I was just reading about that drumming legend Hal Blaine when I noticed that Hal had five drum kits permanently set up at five different recording studios as he was such a busy drummer. His drum technician was constantly re-skinning the different drum kits, as he would use different drum skins for different sessions.
Hal would work at the recording studios in the morning then stop for a lunch break. He would then work through until early evening and then go to a film studio to play on a film score.
It was great to hear that there is a film out now on general release in America the film is called “The Wrecking Crew” named after Hal’s team of musicians that worked together in the very best recording studios and featured on the many hit records by some of the biggest names in pop music i.e. The Beach Boys, Frank Sinatra, Nancy Sinatra, The Monkees the list is huge. Hal’s daughter Michelle attended the premier of this film and said at the end every one that was there stood up clapping and cheering, Michelle also said it was a great success.
The idea for the movie came from Danny Tedesco. He is the son of the Wrecking Crew’s legendary guitarist Tommy Tedesco.
Danny decided to make the movie after the many different stories that his dad and good friend Hal Blaine told him over the years, musicians have a dark sense of humour and it sounded like the wrecking crew had a great time while they all worked the studios.
Many years ago when records were made by musicians who were very smartly dressed in suits and collar and tie’s. Along came the likes of
Hal Blaine and his team of younger musicians who would turn up at the studios in jeans, tee shirts and open sandals.
One of the older smartly dressed session musicians was over heard in a conversation to one of his colleagues saying this young studio crew are wrecking our work. This is when the name The Wrecking Crew was formed and it stuck.
It is also interesting to note that Hal Blaine has played drums on Thousands of recordings and he played drums on over forty number 1 singles. Many years ago he joked about having 363 Gold disks in his house saying that if he cleaned a disk every day he could have Two days off at Xmas and then start cleaning them all over again as there is 365 days in a year. Joe Musker
(Drumming Ledend) 24/04/07
Harold Simon belsky was born at 1.00am, February 5th 1929. He says that
he was always interested in drums and drumming,at the age of six he
started off by using two wooden dowells out of the back of a chair as
his first pair of drumsticks. The nickname Hal came when he was young
from his friends and it stuck,he took some drum lessons and then joined
his first drum and bugle brigade across the street were he lived at the
local catholic church.
Hal says that he listened to just about all of
the daytime shows on the local radio and he would play along to the
records,his drumming idol at that time was Gene Krupa. For his 13th
Birthday present his sister Marcia got him a drum kit, he used to
practice as much as he could and he says my teenage years were spent
learning the art of drumming and reading drum music.
He eventually moved to Hollywood in the late-Fifties with a dream of becoming a studio drummer. Over the next 25 years he recorded nearly
35,000 tracks of music, and became the backbone and heartbeat of major
hits by such diverse artists as follows The Beach Boys, Elvis Presley, Frank Sinatra, Nancy Sinatra, DeanMartin, Sammy davis Jnr, The Mamas and The Papas, The Carpenters, The Supremes,The Ronettes
The Monkees,Simon and Gartfunkel, John Denver etc.
Hal played on 40 Number One hits, and 350 Top Ten records, an
achievement unmatched by any other musician. In 2000 the Rock and Roll
Hall of Fame inducted Hal Blaine. Hal was so in demand that he had Seven
drumkits set up in different recording studios all over Los Angeles, he
had to employ a person to organise his busy shedule as he says he was
virtually living at these studios.
His day would start at 9.00am straight to a studio to lay down some drum
tracks, then a quick lunch then onto a film studio to play
drums/percussion for a film score. He would then have a short break for
his evening meal then it would be back to the studio to cut more
drumming tracks, as he lived within a short distance from the studios he
became the first call drummer if someone could not make a session they
would always call Hal.
He has a collection of 363 Gold Discs that he has
at his home, all of the records that he played on. The sound he created
from the huge drum kit became the Hal Blaine sound.
His drumkit
comprised of 12 drums One Bass drum One Snare drum and 10 tom toms
ranging from very small to very large.
George Harrison from The Beatles loved the sound that Hal got and
ordered the exact drumkit for his very own recording studio. Chad Smith
from The Red Hot Chili Peppers raves about Hal and another of Hal's
friends Jim Keltner as being his two favourite drummers of all time.
Hal now lives in Palm Springs and he is still in a lot of demand, but
says at my age i can now pick and choose who i want to work with. He is
77 years of age and it is great to hear he is still playing.
For more information on Hal Blaine please visit his website at www.HalBlaine.com
I was just reading about that drumming legend Hal Blaine when I noticed that Hal had five drum kits permanently set up at five different recording studios as he was such a busy drummer. His drum technician was constantly re-skinning the different drum kits, as he would use different drum skins for different sessions.
It was great to hear that there is a film out now on general release in America the film is called “The Wrecking Crew” named after Hal’s team of musicians that worked together in the very best recording studios and featured on the many hit records by some of the biggest names in pop music i.e. The Beach Boys, Frank Sinatra, Nancy Sinatra, The Monkees the list is huge. Hal’s daughter Michelle attended the premier of this film and said at the end every one that was there stood up clapping and cheering, Michelle also said it was a great success.
The idea for the movie came from Danny Tedesco. He is the son of the Wrecking Crew’s legendary guitarist Tommy Tedesco.
Many years ago when records were made by musicians who were very smartly dressed in suits and collar and tie’s. Along came the likes of
Harold Simon belsky was born at 1.00am, February 5th 1929. He says that
he was always interested in drums and drumming,at the age of six he
started off by using two wooden dowells out of the back of a chair as
his first pair of drumsticks. The nickname Hal came when he was young
from his friends and it stuck,he took some drum lessons and then joined
his first drum and bugle brigade across the street were he lived at the
local catholic church. 
He eventually moved to Hollywood in the late-Fifties with a dream of becoming a studio drummer. Over the next 25 years he recorded nearly
His day would start at 9.00am straight to a studio to lay down some drum
His drumkit