, Johnny & the Hurricanes had Harry Balk and, perhaps most significantly, Duane Eddy had Lee Hazlewood, who not only produced but also wrote many of his signature recordings. It took the emergence of Hazlewood and Eddy to turn what might have seemed a passing fad for rock’n’roll instrumentals into an identifiable genre. Previously, records without vocals tended to be regarded as novelties, but after ‘Moovin’ N’ Groovin’’ entered the charts early in 1958, followed by the Top 10 success of ‘Rebel-’Rouser’, such discs became a stand-alone category and soon every record company sought their own twangy guitar act.

An Officer and a Gentleman is a 1982 American romantic drama film starring Richard Gere, Debra Winger, and Louis Gossett Jr. Gossett won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for the film, making him the first black male to do so. It tells the story of Zack Mayo (Gere), a United States Navy Aviation Officer Candidate who is beginning his training at Aviation Officer Candidate School. While Zack meets his first true girlfriend during his training, a young "townie" named Paula (Winger), he also comes into conflict with the hard-driving Marine Corps Gunnery Sergeant Emil Foley (Gossett) training his class.

Jackie DeShannon’s status as a singer is assured. Her vocal range, diversity and skill, as exemplified by her original and stunning performances of ‘Needles And Pins’, ‘When You Walk In The Room’, Bacharach and David’s ‘What The World Needs Now Is Love’ and the generational anthem ‘Put A Little Love In Your Heart’, will be well known to readers of this article. But her status as a songwriter also deserves to be celebrated – something that Ace have done for us with this 27-track cracker, “Break-A-Way”.

They were the studio musicians behind some of the biggest hits in the 1960s and 70s. From Be My Baby to California Girls Strangers in the Night to Mrs. Robinson You've Lost that Lovin Feelin to Up, Up and Away and from Viva Las Vegas to Mr. Tambourine Man the group dubbed The Wrecking Crew played on them all. Six years in a row in the late 1960s and early 1970s, the Grammy for Record of the Year went to Wrecking Crew member recordings. The talents of this group of first call players were used on almost every style of recording including television theme songs, film scores, advertising jingles and almost every genre of American popular music, from the Monkees to Bing Crosby. Notable artists employing the Wrecking Crew's talents included Nancy Sinatra, Bobby Vee, the Partridge Family, David Cassidy, Jan & Dean, the Mamas & the Papas, the 5th Dimension, the Association, the Carpenters, Glen Campbell, Cher, John Denver, the Beach Boys, Simon and Garfunkel, the Grass Roots and Nat King Cole.