VARIOUS ARTISTS
Hearing Is Believing - The Jack Nitzsche Story
1962-1979 (Ace)
Reviewed by Shaun Dale

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There are a few name that emerge from the control booth into the firmament of rock'n roll stardom on the basis of their influence on, if not their performance of, the music. Phil Spector, of course. Doc Pomus. A handful more, perhaps, but certainly, and perhaps pre-eminently among them is Jack Nitzche. Producer, arranger, composer, conductor, performer, Nitzsche seemed to be the master of every task he attempted.

Sadly, licensing restrictions prevented the inclusion of some of the music that gave Nitzsche his first burst of industry fame. If Phil Spector was the architect of Philles Records' fabled 'wall of sound,' Jack Nitzsche was the prime contractor, building layer upon layer of music on Spector's solid pop foundations, and creating a string of hits for The Crystals, The Ronnettes, Darlene Love and others. There's plenty of fine music included, though, some instantly familiar and some relatively obscure, all stamped with the indelible mark of a pop music genius.

There's a helpful list in the booklet, pointing to more of Nitzsche's work with the likes of Mick Jagger, Neil Young, Ringo Starr, The Tubes and others who couldn't be included on this collection. There's also the extensive catalog of soundtracks that occupied most of Nitzche's later years, including his Academy Award winning score for An Officer And A Gentleman. There's Jack Nitzsche everywhere, it seems.

There are 26 tracks of Jack Nitzsche in his various musical guises here, and together they make up an essential rock history document - and a lot of real fine listening.

Track List:

The Lonely Surfer/Jack Nitzsche * Don't Make My Baby Blue/Frankie Laine * Needles And Pins/Jackie DeShannon * Seein' Is Believin'/Eddie Hodges * Not For Me/Bobby Darin * Move Over Darling/Doris Day * Castles In The Sand/Little Stevie Wonder * Rumble/Jack Nitzche * Kick That Little Foot Sally Ann/Round Robin * Always Waitin'/The Paris Sisters * Walk With A Winner/Gene McDaniels * No Matter What You Do/Lesley Gore * Hung On You/The Righteous Brothers * Cheryl's Going Home/Bob Lind * I Could Be So Good To You/Don & The Goodtimes * Road To Nowhere/Judy Henske * The Heart Of Juliet Jones/Gary Bonner * Wild Life's In Season/Lou Christie * You Make Me Feel Like Someone/PJ Proby * It Happens Every Time/Tim Buckley * Sister Morphine/Marianne Faithful * Ashes, The Rain & I/The James Gang * Helpless/Buffy Sainte Marie * Mixed Up, Shook Up Girl/Mink DeVille * You Can't Be Too Strong/Graham Parker & The Rumour * One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest/Jack Nitzsche

© 2005 - Shaun Dale