After cutting 39 (!) Number 1 hits, drummer Hal Blaine, who worked with everyone from Elvis Presley to Brian Wilson, became the first sideman to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
As a member of The Wrecking Crew, so-called because they “wrecked” the business for the blue blazer-bedecked studio musicians who came before them, Hal Blaine invented the architecture for the emerging rhythms of rock and roll as the backing band for Phil Spector and other seminal ’60s and ’70s tracks.
Some of the thousands of sessions he played on include these #1 smash hits: Bridge Over Troubled Water by Simon & Garfunkel, Mr. Tambourine Man by the Byrds, Strangers In The Night by Frank Sinatra, Good Vibrations by the Beach Boys, Aquarius/Let The Sunshine In by the 5th Dimension, A Taste of Honey by Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass, He’s A Rebel by The Crystals, and Be My Baby by The Ronettes.
As Hal Blaine arrives in Cleveland to speak at the Rock Hall on 3/15/06, CoolCleveland’s Thomas Mulready asks about his incredible career, his 12 drum sets, his musical technique, and how he worked with Barbara Streisand, Frank Sinatra and 0thers.
Watch the exclusive video here.
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