Who Else Made More Hit Songs?
Many baby boomers still remember the outrage that followed a magazine’s revelation in 1967 that the Monkees didn’t play on all of their recordings. It turns out that neither did the Beach Boys, the Mamas & the Papas, the Byrds, the Association, Jan & Dean and dozens of other rock groups of the era. That honor belongs to Mr. Blaine and the Wrecking Crew, whose members included Glen Campbell and Leon Russell.
If rock is about a beat, and a beat is about the drums, then the 82-year-old Mr. Blaine is arguably one of America’s greatest living rock musicians. Wednesday marks 50 years since he recorded his first No. 1 hit—Elvis Presley’s “Can’t Help Falling in Love.” Mr. Blaine went on to appear on 38 additional chart-toppers, including the Byrds’ “Mr. Tambourine Man,” the Mamas & the Papas’ “Monday, Monday,” Simon & Garfunkel’s “Mrs. Robinson” and “Bridge Over Troubled Water,” and the Carpenters’ “(They Long to Be) Close to You.”
Those represent just a fraction of his output. Mr. Blaine’s beats set hips twisting on upward of 5,000 songs—many of them also hits. He even was the drummer on the Grammys’ “Song of the Year” for six years in a row from 1966 to 1971. In this regard, Mr. Blaine has no living peer. On Billboard’s Hot 100 chart, Mr. Blaine’s nearest rival is the Beatles with a measly 20 No. 1 hits.
Inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2000, Mr. Blaine remains largely unknown today. Which raises two questions: Why were studio musicians even needed back then, and why weren’t teens aware of their contribution at the time?
“When the demand for rock exploded at the very start of the ’60s, record companies had to churn out tons of music with a big beat and a tight sound,” Mr. Blaine said. “To hold down studio costs, producers had no choice but to bring in musicians who could nail songs the first time through. That meant us.”
An unspoken pact kept Mr. Blaine and the Wrecking Crew a secret hit-making machine. “Teens wanted to believe that their idols on the TV and stage were the ones playing on the records, record companies didn’t want to spoil the party, and we wanted to keep earning,” Mr. Blaine said. “No one said a word.”
At his busiest, Mr. Blaine played on as many as seven studio sessions a day, moving effortlessly from the Beach Boys’ “Wouldn’t It Be Nice?” to Frank Sinatra’s “Strangers in the Night.” The story of the ’60s-rock studio scene has been documented in “The Wrecking Crew,” a newly completed film that is awaiting funding for song licensing. Its director is Denny Tedesco, son of Tommy Tedesco, the group’s late guitarist. “All that music was just notes on a page until these musicians gave them punch and excitement,” Denny Tedesco said.
While all of the major pop-rock acts could sing and in some cases write music, record producers weren’t satisfied with their abilities as instrumentalists. In other cases, songs were recorded and groups were assembled to front them. “Many of these kids didn’t have the chops and were little more than garage bands,” said Mr. Blaine.
I’ll never forget how disillusioned I was when my older cousins told me that “The Partridge Family” was a fraud. They knew that I had a little crush on David Cassidy and being much older than myself, set out to ruin it all for me! Then they targeting “The Monkeys”, another favorite of mine! Eventhough I am not a babyboomer I grew up mainly in contact with my close relatives who were all babyboomers so I feel like one myself!
When the demand for rock exploded at the very start of the ’60s, record companies had to churn out tons of music with a big beat and a tight sound,” Mr. Blaine said. “To hold down studio costs, producers had no choice but to bring in musicians who could nail songs the first time through. That meant us.”
An unspoken pact kept Mr. Blaine and the Wrecking Crew a secret hit-making machine. “Teens wanted to believe that their idols on the TV and stage were the ones playing on the records, record companies didn’t want to spoil the party, and we wanted to keep earning,” Mr. Blaine said. “No one said a word.”