Three legendary members of The Wrecking Crew, Don Randi on keyboards on the left, Jerry Cole on guitar next to him, and Hal Blaine on drums, in the back. This little, epic, gig came together from the work of Newport Beach singer/songwriter Kerry Getz. Filling out the show are friends of Kerry's, Adam Marsland, Teresa Cowles, Alan Lebeouf, and Shawn Bryant. This show took place in the Anaheim Marriott hotel lobby, during the NAMM trade show, which drew about 70,000 musicians and industry people from around the world. I was watching this show live, sitting on a big couch, 15 feet from the stage, sitting next to Jerry's wife, and a friend of hers. I didn't know how amazing of a show I was seeing at the time. These three hadn't played together in years at the time.
How good were these guys? Here's Don Randi, known as Elvis' favorite piano player, swinging with some friends a few years ago. Here's an 80-something Hal Baine on drums, playing a part he played on the Paul Revere & the Raiders hit in the 1970's, "Indian Reservation." Here's Jerry Cole, back in the day, playing a few licks on top of a rather famous piano. These guys were three of the Los Angeles studio session musicians who recorded more than 180 hit records in the 1960's and 1970's.
Elvis Presley, The Beach Boys, Phil Spector's Wall of Sound, Sonny & Cher, The Mamas & The Papas, The Monkees, hit TV show intros like Bonanza, Batman, Mission Impossible, and many more. This group of 20 or 30 musicians played the music on the actual albums for dozens of bands. Together, this group became known as The Wrecking Crew. These were the Los Angeles musicians' musicians of their era. They could play anything, any style, pick up a new song in minutes, and come up with new licks and riffs and new arrangements to make a band's mediocre song into a radio hit. So many of the songs most of us heard on the radio growing up. For the Baby Boomers, and the younger years of Generation Xers, like myself, The Wrecking Crew was the musicians we heard on the radio much of the time. So many of the songs these people recorded our ingrained into our lives, these 20-30 musicians wrote much of the soundtrack of our lives. Do any of these songs sound familiar? This is some of the music the Wrecking Crew gave us.
"California Dreamin'"- The Mamas and the Papas
"Good Vibrations"- The Beach Boys
"California Girls"- The Beach Boys
"You've Lost That Loving Feelin"- The Righteous Brothers
"Be My Baby"- The Ronettes
"Da Do Ron Ron"- The Crystals
"I Got You Babe"- Sonny & Cher
"These Boots Are Made For Walking"- Nancy Sinatra
"Indian Reservation"- Paul Revere and the Raiders
"Gypsies Tramps and Thieves"- Cher
"Love Will Keep Us Together"- The Captain & Tenille
"Daydream Believer"- The Monkees
"Witchita Lineman"- Glen Campbell
Sometimes a thought pops in your mind, and you follow it, and it leads to something amazing you never expected. That's how I came to be watching three members of The Wrecking Crew play with a few younger musicians, one night in early 2008.
The night the night before the gig above, Kerry Getz, who brought these musicians together, told me of the name The Wrecking Crew. Word had it that the name, "The Wrecking Crew," came because they would take a band's song, throw much of it out, completely re-write and rearrange the music, and make it better. This group of L.A. session musicians pumped out hit after hit after hit. So everybody wanted them to play on their albums, to hire these musicians for studio sessions. Then the bands themselves had to learn to play the upgraded, rewritten version, of their own songs before they could tour. Or in many cases, especially in the 60's, producers would cut records with these studio session musicians, and then hire people to be the band for that record.
NAMM stands for the National Association of Music Merchants, and every year they have a huge trade show in Anaheim, California, that draws 70,000 or so musicians and music industry people from around the world. Kerry Getz is an Orange County local singer/songwriter, and she would put together acts to perform in the lobby of the Anaheim Marriott each evening during NAMM. The Marriott and the Hilton are the two main hotels right by the Anaheim Convention Center. During NAMM, the lobbies of those two hotels, have a Who's Who of the music industry walking through them. You never know who might be playing, or walking by, or standing there, listening, with a drink in hand. Playing those lobbies were a great chance for up and coming musicians to show their stuff to industry people, and provided ambience to people wandering by, after a day at the trade show.
I became a fan of Kerry's after seeing her play at Triangle Square in Costa Mesa, one afternoon in 2000 or 2001, I think. I started going to her local gigs a few years later, taking a little time off when I was a taxi driver. One night, in January 2007, during NAMM, I was taking a couple of people in my cab to the Anaheim Marriott, and told them my friend Kerry booked the acts playing in the lobby, and to check the shows out. The couple in my cab said, "Oh we know Kerry! Yeah, she finds great musicians every year to play. You should come in watch them." So I parked my cab, after dropping the couple off out front. I went into the Marriott, and watched 3 or 4 bands play, and talked to Kerry a bit
A year later, the taxi industry had taken a dive, and I had wound up homeless in Orange County. Switching buses in Anaheim one night, I saw a bunch of musicians, and realized the NAMM trade show was there. So I headed into the Marriott, to see a free gig. I wasn't particularly grungy that day, and walked right in. After all, it was a lobby filled with a couple hundred musicians, roadie types, industry people, and others, so I didn't look too out of place. I watched a band or two play, then saw Kerry and said, "Hi." She was super busy, and her voice was hoarse, keeping two stages of bands going, but we talked a couple minutes. Then she said, "You have to come back tomorrow, I have The Wrecking Crew coming to play!" I had no idea who that was, but I knew Kerry herself is a musicians' musician, insanely talented, and she LIVES music. So I knew I had to come back the next night, and I did. That's how I found myself sitting on a big fluffy couch, watching the gig above. Don, Jerry, and Hal don't really go off in "California Dreamin'" above, but in the course of the 45 minutes or so set that night, they all got a chance to show their chops. Like everyone watching, maybe 40 people, I'd heard all of these songs hundreds of times each growing up. I had some sense that it was really cool seeing these studio musicians playing these classic songs. But I really had no sense of just how fucking amazing this little gig was.
So thanks to Kerry Getz for giving me the heads up about this amazing gig, 12 years ago. Here's Kerry playing a her cover of a song you all know well. Personally, I like this version better than the original, or any cover I've heard. And here's my favorite song of Kerry's originals, "This Thorny Rose." As a taxi driver years ago, I could never decided if I was a "wayward rogue" or a "guttersnipe," mentioned in this song. This song sums up the vibe of being a taxi driver, working all night, in the night world, the dark side of life that most people in the day pretends doesn't exist.
Seven years after the gig above, Donny Tedesco, son of Wrecking Crew member, and guitarist, Tommy Tedesco, managed to come out with a great documentary about The Wrecking Crew. It was years of struggle to get the music rights, and make it happen. If you're a musician, or simply like music, I highly recommend watching this film.
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