Hal Blaine (1929-2019)

As a member of the famous "Wrecking Crew" of Los Angeles session musicians, Hal Blaine became perhaps the most frequently recorded drummer of all time. He played on over 35,000 tracks and 6000 singles, including at least 150 that charted in the top ten, 40 that reached number one, and six consecutive Grammy Records of the Year. He backed everyone from Frank Sinatra to the Beach Boys, from the Supremes to Simon & Garfunkel, from Sam Cooke to the Byrds, from Henry Mancini to Tina Turner, and pretty much everyone in between. And, of course, John Lennon and Elvis.

Blaine's New York Times obit is here; his Washington Post obit is here. The New York Times selection of 12 essential Hal Blaine tracks is here.

At some recording sessions, he sat in for the drummers who performed with the groups on tour (playing on Beach Boys records, for example, instead of Dennis Wilson).

Blaine's most famous cut was the opening for "Be My Baby" by the Ronettes, produced by Phil Spector. It is often called the greatest drum opening of all time (audio only, of course):

Here is a compilation of Blaine's number one hits:

Comments

[Patrick S. O'Donnell]

There was a wonderful documentary on the Wrecking Crew that is must viewing for anyone enchanted by the music of this era: https://azpbs.org/pressroom/2017/11/wrecking-crew-documentary-makes-broadcast-debut-arizona-pbs/