The Wrecking Crew
and
Other Unsung Magicians Behind the Music
If you watched The Beatles on TV, or now watch them on YouTube, this is kind of what you saw - and what you expected to see - four guys, two playing guitars, one playing a bass, and one on drums.
And similarly - if you watched The Beach Boys on TV, or now watch them on YouTube, this too is kind of what you saw - and what you expected to see - five guys, two playing guitars, one playing a bass, one on drums, and one ready to sing.
But - if you listen to the actual records, you are hearing something VERY different.
So let's take a look at the reality of recording a song. If you scroll down to the bottom of The Beatles page, you'll find that there are 24 performers listed - and that's doubtlessly only a small fraction of the musicians that played on their multitude of records.
If you do the same thing for The Beach Boys , you'll find a whopping 93 performers that played on the various Beach Boy songs!
To make a record takes a LOT more than the four or five people you see on stage. And - in some cases, even the rest of the band isn't there. When The Stone Ponies "featuring Linda Ronstadt " recorded their breakthrough song Different Drum, Linda Ronstadt was the only one of the group in the studio. The people actually playing on the song were ALL studio musicians - everyone of them.
Probably the best known and most prolific studio musicians were a loose association called The Wrecking Crew in Los Angeles. One of the members was Hal Blaine , (who was also the one that came up with the name for the group,) who played for 36,000 recording sessions, recorded 6,000 singles of which 150 became top ten songs on the US charts and 40 which became number 1 hits.
To put that is perspective - Elvis Presley had the most top ten songs at 38 - Hal Blaine had 150. The Beatles had the most number 1 hits at 20 - Hal Blaine had 40. And yet he's virtually unknown outside the music industry.
Here's a look at an small informal session of part of The Wrecking Crew at work.
Left to right are Don Randi , Al De Lory , Carol Kaye , Bill Pitman , Tommy Tedesco , Irving Rubins , Roy Caton , Jay Migliori , Hal Blaine (drummer,) Steve Douglas , and Ray Pohlman .
Here's another photo. I don't know who the other folks are, but Carol Kaye , legendary bass player, is the young lady in front. When you needed a bass guitar player, your first call was to her.
When you hear strings in the background of a song, here's where they come from.
When I'm putting together a song, if I want it to have the same sort of sound as the original recording, I can't get by with just the few folks you see on stage. I've got to duplicate ALL that went on back in the studio. I typically group my strings into 4 or 5 instrument ensembles - but I often use a LOT of ensembles to get a similar sound as the original recording.
Take a look at a recording studio mixing console.
This one has 72 separate tracks available. If you look back at the photos above, you will see microphones everywhere - not to mention all the direct magnetic pickups from instruments. Each of those mikes and pickups gets its own channel. Take a close look at this photo of Hal Blaine and you'll see that there is a separate microphone of each and every single drum.
The studio has 72 tracks because it needs all of them. Once all those individual sounds have been recorded then they all have to be mixed together - each track adjusted until the combined sound is "right." The best of the song producers and recording engineers are noted for having "magic ears" to pull all those pieces together.
At least, this is how it used to be done. It's been a long time since I was inside a recording studio. Judging from the level of accompaniment sophistication I hear on a lot of songs, I doubt they need much.
To give credit where credit is due, here's some lists of the various studio musicians from the different recording areas such as Los Angeles, Nashville, Detroit, Muscles Shoals, etc. I'm sure I have missed a number of them, but this is the best set of lists I've found. By the way, you'll find some of the same names on each list. The best performers were in demand by everyone.
I've only linked all these people to the songs I've recorded. They worked on thousands of other songs. As I add more of my own songs, I'll be adding to their links, also.
You can learn more about Session Musicians at Wikipedia.
You can also learn about Offstage Musicians there. Sometimes in a live performance there are a dozen people out of sight playing along - or maybe actually doing all the playing. Smoke and Mirrors!
