The Wrecking Crew!

source: The Wrecking Crew!

source: The Wrecking Crew!

There's high chance you've never heard of them before, even though you've very likely heard what they do, but the musicians nicknamed The Wrecking Crew are without question some of the most important members of musical history thanks to their extensive collection of works from the late 50's through to the 70's. Session artists that were like the A-Team of up for hire musicians, The Wrecking Crew were a part of so many pop culture hits and legendary pieces of music that it's highly likely one of your favourite old school songs has a member or two of the crew on it. From The Beach Boys (whose famed album Pet Sounds was almost entirely recorded with Wrecking Crew members), Frank Sinatra, Glen Campbell (who was himself a member of the Crew before branching out into a solo career), Sonny and Cher, The Mamas and the Papas, Simon and Garfunkel and the Monkey's are but a few of the celebrated artists that members of The Wrecking Crew played with and often influenced with their extensive and skillful knowledge of music and a variety of instruments. A labour of love for filmmaker Denny Tedesco whose father Tommy was a key member of the group with his outstanding guitar playing (a frequently used player whose tunes can be heard all over popular TV shows even e.g. Bonanza's main theme), The Wrecking Crew was filmed over a number of years and completed with help from a successful Kickstarter campaign (finished in 2008 the film was not released until last year), whose supporters wanted the world to know more about these unsung musical heroes and there's little doubting the care and effort that's been put into this production even though it at times remains a little rough around the edges and certain members don't get ample enough airplay. This is a must watch for anyone who calls themselves music fans and an insightful look into the creation of many of the eras greatest hits plus the rise of popular music of that time. The Wrecking Crew is documentary entertainment at its most fun, un-preachy and easy to digest and should be mandatory viewing for those that grew up surrounded by these musicians works, even if they didn't know it at the time. 3 ½ Glen Campbell bowl cuts out of 5

I've watched this three times and thoroughly enjoyed every viewing. A well done documentary looking at the incredibly talented studio musicians who laid the soundtracks to some of the biggest pop hits of the 60's and early 70's, Sinatra, Dino, The Beach Boys, Sonny & Cher, Herb Alpert, The 5th Dimension, Monkees were just a handful of the many hit artists that hand the LA Crew musicians laying down the tracks while influential producers and arrangers such as Phil spector and Brian Wilson wouldn't work with anyone else. Fascinating stuff, if you enjoy the music of this period.

For anybody who has an interest in the music of the 60's, this is a must-see documentary. This one - along with Standing In The Shadows of Motown - show you the real musical talent behind some of the greatest Pop hits of the 60's. At least with Motown - we knew it was the musicians in the studio that created the sound the sound that we loved to hear on the radio and on our 45's - even if we didn't know the musicians by name. With the Wrecking Crew, they played the instruments in the studio on so many big Pop hits of the 60's while we watched bands looking as though they played them!! For me, it doesn't detract from how great those songs were then - and now!!! It was surprising to realize that a lot of the Beach Boys hits were created by the Wrecking Crew under the guidance of Brian Wilson while the band were out on the road touring! The anecdotes by several members of these session musicians were very entertaining. I doubt they got paid anywhere near their real worth - but for these guys, it was a labor of love - and as long as they had enough money to pay the bills, that was fine by them. When you re-visit some of these old hits from the 60's you will listen to them with a different set of ears!!! That intro riff to Wichita Lineman by Carol Kaye is one example. The artistry of all these musicians needs to be recognized and acknowledged - and it is through this documentary.

I will try to put into a few words about this tribute to some of the finest studio musicians who ever recorded music on vinyl. Denny Tedesco's diligence, hard work, and love not only for his Father but the other musicians enshrined here shows through on every frame of film. The legacy of these musicians can not be overstated. If you lived in the USA in the 50s, 60s, 70s and into the 1980s you've heard their music, songs, hits, jingles, film soundtracks, and TV themes. They seemed to be everywhere all at once, but mostly anonymous when it came to actual credit on film and the backs of album covers. From Sam Cooke, to the Beach Boys, Buffalo Springfield, The Monkees, and beyond you heard their riffs, rhymes, and splendid musicianship. As a percussionist I've admired their music without knowing their faces or names (for the most part). Now, thanks to this labor of love I can connect those distant memories with the people who created them. This appears to be more than just a film but a mission for the director and his film company. Purchasing the rights to air the music The Wrecking Crew played is very expensive. Mr. Tedesco needs viewers like the IMDb community to support this film by giving it the high ratings it deserves here on IMDb and on online services like Net flix. Through that support he is able to raise money to keep making improvements by including more and more of the volumes of material this group of professionals created nearly round the clock for 2 full decades. This music may take you back to your teen years, and fill in the spaces as to who actually created the music of your youth.

