The Jack Nitzsche Story

Helping me through the workdays lately has been two compilations dedicated to performer, arranger, and producer extraordinaire Jack Nitzsche. Google the track listings and you'll be stunned by the acts that he worked with over the years.

Hearing is Believing 1962 and 1979 and Volume 2 Hard Workin' Man [both Ace Records] play like an ideal radio station or a particularly successful mixtape. And the quality of the inserts and notes is the standard that all reissue labels should strive for.

There is a unity of sound to Nitzsche's productions, yet at the same time an ability to adapt to the needs of the performer. I guess what I'm saying is that he didn't attempt to fit the artists into some sort of production template.

Not every track is a winner of course, but all are listenable. Ah, but there are killers: on Hearing is Believing we have two solo tracks by Nitzsche, The Lonely Surfer and an orchestral cover of Link Wray's Rumble, and terrific tunes by Lesley Gore (No Matter What You Do) and Marianne Faithfull (Sister Morphine).

Hard Workin' Man starts with the song of the same name featuring vocals by Captain Beefheart and is followed by another solo Nitzsche number "Surf Finger" which I had to play five times before being able to continue on with the rest of the disc. Special mention should go to the The Everly Brothers' take on psychedelia, "Mr Soul".

What surprised me is how much I enjoyed the material by artists that I had heard of, but never investigated because I assumed they wouldn't be for me like the aforementioned Leslie Gore or The Everly Brothers.

Live and learn.