Reeves
Al Casey Al De Lory Al Vescovo Allan Buetler Andra Willis Barney Kessel Ben Benay Bill Aken Bill Green Bill Pitman Billy Strange Bob West Bud Brisbois Carol Kaye Chuck Berghofer Chuck Findley David Cohen Dennis Budimir Dick Nash Don Peake Don Randi Doug Bartenfeld Earl Palmer Frank Capp Gary L. Coleman Gene Cipriano Gene Estes Gene Morford Glen Campbell Hal Blaine Howard Roberts Irv Rubins Jack Nitzsche Jackie Kelso Jackie Ward James Burton Jay Migliori Jerry Cole Jim Gordon Jim Haas Jim Horn Jim Keltner Jimmy Bond Joe Osborn Joe Porcaro John Bahler John Clauder John Goldthwaite John Lowe Julius Wechter Larry Bunker Larry Knechtel Leon Russell Lew McCreary Linda Dangcil Lou Morrell Louie Shelton Lyle Ritz Mac Rebennack (Dr. John) Max Bennett Mike (Michel) Rubini Mike Deasy Mike Melvoin Milt Holland Mitch Gordon Nino Tempo Ollie Mitchell P. F. Sloan Plas Johnson Ray Pohlman Red Callender Richard "Slyde" Hyde Ron Hicklin Roy Caton Sally Stevens Sonny Bono Steve Douglas Thurl Ravenscroft Tom Bahler Tommy Morgan Tommy Tedesco Tony Terran Victor Feldman Vinnie Bell
Bill Matthews Bill Pursell Billy Sanford Bob Hubbard Bob Money Bob Moore Bobby Thompson Boots Randolph Brenton Banks Buck Trent Buck West Buddy Emmons Buddy Harman Buddy Spicher Charlie McCoy Chet Atkins Chip Young Culley Holt Curtis Young Dale Potter Don Bruce Duane West Earl Scruggs Ernie Newton Farris Coursey Floyd "Lightnin' " Chance Floyd Cramer Fred Carter, Jr. Gordon Stoker Grady Martin Hal Rugg Hank Garland Hargus "Pig" Robbins Harold Bradley Henry Strzelecki Hoyt Hawkins Hugh Jarrett Jerry Byrd Jerry Carrigan Jerry Kennedy Jethro Burns Jimmy Capps Jimmy Colvard Jimmy Riddle Joe Osborn Johnny Gimble Junior Huskey Kenny Buttrey Larrie Londin Little Roy Wiggins Lloyd Green Louis Nunley Mary Alice Hoepfinger Maurice Anderson Monty Matthews Neal Matthews Jr. Norman Blake Owen Bradley Paul Yandell Pete Drake Pete Wade Ralph Mooney Ray Edenton Ray Walker Shot Jackson Sonny Osborne Spider Wilson Steve Nathan The Anita Kerr Singers The Harden Trio The Jordanaires The Nashville Edition Tommy Jackson Vassar Clements Velma Williams Smith Wayne Moss Weldon Myrick
The Muscles Shoals Rhythm Section
Barry Beckett David Hood Jimmy Johnson Roger Hawkins
Adolph Green Alvin Score Andrew "Mike" Terry Andrew Smith Angelo Carlisi Anne Mischakoff Antonio "Tony" Newton Arthur Wright Beatriz Budinsky Benny Benjamin Bernie Peacock Bill Johnson Bill Pitman Billy Horner Bob Babbitt Bob Cousar Bobbye Hall Porter Carl Raetz Carol Kaye Clarence Isabell Clarence McDonald Clifford Mack Corey Jahns Cornelius Grant Dan Turner Dave Hamilton David Ireland David T. Walker David Van DePitte Dayna Hartwick Dennis Coffey Don Peake Don Randi Don Slaughter Don White Doug Bartenfeld Earl Palmer Earl Van Dyke Ed Gooch Eddie "Bongo" Brown Eddie "Chank" Willis Eddie Jones Eddie Willis Eduard Kesner Edward Korkigian Edward Pickens Eli Fountain Emil Richards Ernie Rodgers Ernie Wilkins Eugene "BeeBee" Moore Felix Resnick Floyd Jones Frank Harvey Jackson Freddie Perren Freddie Waits Gary Coleman Gene Page Gene Pello George Bohanon George McGregor Gil Askey Gordon Staples Gordon Stump H. B. Barnum Henry "Hank" Cosby Herbie Williams Huey Davis Italo Babini Jack Ashford Jack Brokensha Jacob Aaron Greenberg Jacob Greenberg James Carmichael James Gittens James Jamerson James Warning Jerry Long Jerry Steinholtz Jimmy Wilkens Joe Clayton Joe Hunter Joe James Joe Messina Joe Sample Joe Williams John "Johnnie Miles" Milewski John "Little John" Wilson Johnny Allen Johnny Gittens Johnny Griffith Johnny Trudell Kasuku Mafia King Errisson Lanny Austin Larry Knechtel Larry Nozero Larry Veeder Lefty Edwards Lillian Downs Linda Sneeden Smith Louis Shelton Marcus Belgrave Marcy Scwheickhardt Marvin Gaye Marvin Tarplin Maurice Davis McKinley Jackson Meyer Shapiro Michael Henderson Michael Lovesmith Mike Deasy Mike Rubini Nathan Gordon Norris Patterson Patrick Lanier Paul Humphrey Paul Riser Ray Monette Ray Parker Jr. Richard "Pistol" Allen Richard "Popcorn" Wylie Richard Margitza Robert White Ron Brown Ronnie Wakefield Russell Conway Sandra Crouch Slide Hampton Ted Sheely Teddy Buckner Thaddeus Markiewicz The Detroit Symphony Orchestra Thomas "Beans" Bowles Tommy Tedesco Tweed Beard Uriel Jones Virginia Halfmann Wade Marcus Wah Wah Watson Walter "Choker" Campbell Weldon T. Parks William "Benny" Benjamin William "Wild Bill" Moore Willie Hutch Willie Shorter Wilton Felder Zinovi Bistritzky
Bobby Emmons Bobby Wood Gene Chrisman Mike Leech Reggie Young Tommy Cogbill
Al Jackson, Jr. Bobby Manuel Booker T. Jones Carson Whitsett Donald "Duck" Dunn Lewie Steinberg Steve Cropper Steve Jordan Steve Potts Willie Hall
Craig Doerge Danny Kortchmar David Lindley Leland Sklar Russ Kunkel Tim Drummond Waddy Wachtel
MFSB (Mother Father Sister Brother)
Anthony Jackson Bob Babbitt Bobby Eli Charles Collins Dennis Harris Don Renaldo Earl Young Eddie Green Frederick Joiner Harold Ivory Williams Jimmie Williams John E. Davis John H. Davis Karl Chambers Keith Benson Larry Washington Lenny Pakula Leon "Zach" Zachery Leon Huff Michael Foreman Norman Farrington Norman Harris Quinton Joseph Reggie Lucas Roland Chambers Ron Kersey Ronnie Baker T.J. Tindall Thom Bell Vincent Montana, Jr. Winnie Wilford
Emily Phillips Jackie Hicks Louvain Demps Marlene Barrow Pat Lewis
Andrew Love Ben Cauley Calvin Caples Edward "Ed" Logan Floyd Newman Jack Hale Jack Hale, Jr. James Mitchell Joe Arnold Lewis Collins Roger Hopps Wayne Jackson
Andra Willis Gene Morford Jackie Ward Jim Haas John Bahler Linda Dangcil Mitch Gordon Ron Hicklin Sally Stevens Thurl Ravenscroft Tom Bahler
Bill Matthews Bob Hubbard Bob Money Culley Holt Curtis Young Don Bruce Duane West Gordon Stoker Hoyt Hawkins Hugh Jarrett Louis Nunley Monty Matthews Neal Matthews, Jr. Ray Walker
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Last Updated: Wednesday, December 21, 2022, 1:26:55 AM CST