Jack Nitzsche, an incurable drug addict, wrote Needles And Pins (1964) for Jackie DeShannon (and later the Searchers) and Up Where We Belong (1982), besides his own instrumental novelty The Lonely Surfer (1963), which also the title of the all-instrumental album The Lonely Surfer (1963 - Collectors Choice, 2002), cut with Tommy Tedesco on guitar and Hal Blaine on drums. He was hired by Phil Spector to create the orchestrations for his "wall of sound" hits, particularly the hits by the Crystals and Ike Turner's River Deep Mountain High (1966).

Beginning in 1964, he wrote some of the best soundtracks for Hollywood movies, including "The Exorcist" (1972), "One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest" (1975), "The Jewel Of The Nile" (1985), "9 1/2 Weeks" (1986), "Hot Spot" (1990). His creative career peaked with the orchestral album St Giles Cripplegate (Warner, 1972 - Initial, 1981). Hearing Is Believing (2005) is a career retrospective. Nitzsche died in 2000.