The Wrecking Crew chronicles the stories of a wide, ever-changing group of session musicians in the 1950s and 60s that are hailed as some of the greatest musicians of all time. The kicker is that these great artists were never given proper credit for their work. Tedesco mainly focuses and sits down with his late father Tommy and his pals and fellow Wrecking Crew musicians Carol Kaye, Plas Johnson, and Hal Blaine. Together, these musicians recall countless stories from their time in the studio. The essence of this movie is the fact that many popular groups of the times weren't the best of musicians themselves and The Wrecking Crew were the uncredited band behind the music. A few poignant examples feature Brian Wilson of The Beach Boys, of The Monkees, and Roger McGuinn of The Byrds speaking at length complementing the sound of these session musicians. Brian Wilson, in creating genius works such as Pet Sounds, recruited The Wrecking Crew because he knew the guys in his band couldn't reproduce the sounds he wanted for the album. McGuinn echoed Wilson's sentiments and recruited the band for the classic Byrds recording Mr. Tambourine Man. Dolenz's story was even more enlightening as he reveals The Monkees were strictly a novelty band whose music was entirely created by The Wrecking Crew musicians. The Monkees themselves were forced to take music lessons in order to replicate the music for the road. Even more revealing, the classic tune, Windy by The Association was entirely performed by The Wrecking Crew, who received no credit and The Association couldn't even play their instruments. This film shared a lot of parallels in that regard and many other with another Little Theatre special, 20 Feet From Stardom, which I reviewed here. Much like 20 Feet From Stardom, classic tracks and their most memorable parts were created by unknown and uncredited artists. Female bassist, Carol Kaye, left her mark on plenty of hit songs in this fashion. Take, for example, Sonny and Cher's classic, The Beat Goes On. Kaye explains that the original sound had a basic, boring bass lick, which she improved to what you hear on the recording. Kaye's story is also one of the most fascinating because she broke through the boy's club to do such incredible work. The Wrecking Crew also parallels 20 Feet From Stardom for its reference to Phil Spector's legendary "wall of sound" recordings. Spector tapped these session musicians for the majority of his recordings to capture the majestic sound he slaved for. His recordings jump started the careers of the likes of Glen Campbell and Leon Russell. Campbell's story is crucial to this film, as he was the first session player to break out and become a hit maker in his own right. The country great tapped his old pals to play on his solo debut and future recordings as his popularity grew. At the same time, the notion of the session music began to fade into obscurity, as more bands began recording for themselves. The phone stopped ringing for The Wrecking Crew, though their legacy lives on in this film. Though film from the era (which is nonexistent for the most part) would have been more engaging for the viewer, The Wrecking Crew is an excellent film and serves as a great piece of music history. Rock critics and musicians rave about this film having the likes of Elvis Costello saying, "A wonderful, touching and hilarious film about the unsung stars of so many records that you carry in your heart." This film is a must see for any music enthusiast. Also, check out the outtakes for some great unused footage!

The Wrecking Crew were an elite group of top-notch musicians on the West Coast who reigned supreme as the go-to folks to hire throughout the 1960's. It's astounding the sheer volume of hit songs that they played on that includes everything from "Good Vibrations" by The Beach Boys to "California Dreamin'" by The Mama and the Papas to "The Beat Goes On" by Sonny and Cher. While Carol Kaye, Hal Blaine, Don Randi, Plas Johnson, Joe Osborn, Earl Palmer, and other members of this anonymous, yet illustrious bunch might not have ever achieved household name status, they nonetheless had an important and influential role in the crafting and recording of many classic songs that stands tall as a legacy to be proud of. Director Danny Tedesco, who's the son of noted Wrecking Crew guitarist Tommy Tedesco, covers plenty of fascinating ground on these extraordinary musicians that includes the origin of their nickname stemming from the fact that they wore casual apparel, their involvement in Phil Spector's Wall of Sound, putting long hours in the studio which for some took a heavy toll on their personal lives, recording stuff for fake bands or bands who didn't know how to play their instruments well (yep, we do indeed get the straight scoop on The Monkees), working sans credit on countless hit records, and how things came to an end once bands became more able to play their own instruments at the end of the 1960's. Best of all, this documentary not only gives the Wrecking Crew their long overdue due, but also serves as a marvelously entertaining and enlightening chronicle of the evolution of rock'n'roll music throughout the 1950's and 1960's. Loaded with terrific behind the scenes footage and further enhanced by a spot-on soundtrack (naturally), this honey rates as a total treat.

For those of us born in the 40s and 50s, grew up in the 60s and 70s, the background of our lives was a soundtrack these guys created. Every tune you ever hummed, sang or tapped your foot to, these guys played it. Did you like the Monkeys? The Association? The Beach Boys? Glen Campbell? Name your favorite 50s or early 60s group. It was the Wrecking Crew. If you love music, if you play music, if you want to play music...this film is a must see for the history alone. But it is also well filmed and edited. The first person accounts of the musicians are priceless. The stories of the value of hard work and riding the wave while it lasts. Yeah, it's good. Watch it, learn it, love it.

As a really lousy piano player I am in complete awe of musicians like these who can do almost anything with their instrument. Riveting subject matter but the structure of this documentary is a complete mess. Part of the problem is that the distance in time from when the film was made and the events being chronicled. It would have taken a lot more money and effort to really do this subject justice. Another problem is that none of the musicians they interviewed were articulate speakers and had little to say but this could be blamed on the filmmaker not asking the right questions. The one exception perhaps was his father, Tommy Tedesco who had a few funny and revealing bits in the film.