http://www.spectropop.com/
________________________________________________________________________
______________ ______________
______________ ______________
______________ S P E C T R O P O P ______________
______________ ______________
________________________________________________________________________
Jack Nitzsche
a rock & roll institution
April 22, 1937 - August 25, 2000
------------------------------------------------------------------------
There are 6 messages in this issue #30.
Topics in this digest:
1. Red Roses For Jack Nitzsche
From: Carol Kaye
2. Jack Nitzsche
From: "Joseph E. Vine Jr."
3. Re: Dano on Lonlely Surfer
From: Carol Kaye
4. Gary Usher Biography Volume Two Now Available
From: "Ron Weekes"
5. The haha movie again
From: Carol Kaye
6. Larry Levine article
From: LePageWeb
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
Message: 1
Date: Wed, 30 Aug 2000 16:28:23 -0700
From: Carol Kaye
Subject: Red Roses For Jack Nitzsche
Neil Young had sent 100s of beautiful roses for the
chapel service for our friend and great arranger/composer
Jack Nitzsche. It wasn't easy to keep from crying....Jack
was 2 years younger than me and we all were shocked to be
there, but united in our respect and grief for him. His
great personality, humor, and yes some obstinance too
(who in this business doesn't have that! It takes that
to be successful).
We were a big part of his early days of copying, and then
arranging as were many others there: Don Randi, Earl
Palmer, Don Peake, Tommy Tedesco being represented by his
widow, Carmie and son Denny, Phil Spector (who himself
lost his son) -- his eulogy for Jack was very moving as
were the others by Don Randi, HB Barnum, Christie (name?)
Bono. Nancy Sinatra was there, Jewll Akens, Tony Newton,
Don Peake, David Blumberg, the place was packed. And we
were all glad to see each other too, even at a time like
this. Jack Jr. gave a nice eulogy for his father, and it
was wonderful to share old stories with Gracia and Billie
Barnum - Gracia was glad we were there, most of us she
hasn't seen in about 34 years - it was good to see her
again.
Very wonderful people there. Earl and I were standing in
front of Jack (open coffin) and Earl gave Jack a Catholic
blessing, reaching in to bless him. Sean Penn who was
friends with Jack was there also, so many others. It was
truly wonderful to see Phil Spector again, he looked good,
the same Phil we all worked for, and we all congregated
around him....all of us united in our feelings. And we
each received a beautiful rose as commemoration. It's a
gentle reminder of how fragile life is. As I told Jack Jr.,
his father's love won't stop, he'll feel Jack watching
over him, and then of course, there's the great music
legacy he leaves. Darn it Jack, why did you go?
Carol Kaye
--------------------[ archived by Spectropop ]--------------------
Message: 2
Date: Sat, 02 Sep 2000 13:46:50 GMT
From: "Joseph E. Vine Jr."
Subject: Jack Nitzsche
Several Jack Nitzsche obituaries:
http://www.geocities.com/SunsetStrip/Palladium/9229/nitzsche.htm
--------------------[ archived by Spectropop ]--------------------
Message: 3
Date: Wed, 30 Aug 2000 02:39:41 -0700
From: Carol Kaye
Subject: Re: Dano on Lonlely Surfer
>>>>> Jack Tassell asked Also, while we're still close to the
> subject of the Danelectro Six-String Bass, any idea who
> played 'Dano' on Jack Nitszche's 'The Lonely Surfer'?
The credits on the LP state:
Jimmy Bond, David Gates, basses.
blh<<<<
Well, that's interesting. FYI, Jimmy Bond is a string bass player,
didn't play elec. bass but did have one, and surely never the Dano Bass
Guitar, which is just that, a form of a guitar not a bass.
David Gates, wonderful guy, I worked a lot for David (just got some
emails from him awhile back too, thanking me for the work, he's down in
San Diego county), was a fine elec. bassist, but never did play Dano
Bass Guitar. What does the lineup of the "guitars" say?
That's one thing that Russ Wapensky had a ton of trouble with too in his
research of all the Union contracts, that elec. bass sometimes was
listed under "guitar" and while it's natural for Dano bass guitar to be
listed as a "guitar" on the dates - it never took the place of any bass
on the dates, was used as an adjunct bass -- the Fender Bass was also on
many a Union contract, such was the nomenclature of this new instrument.
We would find out who played what by Russ sending tapes around to
everyone, Bill Pitman, Glen Campbell, Dennis Budimer, Ray Pohlman, Tommy
Tedesco, everyone, literally 6-8 guitarists and bassists on dates, and
they could dicipher who was playing what...just like a person's voice,
you recognize a person's instrument and sound and feel in the music
business. And funny, how we all came to the same conclusions about who
played what on the listings of just "guitar" on the multi-instrument
recordings marked on the Union contracts. The results are in Russ's
book now.
