Jack Nitzsche

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Jack Nitzsche

Bernard Alfred "Jack" Nitzsche (born April 22, 1937 in Chicago ; † August 25, 2000 in Los Angeles ) was an American pianist , arranger and composer .

Life

Nitzsche grew up in Chicago and later moved to Los Angeles with his parents. As a child he received piano lessons . The son of German immigrants studied music at college and then worked for various record companies, where he was able to deepen his knowledge as an arranger.

From 1962 he wrote numerous arrangements for the music producer Phil Spector , who celebrated success in the Gold Star Studios with his Wall of Sound with artists such as Bob B. Soxx & the Blue Jeans , The Ronettes and The Crystals . Jack Nitzsche worked as musical director for the legendary TAMI show, on which James Brown and the Rolling Stones appeared. Nitzsche also arranged for The Monkees , Randy Newman and the Rolling Stones (Play with Fire, Let's Spend the Night Together, You Can't Always Get What You Want). In 1966 he arranged River Deep, Mountain High by Ike and Tina Turner , Needles and Pins by the Searchers and Broken Arrow and Expecting To Fly by Buffalo Springfield, among others .

Between 1969 and 1971 he was the pianist of Neil Young's backing band Crazy Horse . He was then a member of Neil Young's backing band The Stray Gators and played with them the albums Harvest and Time Fades Away . When the band was revived to record the Harvest Moon album , he was replaced by Spooner Oldham .

In the 1970s Nitzsche set the films Performance , Greaser's Palace , The Exorcist and One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest to music, and in the 1980s he became one of the most successful film composers in Hollywood. He has been nominated several times for the Oscar in the categories Best Music and Best Song . He also produced several Mink DeVille albums .

In 1979 he hit the headlines - Nitzsche was at the lowest point of his drug addiction at the time - when he attacked his girlfriend, the actress Carrie Snodgress , with a gun. In the ensuing trial, he pleaded guilty and was given a suspended sentence. In 1982 he won, together with Buffy Sainte-Marie and Will Jennings , the Oscar for the best movie song Up Where We Belong ( Joe Cocker / Jennifer Warnes ) from the movie An Officer and a Gentleman .

Jack Nitzsche was married to Gracia Ann May (ex-member of Phil Spector's girl group The Blossoms ) and to Buffy Sainte-Marie for the second time . He died at the age of 63 from complications from pneumonia in a hospital in Los Angeles.

Works

Discography

  • 1963: The Lonely Surfer
  • 1964: Dance to the Hits of the Beatles
  • 1966: Chopin '66
  • 1972: St. Giles Cripplegate

Accompanist

Film music

Web links

Commons : Jack Nitzsche  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Marc Spitz: Mick Jagger - Rebell and Rockstar, Hamburg, 2012, p. 149
  2. ↑ Keith Richards: LIFE, Munich, 2010, p. 231.
personal data
SURNAME Nitzsche, Jack
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Nitzsche, Bernard Alfred (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American pianist and composer
DATE OF BIRTH April 22, 1937
PLACE OF BIRTH Chicago , Illinois, USA
DATE OF DEATH August 25, 2000
Place of death Los Angeles , California, USA