Rock and Roll Hall of Fame drummer Hal Blaine died Monday at his home in Palm Desert, California. He was 90.
Blaine, THE great studio musician, played on more than 35,000 recordings, which included 6,000 singles. During the 60s and 70s, Blaine was a member of the elite L.A.-based session players, the “Wrecking Crew”.
In an interview a number of years ago, Blaine said “I coined the name the Wrecking Crew because all the guys in suits would say, ‘Oh, no, these kids in their blue jeans and t-shirts are going to wreck the business.’” The ‘Crew’ included, among others, guitarists Glen Campbell, Tommy Tedesco and Barney Kessel, bassists Ray Pohlman, Joe Osborn and Carol Kaye and keyboardists Don Randi, Larry Knechtel and Al De Lory.
To say that Blaine was able to ‘adapt’ to various music genre kind of understates his greatness. “One minute I’d be playing with Count Basie, the next I was with Lawrence Welk and the next minute I was with the Beach Boys,” he told a writer for a book about a documentary on the “Wrecking Crew.” Blaine and the Crew also played with jazz greats like Gerry Mulligan and Chet Baker.
Blaine was a favourite of record producer Phil Spector and featured on many of the “Wall of Sound” recordings. It was Blaine who played one of the most memorable drum intros in Rock and Roll history on the Ronettes’ “Be My Baby.” He also played on many of the Beach Boys’ best-known records including the classic 1966 album “Pet Sounds” and the hit single from that same year, “Good Vibrations.”
Hal Blaine received 263 gold and platinum record awards. He also received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Recording Academy in 2018.
Among his vast number of gigs, Blaine played on such No. 1 hits as the Crystals’ “He’s a Rebel,” the Byrds’ “Mr. Tambourine Man,” Frank Sinatra’s “Strangers in the Night,” Simon & Garfunkel’s “Mrs. Robinson” and “Bridge Over Troubled Water,” the 5th Dimension’s “Aquarius/Let the Sunshine In,” the Carpenters’ “Close to You” and Barbra Streisand’s “The Way We Were.”
Other hits include Paul Revere & the Raiders “Kicks,” Richard Harris “MacArthur Park,” Roy Orbison “It’s Over,” Simon & Garfunkel “Homeward Bound” and Mamas & Papas “California Dreamin’” and “Monday, Monday.”
He also played with Elvis Presley (on both record and movie dates), Sam Cooke, Dean Martin, Jan & Dean, Johnny Rivers, the Monkees, Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass, Nancy Sinatra, Cher, John Denver and Steely Dan. And, Blaine played on the original cast recording of “The Rocky Horror Show.”
source: L.A. Times and others
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