The Carpenters, Elvis, Sonny and Cher, Alvin and the Chipmunks, The Crystals,The Association, The Mamas and Papas, The 5th Dimension, The Righteous Brothers, Simon and Garfunkle, The Partridge Family, and on and on.
Know the answer to the above?
A: They all recorded their hits using the same musicians.
During this period there was a group of about 20-30 studio session musicians collectively known as "The Wrecking Crew". This group was responsible for many Top Ten recordings of the era as well as 7 Song of the Year honors.
The artists above were primarily singers who relied on studio musicians to record with and their own bands while on tour. But what about these groups:
The Monkees, The Beach Boys, Gary Lewis and the Playboys, The Ventures, and Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass.
All the same musicians. Yes. The Beach Boys songs you loved. The Wrecking Crew. Herb Alpert and TJB. Herb Alpert and The Wrecking Crew. Gary Lewis and the Playboys. Gary Lewis and The Wrecking Crew. In fact, some of the studio musicians became stars in their own right...Herb Alpert, Glen Campbell, and Johnny Rivers to name a few. These musicians even became Phil Spector's "Wall of Sound". In addition to the top songs they recorded they also performed on the theme songs for many TV shows I'll bet you remember....Bonanza, Batman, Greenacres, The Addams Family, Wild Wild West, The Brady Bunch, and more.
And check out these other artists who recorded with the Wrecking Crew...Dean Martin, Frank Sinatra, Nat King Cole. It boggles the mind almost to think that these musicians could record with the Beach Boys one week and Frank Sinatra the next but they did and did it well.
There is a web site for the group at http://wreckingcrewfilm.com
The full story is found here for my MOST eagerly anticipated documentary to hopefully come out on DVD soon. The Wrecking Crew documentary is produced by Denny Tedesco, son of the legendary Tommy Tedesco, a guitarist for the Wrecking Crew. The documentary has been out for a few years but is only shown in private screenings around the country hoping to raise enough money to pay for the music rights. The rights alone are approximately $300,000 but there are about 130 different sound cues or music bits in the movie. Hopefully it will all be paid off and the DVD can come out in time for Christmas this year.
Take a look at some of the songs recorded by The Wrecking Crew and are in the movie:
5th Dimension/Up, Up, and Away, Association/Never My Love, Beach Boys/Good Vibrations, Carpenters/Close to You, Crystals/Da Doo Ron Ron, Sonny and Cher/The Beat Goes On, Tijuana Brass/Lonely Bull, Paul Revere and the Raiders/Indian Reservation, Frank Sinatra/Strangers In the Night, Nancy Sinatra/These Boots Are Made for Walking, Captain and Tenille/Love Will Keep Us Together, Ventures/Hawaii Five-0 theme, Gary Lewis and the Playboys/This Diamond Ring, Mamas and Papas/Monday, Monday, Glen Campbell/By the Time I Get to Phoenix, Ronettes/Be My Baby....and the list, like the beat, goes on. Did you remember a few of these? If you did, thank the Wrecking Crew.
Here's a bit of trivia for you...the most recorded drummer in the world, Earl Palmer, played drums on everything from Little Richard's "Tutti Frutti", and as a Wrecking Crew member played on Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass' "Lonely Bull" and on the "Brady Bunch" theme. Quite a bit of variety there.
Explore the web site, look at all the links, check out the song list in the movie, even purchase a book or two by some of the members. (I have Hal Blaine's biography myself. An excellent read. He was another of the Wrecking Crew drummers who played on about 25,000 songs in his career.) Hopefully, we will get to see it soon. This is one movie not to be missed. In the meantime, here is the movie trailer. Enjoy!
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