by Dan Bloom, producer
The 1960s were fantastic years for music and culture. The birth of Rock n Roll ushered in new styles of music, hip new dances and brilliant pop stars, but the dirty little secret of this musical era is a disconnect, still largely uknown, between the faces on album covers and the musicians who actually played the music. Largely without credit, a nebulous group of studio musicians called ‘The Wrecking Crew’ played on a staggering number of legendary songs during the 1960s and 70s. The crew played on well known recordings by Elvis, Frank Sinatra, The Ronettes, The Beach Boys, Sonny & Cher, The Monkees, the list goes on.
Among others, Hal Blaine, Carol Kaye, Larry Knechtel, Joe Osborn, Glen Campbell, Tommy Tedesco and Leon Russell were a part of the unofficial ‘Wrecking Crew,’ and though paid a healthy union wage, these musicians were largely uncredited for their premier performances. Author Kent Hartman is out to change that with his book The Wrecking Crew. Putting this piece together was a real pleasure, and music devotees will surely wear a smile after hearing it.
Trailer for Denny Tedesco’s 2008 documentary ‘The Wrecking Crew’
hi there!
really enjoyed the show yesterday. after hearing so much about the "wrecking crew", and being a session musician myself i decided to research the subject a little further. this morning i got a hold of my first member of that group, Carol Kaye, the bass player. the following is what she had to say about the book:
">>>>>>>>>>he book "wrecking crew" by "Kent Hartman" is nothing but a made-up baloney fraud, obtained with the lying statements "your interview is for a magazine, nothing about 'wrecking crew' at all"…then he skewered the interview, making up what he wanted to say about all of us, put Hal Blaine (who for years has said "Brian Wilson is crazy", slandering him all the time too!) on almost every page as well as made up stories subtly putting women musicians DOWN. Hartman is a UK self-announced "writer" who wrote what he wanted to, with a book of slander, fraud, and errata on all pages, another made-up phony book for $$$$ and for his obsession of wanting to re-invent our music history, a world he wants to be a part of. He used us all as "bait" to make money off of us – don't buy that nutty idiotic book either, if you did you wasted your time and money on it, it's NOT about us at all but USED US for his, Hartman's agendas, another BS book made up by someone fraudulent and greedy who wants to "be in our music business"……
well….it seems like .the lady is not to happy about it…
g
Great interview today. Looking forward to reading this!
Fantastic show. Can't wait to read the book.
About Glen Campbell's Wichita Lineman solo–I thought he'd played his Fender VI, the baritone Leo Fender put together in response to the success of the dano. Was it really a dano on the iconic recording?
See 2:01 of this TV spot. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4qoymGCDYzU