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Hal Blaine

Hal Blaine may well be the most profilic drummer in rock and roll history. He's certainly played on more hit records than any drummer in the rock era, including 40 #1 singles and 150 that made the Top Ten. Eight of the records he played on won Grammys for Record of the Year. Blaine, who was born Harold Simon Belsky in 1929, became a professional drummer in 1948 and joined teen idol Tommy Sands' band in the late Fifties. He was the most in-demand session drummer in Los Angeles during the Sixties and early Seventies, and a list of musicians he played with reads like a who's who of popular music.

In 1961, Blaine drummed on Can't Help Falling in Love With You, one of Elvis Presley's most memorable sides, and he would play on Presley's film soundtracks throughout the Sixties. However, Blaine's best-known affiliation is with producer Phil Spector, where he served as the percussive backbone of the "Wrecking Crew" the nickname that younger studio hands on the L.A. scene bestowed on themselves after the rock-hating old-timers complained they were "wrecking the business." He was a key component of Spector's "Wall of Sound" production, which yielded such classic rock and roll hits as Be My Baby, by the Ronettes, and Da Doo Ron Ron, by the Crystals.

Blaine also established a fruitful relationship with Beach Boys leader Brian Wilson, for whom he served as the first-call session drummer. Blaine appeared on innumerable Beach Boys hits, ranging from Surfer Girl to Good Vibrations. He also drummed on countless recordings by the cream of West Coast pop musicians, including Jan and Dean, the Mamas and the Papas, the Byrds, Johnny Rivers, the Association, Sonny and Cher, the Grass Roots, and Gary Lewis and the Playboys. On the more "adult" side of the pop ledger, Blaine played drums on recordings by Frank Sinatra and Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass. By Blaine's own estimate, he performed on 35,000 recorded tracks over in a quarter century's worth of work.

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Obituary

Hal Blaine (1929-2019)

Hal Blaine (1929-2019)

Source: JazzWax by Marc Myers

Hal Blaine, a prolific Los Angeles session drummer most closely associated with the Wrecking Crew, a tightly knit group of studio musicians in the 1960s and '70s who added a professional studio sound behind thousands of recordings by pop-rock groups and stars, died on March 11. He was 90. Hal played on 40 #1 hit singles, 150 top-10 hits and performed on more than 35,000 recorded tracks. He was the drummer on the Grammy's “Record of the Year" for six ...

Recording

Hal Blaine on 'Good Vibrations'

Hal Blaine on 'Good Vibrations'

Source: JazzWax by Marc Myers

In February 1966, the Beach Boys began to record their most ambitious album to date—a project called Smile. Following in the wake of the Beatles' Rubber Soul (released in December 1965), Smile was to be the Beach Boys' game-changer, an ante-raiser that would be a sequel to their Pet Sounds album released in May 1966. [Pictured: Hal Blaine, the Beach Boys' studio drummer] You're about to see an amazing videoclip of the Beach Boys and members of the Wrecking Crew ...

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Interview

Hal Blaine on Karen Carpenter

Hal Blaine on Karen Carpenter

Source: JazzWax by Marc Myers

Maybe it's because I came of age in the early '70s. Or because my parents had a “burnt orange" car. Or that I had an apple-green Schwinn Stingray. Or that our home was painted redwood. Whatever the reason, the Carpenters always take me back to a time when everything was changing, and not always for the better. But through it all—the striped bellbottoms, the tough kids in the suburbs and the gloomy news—Karen Carpenter's voice made everything sound just right. ...

154

Interview

Interview: Hal Blaine

Interview: Hal Blaine

Source: JazzWax by Marc Myers

Last week I was on assignment for the Wall Street Journal in Palm Desert, Calif. I was there to interview drummer Hal Blaine, who is probably America's greatest living rock and pop musician (you can read my article in today's edition here). If you're like me and grew up in the '60s listening to the radio, then you know Hal well—even if you don't know his name. More in a moment. Remember the scandal that broke in 1967 about the ...

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