Results: Hal Blaine - Session Drummer
Published on 03/03/2023
Hal Blaine (February 5, 1929 – March 11, 2019) was an American drummer and session musician, thought to be among the most recorded studio drummers in the music industry, claiming over 35,000 sessions and 6,000 singles. His drumming is featured on 150 US top 10 hits, 40 of which went to number one.
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1.
1.
Hal Blaine was a core member of The Wrecking Crew - a group of Los Angeles based studio musicians who were hired to play on thousands of studio recordings in the 1960's and 1970's. They were also used for television theme songs, movie soundtracks and advertising jingles. Are you familiar with any of the following? Sometimes referred to as The Clique and The First Call Gang, drummer Hal Blaine popularized the name The Wrecking Crew in a 1990 memoir, attributing it to older musicians who felt that the group's embrace of rock and roll was going to "wreck" the music industry.
7%
149 votes
The Wrecking Crew's contributions to so many hit recordings went unnoticed at the time becuse record labels wanted to keep it that way, maintaining the illusion that famous bands, such as The Monkees, always played their own instrumental parts. "We all knew the game," said Carol Kaye (Bassist).
9%
193 votes
Some of the key members were drummers Hal Blaine and Earl Palmer, bassist and guitarist Carol Kaye (one of the few female session players in that era), guitarists Tommy Tedesco and Glen Campbell, keyboardists Larry Knechtel and Don Randi.
9%
200 votes
They became the defacto musicians for Phil Spector and were an essential component in developing Spector's Wall of Sound style.
7%
157 votes
Brian Wilson idolized Phil Spector and soon Wilson was using The Wrecking Crew for Beach Boys recordings.
9%
203 votes
Not Applicable
76%
1671 votes
2.
2.
If a rock and roll song came out of an L.A. recording studio from between about 1962 and 1972, the odds are good that some combination of the Wrecking Crew played the instruments. This is only a partial list of some of the musical acts they have recorded for. Which ones are you familiar with?
Herb Alpert and The Tijuana Brass
44%
976 votes
The Ronettes
37%
804 votes
The Beach Boys
62%
1353 votes
Simon and Garfunkel
58%
1266 votes
The Monkees
58%
1266 votes
The Partridge Family
55%
1208 votes
The Mamas and the Papas
55%
1199 votes
Elvis Presley
60%
1330 votes
Frank Sinatra and Nancy Sinatra
55%
1205 votes
The Carpenters
56%
1233 votes
Sonny and Cher
58%
1272 votes
The Righteous Brothers
49%
1083 votes
Paul Revere and The Raiders
42%
923 votes
The Byrds
43%
948 votes
The Captain and Tennille
50%
1089 votes
Not Applicable
24%
534 votes
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3.
Be My Baby - The Ronettes (Writers Phil Spector, Jeff Barry, Ellie Greenwich - released August 1963 and became a #2 hit). Drummer Hal Blaine explains: "That famous drum intro was an accident. I was supposed to play the snare on the second beat as well as the fourth, but I dropped a stick. Being the faker I was in those days, I left the mistake in and it became: 'Bum-ba-bum-BOOM!' And soon everyone wanted that beat". Are you familiar with this song?
Yes
59%
1291 votes
No
21%
463 votes
Did Not/Could Not Listen
21%
455 votes
4.
4.
The Wrecking Crew is a 2008 American documentary film directed by Denny Tedesco, son of guitarist Tommy Tedesco. It tells the story of these studio musicians along with interviews. Have you seen this documentary?
Yes
10%
214 votes
No
67%
1475 votes
Not Interested
25%
546 votes
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