I had never heard about the wrecking crew, until recently.
In the 1960’s a group of studio musicians, who had no formal musical backgrounds or training, became the studio band for Phil Spector and helped to establish his wall of sound production style. As a direct result of this, they became the most requested studio musicians in Los Angeles. They went on to back many popular artists of the day and in many cases shaped the music behind the hits with little more than a chord chart. They developed so many memorable riffs, for so many hit songs. Wikipedia is a great source for more information on the Wrecking Crew.
Who are these musicians? Drummer Hal Blaine, keyboardist Leon Russell, guitarist Glen Campbell, drummer Earl Palmer, saxophonist Steve Douglas, guitarist Tommy Tedesco, and keyboardist Larry Knechtel. What did they accomplish? They performed in albums for Jan and Dean, Sonny & Cher, the Mamas and the Papas, the 5th Dimension, Frank Sinatra, and Nancy Sinatra.
They also performed on various albums for other artists. Brian Wilson of The Beach Boys used the Wrecking Crew on songs like Help me Rhonda, California Girls, Good Vibrations and on the Pet Sounds album. Ricky Nelson also used the Wrecking Crew on several of his songs. Here are some of my favorite songs they performed on: Mrs Robinson by Simon & Garfunkel, Good Vibrations by The Beach Boys , I think I Love You the Partridge Family (yes, I like that song) and Love Will Keep Us Together by Captain & Tennille.
It’s just an amazing story of musicians who made it in such a different way. They regularly recorded for 15 hours a day and were very highly paid to do it. Be amazing and have an awesome day today. Cheers!