The band, who got their name decades after their success, worked on thousands of studio songs from the late fifties till the mid-seventies, and their presence in the American music industry was so big, that the best bands and musicians of the time personally asked them to collaborate in their albums. So, if they were such a big deal, how come they’re still so unknown?
At the time, music studios in the most important cities of the US had their own head studio bands that would help them musicalize new projects or even compose hits. Most of the bands that were flourishing at the time had great musical ideas and an imposing stage presence, but most of them weren’t as prepared, or so the studios thought, to record, and that’s when these “ghost” bands joined the game. The Wrecking Crew, which started out with four members and ended up having up to thirty members, were all trained in classical and jazz music, a perfect fit to create clean sounds at the studio.
Among the many session or studio bands that created most of the music of the time, The Wrecking Crew became one of the most important mainly because they were based in LA, where most rock (the popular genre of the moment) bands recorded their albums. And not only that: their work was so professional and proved to be a huge hit, that they soon became the go-to session of the sixties, having created more than a hundred hit songs that reached the highest spots on the charts. Among them are songs like “La Bamba,” “California Dreamin’,” “These Boots Are Made For Walkin’,” “Mrs. Robinson,” “Viva Las Vegas,” among many others. They were truly the unrecognized sound of America’s sixties.
Hal Blain, Glen Campbell, Tommy Tedesco (whose son made a documentary to give them the recognition they deserved), and Carol Kaye were the original founders of the band and the ones we owe most of our favorite classics. Carol, for instance, was the genius behind the iconic bass riff in “La Bamba.” Besides them, there were other members who later on became recognized solo artists like the great Leon Russell who started as keyboardist with The Wrecking Crew and also collaborated with artists like Bob Dylan, Tina Turner, George Harrison, and The Rolling Stones.
Though they were the kings of the business and won whatever they wanted during the sixties, the change in the industry that happened during the seventies ended up taking them down from the pedestal they were on. Not only did new musicians appear into the scene, but they were also quite proficient musically speaking and demanded in their contracts to be the ones to do their own recordings.
Some of the members of The Wrecking Crew kept playing, though without much success; others turned to teach music, and others just retired from the music business. Still, there’s no band in contemporary music that has managed to place that many singles in the charts, so though they weren’t properly recognized, they’re still the most successful and most heard band of all time.
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