I finally got around to reading The Wrecking Crew, by Kent Hartman, and thoroughly enjoyed it. Published in 2012, it’s a whirlwind survey of the lives and music of the two dozen or so studio musicians in L.A. who performed on countless well known Top 40 radio hits during the 1960’s and ’70’s.
These mix and match artists played instruments behind the scenes on songs like “Good Vibrations,” “Strangers in the Night,” “California Dreamin’,” “Bridge over Troubled Water,” “Close to You,” and “Love Will Keep Us Together.”
You’d be surprised by the number of songs performed by The Wrecking Crew, rather than by a familiar rock group. For example, the Monkees didn’t lay down the instrumental tracks on their first album. That was done by the Wrecking Crew.
The book discusses a handful of group members–some in more detail than others–including Glen Campbell, drummer Hal Blaine, female bass player Carol Kaye, Leon Russell, and others. A few big name record producers and song writers get their due as well.
I recognized a number of people mentioned, but I hadn’t heard of most of them. That’s partly because my immersion in listening to Top 40 radio didn’t begin until age 11 in the spring of 1971.
Back then I wasted my youth becoming familiar with thousands of songs and the names of artists. Background on group members didn’t interest me as much as the music itself and the radio stations on which it was played.
Incidentally, if you’re familiar with contemporary Christian music from the ’70’s, you’ll recognize a couple of the names briefly mentioned near the end of Hartman’s book.
The Wrecking Crew was a fun, entertaining read. However, not all it described was sunlight and roses. The music industry is brutal. It’s no secret that many do not come out on top.
The book doesn’t shy away from mentioning the meltdowns of Phil Spector and Brian Wilson, who threw their hearts into their work only to be shot down by changing times and tastes. Others flamed out on drugs, like drummer Jim Gordon, who performed with Eric Clapton and many others.
The book’s full title is The Wrecking Crew: The Inside Story of Rock and Roll’s Best-kept Secret. Chapters fly by quickly, touching lightly and tantalizingly on several people, songs and incidents.
Though the book is fairly lengthy, it left me wanting to know more in several places. It was interesting reading through the bibliography, which includes listings of books, articles and songs.
My fellow blind and physically handicapped readers will find that at least a couple of the books listed at the end are available in the collection of books from the National Library Service for the blind. The Wrecking Crew itself is NLS reference number DB74698.
A hundred years from now it won’t matter that I’ve read this book. But it was a good escape during one weekend.
If you’re nostalgic for oldies from the ’60’s and ’70’s and aren’t put off by some myth busting background on famous artists, you’ll enjoy The Wrecking Crew.