line up 1 (1963-2000)

- Jack Nitzsche (RIP 2000) -- 

- Bernado Martini and the Crystal Guitar

- Crazy Horse

- The Jack NItzsche Orchestra

- The Stray Gators

Genre: classical

Rating: 1 star *

Title:  St. Giles Cripplegate

Company: Reprse

Catalog: MS 2093
Year: 1972

Country/State: Chicago, Illinois

Grade (cover/record): VG+/VG+

Comments: gatefold sleeve

Available: 1

Catalog ID: --

Price: $20.00

A producer releasing an album under his own name is fairly rare.  Other than Alan Parsons, I'm hard pressed to think of anyone else.  And then I stumbled across the late Jack Nitzsche's "St. Giles Cripplegate."  Produced by Elliot Mazer and recorded with the London Symphony Orchestra, anyone expecting to hear something along the lines of the material Nitzsche arranged and produced for The Rolling Stones, Neil Young, Graham Parker, or Mink Deville was going to be in for a shock.  Shoot, anyone expecting to hear a pop, or rock album was going to be in for a shock.

Recorded at a time when Nitzsche was beginning to suffer from severe mental health and addiction issues, the collection was named for the London Anglican church where it was recorded.  With David Measham conducting the London Symphony Orchestra the album featured a series of six classically-inspired instrumentals.  I'll be honest and admit it's hard for me to provide a detailed description of this collection.  I'm not a big classical fan to start with and the fact these six pieces don't have much going for them in the way of melody, or theme doesn't do a great deal to increase my enjoyment factor. To my ears these six tracks sounded like something you'd hear in the middle of the day on your local NPR classical radio station.  Take the opener '#6.'  To my ears this one sounded more like soundtrack music for a "B" slasher film where the psychopath is chasing the victims through an old farm house with thousands of killer bees waiting to sweep in an sting any survivors to death.  Yes, the London Symphony Orchestra sounded great, but what the hell ...  It sure wasn't something you were going to play when you put your young kids to bed.   Admittedly not all of the album sounded like a slasher soundtrack, but judging by tracks like '#4 (For Mori)' and '#2' this stuff could easily have found its way onto movie soundtracks. Perhaps it shouldn't come as a surprise that Nitzsche subsequently branched out into film soundtracks.  Wikipedia has a nice write-up on Nitzsche and shows that during his life he worked on 36 film soundtracks.

James Pandorian Moss McCracken's butt ugly cover didn't do the album any favors.  Not that it mattered since Reprise seemingly released the album as a favor to Nitzsche hoping to keep him involved in their Neil Young money making projects.  The company certainly didn't put much effort into promoting the album.  They pressed 2,000 copies which quickly vanished into cutout bins.   

Gawd only knows why, but in March 2010 Rhino reissued the collection.   

For anyone interested, as part of an extended overview of Nitsche's career, Karel Beer included a segment specifically on this album.  It's fascinating hearing Nitzsche talk about the album:  part 12 The Jack Nitzsche illustrated interview st giles cripplegate - YouTube  

"St. Giles Cripplegate" track listing:
(side 1)

1.) #6 (Jack NItzsche) - 5:03

2.) #4 (For Mori) (Jack NItzsche) - 3:08

3.) # 2 (Jack NItzsche) - 5:57

(side 2)
1.) #9 (Jack NItzsche) - 7:15

2.) #1 (Jack NItzsche) - 4:26

3.) #5 (Jack NItzsche) - 6:59

© 06/2024 Scott R. Blackerby