The Wrecking Crew’s five tightest compositions
It takes more than just a few decent musicians to create magic in the studio. Some artists don’t really know what they want even when they make their way behind the glass, and it can usually take a bit of divine intervention to make a song go from a decent, catchy tune to the makings of a hit. Although most musicians turn themselves into legends by woodshedding in the studio, it was much easier for acts like The Beach Boys to have The Wrecking Crew at their disposal.
Because when looking at the best records in the world, session musicians can be criminally overlooked. No matter how many times Michael Jackson’s Thriller lights up the charts, no one’s thinking about the fact that Toto is the backing band, and that’s because they shouldn’t. The whole point of the session was to fill out the sound, and these virtuosos proved to be chameleons no matter who they worked with.
From their work with folk heroes to avant-garde pop to breathtaking ballads, they knew exactly what the song needed whenever they played their parts. That way, the song becomes more of a musical conversation between bandmates, usually featuring them translating whatever the artist hears in their head onto the tape.
Regardless of what genre they were working in, though, there’s always an air of refinement the minute that you hear them coming in. Whether it’s the roar of the piano or how Hal Blaine lays down a drumbeat, these five songs are proof that anything The Wrecking Crew played on had the potential of turning into solid gold.
The Wrecking Crew’s tightest performances:
5. ‘Be My Baby’ – The Ronnettes
The whole reason why Phil Spector has a signature sound is because of what The Wrecking Crew was capable of. Most people could never have pulled off the massive runs on ‘River Deep Mountain High’ by Ike and Tina Turner, but by having everything carefully orchestrated by Spector, the Wrecking Crew breathed new life into a song that no one realised could be so powerful. But if that was the breeding ground for Spector’s approach, ‘Be My Baby’ was among one of his first symphonies.
While the world had seen plenty of girl groups since the 1950s, hearing Ronnie Spector glide over the entire band on ‘Be My Baby’ is a sight to behold. Even though she could cut through any ‘Wall of Sound’ in front of her, the instrumentation is no slouch either, featuring layers of guitars and pianos working off each other to create one of the purest love songs the Ronnettes ever sang. This would have been enough for any producer’s legacy, but for The Wrecking Crew, it was practically just another day.
4. ‘California Dreamin’ – The Mamas and the Papas
One of the trickiest ways of getting The Wrecking Crew tends to come with folk songs. The genre is meant to be fairly subdued and be played by anyone, so how the hell do you shoehorn that style in with something that’s meant to sound larger than life? It’s not exactly an easy fit, but when The Mamas and the Papas came up with ‘California Dreamin’, it was about more than just folk rock. It was about the drama of California, and that was something The Wrecking Crew knew all too well.
From those opening guitar chords, the tone already feels ominous, but once the harmonies start cascading in the verses, The Wrecking Crew are almost serving as the lead melody half the time, especially when they get to the second verses and leave the folk act in the dust in some respects. Artists like Bob Dylan and Simon Garfunkel had already started taking their folk tunes into the studio to beef out the production, but this is what happens when you give a folk song jet fuel.
3. ‘Power to the People’ – John Lennon
John Lennon never really needed that much to get his point across in his solo career. Just look at what he could do as part of a trio on Plastic Ono Band, and you will see the former Beatle musically bleed for the first time on record. It’s not like he didn’t have the capacity to make stunning music on his own, but if he had the best of the best behind him, it certainly wasn’t going to hurt ‘Power to the People’.
Looking at Lennon’s political doctrine, though, this tune needed a massive backing band behind him. Although the percussion of the tune thrives on audience interaction whenever it’s played, having the sheer number of musicians behind Lennon does justice to his lyrics about giving the choice for the future back to the people. ‘Imagine’ was the former Beatle’s way of getting his point across with a bit of sugarcoating, but by the time he made this, he had the kind of instrumental backing that hit listeners over the head when they heard it.
2. ‘Bridge Over Troubled Water’ – Simon and Garfunkel
There are only so many ways that Simon and Garfunkel could make themselves seem interesting without a backing band. Paul Simon’s fingerpicking was certainly unique for its time, but no one’s looking to be a part of a massive stadium to hear two soft-spoken singers do their best with just one guitar. So if they were going to go all out, they might as well do it with one of the best bands out there on ‘Bridge Over Troubled Water’.
While the title track of their swan song thrives off Art Garfunkel’s vocal performance, hearing those sweeping strings behind him is half the reason why it works so well, almost welling up the tears in your eyes for you during the chorus. Although Simon wished he had sung the tune when they first cut it, I’d argue the opposite. This is a song meant to sound like one of the most heartbreaking ballads ever conceived by man, and given his softer demeanour, his version with The Wrecking Crew’s power would have looked weak compared to what Garfunkel did.
1. ‘God Only Knows’ – The Beach Boys
Every member of The Wrecking Crew had to have turned in a lot of time behind their instruments to be ready for the big time. Not only did they have to be at the top of their game, but they also needed to really know the ins and outs of any genre put in front of them when the red studio lights were on. Whereas Brian Wilson was known to play many different instruments, ‘God Only Knows’ is the ultimate example of him “playing” The Wrecking Crew in the studio.
While Pet Sounds was all there in Wilson’s head when he got into the studio, ‘God Only Knows’ wouldn’t have been half as good were it not for the various bells, keyboard touches, and guitar hooks behind Carl Wilson’s vocals. There’s even a breakdown that The Wrecking Crew came up with on the spot, featuring that signature descending scale that feels like it’s ripped straight out of a Disney movie. Every artist could normally bow at the mere sight of The Wrecking Crew, but in Wilson, the group had found someone on the same playing field who knew how to speak their language.
