Hacker Cinema
The Wrecking Crew
2008 · Film · documentary · 101 min
Directed by Denny Tedesco
A celebration of the musical work of a group of session musicians known as "The Wrecking Crew." a band that provided back-up instrumentals to such legendary recording artists as Frank Sinatra, The Beach Boys, and Bing Crosby.
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9 comments on Hacker News
Watch the movie "The Wrecking Crew" about how a group of studio musicians in the 1970s were responsible for the albums of quite a few diverse "bands". Many bands had to then learn to play their own songs so they could go on tour.
> the Wrecking Crew made most of the great US pop/rock albums of the late 50s and 60s
as it happens, that movie is my Substack post for this Friday, complete with YouTube playlist for all the music mentioned.
I just, this afternoon, talked to an old friend who played in a jam session with Hal Blaine!
> music used to be a much bigger part of our lives. Before the radio a piano was a household staple. Kids would learn, family’s would play and sing to each other. We’ve largely given that up.
Recorded music, and our reaction to it, has pretty much crushed that. On the one hand, it's marvellous that I can listen to Jussi Bjorling or Maria Callas any time I want, but we then tend to criticise anything less than "the best". Heck, the process of recorded music has often deceived us: the Wrecking Crew made most of the great US pop/rock albums of the late 50s and 60s[1].
The net result is that when people break out a guitar or sing, we tend to critique them harshly. Why listen to a mediocre performance when we could have perfection? And, of course, who wants to perform when you'll just be compared to the recordings of the best ever?
[1] An enjoyable documentary: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Wrecking_Crew_(2008_film)
Session musicians replace the band members a lot even in the 60s or 70s. Often, the band couldn't play at all. They'd have to learn to play their own tunes so they could tour.
See "The Wrecking Crew" documentary.
Even for "Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass" there was no "Tijuana Brass". Herb was a session musician and decided he'd try making his own album. It was such a hit he had to go round up some brass players so he could tour.
Wow, awesome peeks behind the scenes at how stuff is really done.
It's also really interesting when really talented people - who are usually isolated by the law of numbers - get together.
A fascinating movie about music from way before van halen/michael jackson era I watched recently:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Wrecking_Crew_(2008_film)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Wrecking_Crew_(music)
Take a look at the movie "The Wrecking Crew". It's about studio musicians who took raw material from the record labels' "artists" and turned it into slick, professional work.
If you're familiar at all with 1960's music, you'll recognize their work, it permeates popular music.
The artists themselves were often poor musicians and could not play their own music very well.
After watching the movie, I certainly concluded that the record label added a LOT of value.
I recommend watching "The Wrecking Crew". It's an eye-opener. Especially the parts where they show what the artist brought them, and what the studio turned it into.
While I am really familiar with that film and the players in it, I think your point is rather limited to considering "pop" music, which creates the biggest returns. None of the 'hired studio musicians / songwriters / etc' dynamic applies to a band like Muse, Coldplay or Radiohead, yet still applies to Adele and Taylor Swift. The Wrecking Crew film is a very good summary of the way 'the business' worked long ago - still does to a certain extent, say in Nashville - but the access to instruments and music now has really changed the dynamic.
Watch the movie "The Wrecking Crew". Essentially, the studio fixes the nascent tune penned by the artist, and provides studio musicians to play on the recordings. The band rarely plays, or even sings, on the album. The reason is simple, they don't play that well, or sing that well, and the studio musicians do.
This is one big reason why bands/singers/artists need labels. They're not able to turn the lyrics on the back of a napkin into a credible album on their own. They often don't even write the songs - the label has a stable of songwriters to do that for them. The artist is often just a pretty face autotuned in.
Even if a band can produce a CD on their own, they need promotion, manufacturing, and distribution. Who is going to get their CD in front of DJs, etc.? Who is going to set up concerts? Who is going to handle the financing? Who is going to do all the work needed to run a business?