I think it's funny, and get a big laugh out of Motown credits which list
Bill Pitman as "bassist"...while he was the master of the Dano bass
guitar, he never played elec. bass on Motown at all, and he'll be the
first to tell you that. In fact, we just spoke on the phone yesterday
about Jack's funeral -- Bill used to work for me when I had Gwyn
Publishing in the 70's and I even published a couple of his guitar
books. If you note in the 50s credits, you'll see Bill's name on guitar
credits all over the place...he was on the road with Bert Bacharach
before settling down out here doing studio work in LA. People who don't
know us get it mixed up all the time, and practically everyone is barred
now from the Union as many contracts have been stolen before also.
Russ Wapensky, who has helped put the Union contracts back in order, and
help find missing contracts and try to back up the ones that had been
stolen by "researchers" from before, is the only one allowed into the
Union vault records to research the contracts. He was just here in LA,
on his last research trip and spoke about how he's currently wrapping
everything up to finally have his long-awaited book published (after 10
years of writing it). So it won't be long now.
Jimmy Bond would just laugh when I tell him about playing "dano" - he's
such a purist on string bass, a very fine jazz bass player who turned
realtor.......but such is the mix-up out there. Russ's book will put a
rest to much of this. Carol Kaye http://www.carolkaye.com/
--------------------[ archived by Spectropop ]--------------------
Message: 4
Date: Fri, 01 Sep 2000 16:59:37 -0600
From: "Ron Weekes"
Subject: Gary Usher Biography Volume Two Now Available
Here's the press release I received from Stephen McParland
regarding the second of five volumes of his long awaited
biography on Gary Usher. It's longer than the first volume!
Ron Weekes
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
NOW AVAILABLE!!!!
THE CALIFORNIA SOUND - An Insider's Story
The Musical Biography Of Gary Usher - VOLUME TWO
This 184 page 8x10 glossy coloured covered book is the
second of a FIVE volume set detailing every aspect of the
recording career of GARY USHER.
The period covered in this volume is 1964-1966.
Also included in this volume are six full pages of photos,
plus a variety of other pages devoted to recording
contracts, records/demos labels, handwritten lyrics, etc.
A full chapter synopsis for subsequent volumes is also
featured, as is a thorough index.
PRICE PER COPY IS $27 PLUS POSTAGE
All payments must be made in $US AMERICAN DOLLARS.
CASH IN A REGISTERED LETTER PREFERRED.
IF PAYING BY CHEQUE, PLEASE ADD AN EXTRA $US6 FOR BANK CHARGES.
NO MONEY ORDERS
AIRMAIL POSTAGE IN PADDED BAG IS $9
PAYMENT SHOULD BE SENT TO:
CALIFORNIA MUSIC
P.O. BOX 106
NORTH STRATHFIELD, 2137
AUSTRALIA
--------------------[ archived by Spectropop ]--------------------
Message: 5
Date: Sat, 02 Sep 2000 09:35:42 -0700
From: Carol Kaye
Subject: The haha movie again
Needless to say, the stuff in that movie never happened,
the purported studio parts of pure fantasy the American
Family movie showed, I've said this before, so won't
reiterate here.
Also: I never saw Phil Spector like that either, think
they were trying to copy a real early NYC photo, and
thinking he probably acted "cool" like that....nothing
could be further from the truth, Phil is down-home - was
jovial, very communicative, dressed casually and in fact
sometimes, very hippie-style outlandish things, that's how
"accurate" this movie is.
Carol Kaye http://www.carolkaye.com/
--------------------[ archived by Spectropop ]--------------------
Message: 6
Date: Sun, 03 Sep 00 14:35:07
From: LePageWeb
Subject: Larry Levine article
I found an interesting post on the message board...
[Phil Spector first came to Gold Star Studios in L.A. in
the late Fifties to work with Stan Ross...Later, with
"Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah," I was to become his regular engineer.
Phil was really working us hard and I didn't know what to
do to make him back off.
I finally decided that there was nothing else I could do,
so I just turned all the pots fully off, all twelve of
them. Phil looked at me like I was crazy and started
screaming at me...I started bringing the pots
back up...I had eleven of the pots turned up and
had mixed them pretty gently to where they were when Phil
yells, "That's it! That's the sound. Let's record." I told
him that I didn't have Billy Strange's mic open yet.
(Billy was playing lead guitar.) Phil said, "Don't turn it
on!"
It was my single greatest experience with a record and
>from there on in, I was Phil's engineer. I was so excited
about "Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah" that I would take people into
the control room and tell them, "If you tell me there's a
chance, just a chance, that it won't make the Top 10 -
I'll eat the tape right in front of you." ]
Check this out. Long, but very interestng...
http://www.escribe.com/music/spectropop/bb/index.html?bID=52
Jamie
--------------------[ archived by Spectropop ]--------------------
End
Spectropop text contents & copy; copyright Spectropop unless
stated otherwise.
All rights in and to the contents of these documents, including each element embodied therein, is subject to copyright
protection under international copyright law. Any use, reuse, reproduction and/or adaptation without written permission of the owners is a violation of copyright law and is strictly prohibited. All rights reserved.
