Graham Reid | | 1 min read
There's quite an implosion of Stones' references which come with this track by the great producer, arranger, composer and Phil Spector protege Jack Nitzsche.
He was commissioned to write the music for the film Performance which starred Mick Jagger and Keith Richards' girlfriend Anita Pallenberg. Nitzsche knew the Stones from when they visited the States in '64 and he was also music director at the famous TAMI Show which the Stones headlined (over James Brown, much to Godfather of Soul's chagrin).
He also played on a number of their sessions (Satisfaction among them) and so Jagger was keen to enlist hm for the soundtrack to Performance.
On the subsequent album there were contributions by Buffy Sainte-Marie, the Last Poets, Randy Newman and of course Jagger himself with Memo from Turner.
But notably there was this bluesy piece which featured singer Merry Clayton -- whose debut single The Doorbell Rings as a 13-year old Nitszche had produced -- and she would later contribute her vocals most memorably to the Stones' Gimme Shelter.
So a lot of Stones connections here, but it's still Jack and Merry's show.
The clip below puts it in some context before Jagger's Memo from Turner.
This track is lifted from the recently released Night Walker: The Jack Nitzsche Story Vol 3 (Ace through Border) and we'll feature more from this in the weeks to come because among the 26 tracks are songs by Buffalo Springfield, the Ronettes, the Everly Brothers, the Crystals, Honey Ltd, the impossible falsetto of Lou Christie . . .
The well annotated collection is a real insight into the wayward genius of Jack Nitzsche.
Check it out..
For more unusual music or songs with a back-story see From the Vaults.
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