RIP Hal Blaine

Legendary drummer, Hal Blaine has passed away. Blaine laid down the beat for hundreds of hit songs in the 60s and 70s as part of the famed studio musician group “The Wrecking Crew.” Best Classic Bands writes of Blaine:

During The Wrecking Crew’s heyday in the 1960s and 1970s, they were the musical backbone on hundreds of classic rock recordings, including scores of Top 10 pop hits.

These recordings included huge hit singles by the Beach Boys (including “Good Vibrations” and “I Get Around”), the Mamas and the Papas (“Monday Monday”), the Monkees, the Righteous Brothers (including “You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feeling”), Elvis Presley, Sonny and Cher, the Byrds (“Mr. Tambourine Man”), the Association, the Grass Roots, the Ronettes (“Be My Baby”) and countless others.

Herb Alpert’s 1960s hit recordings featured The Wrecking Crew as the Tijuana Brass. He was also the principal drummer on the Beach Boys’ Pet Sounds album.

Among the 40 #1 hits on which he played were “He’s a Rebel” (The Crystals), “Surf City” (Jan and Dean), “This Diamond Ring” (Gary Lewis and the Playboys), “Eve of Destruction” (Barry McGuire), “These Boots Are Made for Walkin’” (Nancy Sinatra), “Strangers in the Night” (Frank Sinatra), “Poor Side of Town” (Johnny Rivers), “Mrs. Robinson” and “Bridge Over Troubled Water” (Simon and Garfunkel), “Dizzy” (Tommy Roe), “Aquarius/Let the Sunshine In” (the Fifth Dimension), “(They Long to Be) Close to You” (The Carpenters), “I Think I Love You” (The Partridge Family), “Indian Reservation” (Paul Revere and the Raiders), “Half Breed” (Cher), “Song Sung Blue” and “Cracklin’ Rosie” (Neil Diamond), “The Way We Were” (Barbra Streisand), “Thank God I’m a Country Boy” (John Denver). “Theme From Mahogany” (Diana Ross) and “Love Will Keep Us Together” (Captain and Tennille).

Blaine estimated that he played on 35,000 individual songs in all.