How many songs did The Wrecking Crew play on?
Throughout the 1960s and 1970s, labels and teams needed reliable and proficient recording and session musicians to get the job done. During this time, it was all about getting the right people in to learn the vision quickly and deliver whatever it was that the others needed. The Wrecking Crew were one of the most coveted groups often enlisted to do just that—though hardly anyone knows their name.
A big part of what made The Wrecking Crew such a helpful tool around this time was that not only were they versatile and good at what they did, but they were also incredibly punctual and were on hand to deliver whatever was required of them. Their ethic centred largely around seamless dynamics and group collaboration, making them a dream for anybody to work with. In other words, they made it easy.
Over the years, they contributed to countless sounds, singles, and records, appearing on works by almost every name that defined the entire era. While the list seems endless, such names included The Beach Boys, The Byrds, Harry Nilsson, The Mamas and The Papas, Elvis Presley, Sam Cooke, The Carpenters, Simon and Garfunkel, Frank Sinatra, and more.
For this reason, and because of their reputation as the holistic solution to any requirement, The Wrecking Crew became lauded as the most-recorded band in history. It’s an easy measurement to get behind and something that places their credentials of recorded songs among the 30 thousands, some of which as timeless and classic as Bob Dylan’s ‘Mr. Tambourine Man’ and The Mamas and The Papas’ ‘California Dreamin’.
Who were The Wrecking Crew?
Based in Los Angeles, The Wrecking Crew weren’t just a group of well-equipped session musicians, they also embodied the spirit of genre-blending excellence, some coming from jazz backgrounds with an avid knowledge of what worked well in a studio. Though not famous at the time or even now, their reputation among insiders was almost as solid as the legends they worked alongside.
Interestingly, they didn’t actually have an official name in their early years, and The Wrecking Crew became something more emblematic than merely a band title. After all, many knew of their existence and enlisted their help on projects with an understanding that all they wanted to do was a good job. However, this informality also meant that the exact number of members isn’t known, as many came and went while much of their work remained uncredited.
However, the main musicians included Hal Blaine, Carol Kaye, and Tommy Tedesco, with a series of others joining at various times, including Earl Palmer, Barney Kessel, Plas Johnson, Al Casey, Mike Deasy, Bill Pitman, Lyle Ritz, and many, many more. According to Blaine, the name came as a tongue-in-cheek response to industry sceptics who blamed new talent for disrupting the industry, with The Wrecking Crew emerging as a play on those who show up to “wreck” the scene.
Still, their tale remains one of immense modesty, considering they changed, transformed, and altered the scene in ways that will never truly be known extensively. It’s clear that their impact stretched far and wide, but without the nuances of their working ethic and the ways they managed to become the most recorded band in history, much of their story will forever be shrouded in mystery.
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