Chicago born Jack Nitzsche staked an incredible career as a behind-the-scenes player, producer and arranger for many rock artists, most notably the Rolling Stones.



A percussionist and keyboardist in his own right, Nitzsche moved to Los Angeles in the 1950s where he became a fixture of the musical scene there. After teaming up with Sonny Bono, he started a fruitful association in the early-to-mid 1960s with Phil Spector as an arranger, helping him build the famous Wall of Sound on recordings by the Ronettes, the Crystals, the Righteous Brothers and other artists.



Because Andrew Oldham forged a friendship with Phil Spector in early 1964, when the Rolling Stones started recording in Los Angeles at the end of the same year, they were inevitably introduced to Jack Nitzsche as well, who became an important collaborator with the Stones for the next few years and occasionally beyond. Jack Nitzsche worked with them as an arranger and occasional musical contributor, including percussion on albums like "Aftermath", "The Rolling Stones Now!", "Out of Our Heads" and "December's Children".



His last work of this period with the Stones was in the early sessions for "Between the Buttons" in August 1966, when he contributed to songs like Let's Spend the Night Together and Yesterday's Papers.



When the Rolling Stones started recording in London again in late 1966, their association with Nitzsche ended for the moment, while Jack Nitzsche worked with Buffalo Springfield among others (which led to a long career working with Neil Young).



Nitzsche and the Stones met up again in 1968, when Nitzsche was called on to handle the soundtrack for the movie Performance. Nitzsche specialized in making film soundtracks, but he did team up again with the Stones for the "It's Only Rock and Roll" album in 1974, contributing percussion onve again.



Jack Nitzsche died of cardiac arrest in August 2000.