More than a Sidekick: Jack Nitzsche
In the early 1960s, composer, saxophonist, and music-aficionado Jack Nitzsche paired up with one of the most influential men in the production business: Phil Spector. Spector and his team, dubbed “the Wrecking Crew,” would go on to create the famed Wall of Sound. Nitzsche really flexed on the tune, “River Deep, Mountain High,” a definitive piece debuting the Wall of Sound.
Nitzsche worked with the likes of Sonny Bono to co-write, “Needles and Pins” performed by Jackie DeShannon. The song would later be covered by The Searchers and more.
You’ve probably heard Nitzsche’s popular composition, “The Lonely Surfer,” made with some veteran Wall of Sound studio band members, most notably Hal Blaine on the drums.
Nitzsche would also work with the Rolling Stones, playing keyboard for some of their mid-60s releases. In the liner notes, Nitzsche was instead credited for playing the “Nitzsche-Phone,” which was simply a keyboard that had been mic’d differently.
My personal favorite work by Nitzsche fits right in with some golden girl groups of the ’60s and was recently listed in Billboard’s 100 Greatest Girl Group Songs.
The article places the tune at #64, which I’d agree with. Billboard elaborates:
“64. The Cake, “Baby That’s Me” (1967)
In which Phil Spector sidekick Jack Nietzsche tries his hand at creating his own classic Ronettes ballad — with help from co-writer Jackie DeShannon and a superlative vocal performance from New York trio The Cake — and damn near gets there.”
In 1967, Nitzsche and DeShannon would cowrite, “Baby That’s Me,” by The Cake (here’s hoping the band name wasn’t Nitzsche’s idea… drop the ‘the’ and you may be on to something).
The song is undeniably written by a Wall of Sound pioneer, with layers of big band and some very Ronnettes-y vocals. The song would not be a hit, however, and The Cake would go on to temporarily bigger and better things (touring with Dr John, moving to the UK, and joining Ginger Baker’s Air Force… awesome).
Nitzsche won an Academy Award for his compositions for One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest. His work has been featured on some 92 shows and movies.
So, why, in a 2017 Billboard list, would this artist be dubbed Spector’s sidekick? Worse yet, they misspelled his name! Clearly, this man had a lot to offer. Nitzsche managed to influence the music industry for more than half a century, across numerous genres. So there ya have it, Jack Nitzsche is more than Spector’s Wall of Sound Sidekick. Get it straight, Billboard.