The Wrecking Crew (46 page)

Michel Rubini (right), along with Sonny and Cher, during his later tenure as the musical director for their hit television series,
The Sonny & Cher Comedy Hour,
early Seventies.
Courtesy of Michel Rubini

Just two good ol' Arkansas boys: friends and fellow guitarists Glen Campbell (left) and Louie Shelton pose in the studio around the time of Campbell's breakout success in 1969 on
The Glen Campbell Good-time Hour
on CBS. Shelton was just getting hot as part of the Wrecking Crew as Campbell was leaving for good.
Courtesy of Louie Shelton

Mark Lindsay, solo star and the lead singer of Paul Revere & the Raiders, confers with session guitarist Louie Shelton inside Studio A within the CBS Columbia Square facilities in late 1969. Shelton would be back in December 1970, along with Hal Blaine and Carol Kaye, to help Lindsay cut “Indian Reservation.”
Courtesy of Louie Shelton

Gary Coleman plays percussion in the studio, early Seventies.
Courtesy of Gary Coleman

The transition continues: guitarist Richard Bennett, Wrecking Crewer Al Casey's youthful protégé, jams in the studio in 1973 with Joe Osborn (far left) and Gary Coleman (wearing shades behind Osborn). Bennett, one of the young guns then coming on strong, also worked as Neil Diamond's principal guitarist for seventeen years. Since 1994, he has continued in the same capacity for Mark Knopfler.
Courtesy of Richard Bennett

The famous stamp that Hal Blaine used on the pages of his drum charts in order to remember his place. The unique imprint also seemed to find its way onto other surfaces in recording studios all over town.
Courtesy of Hal Blaine

The changing of the guard: from left to right, Michael Omartian, Johnny Rivers, Jerry Allison, Jim Gordon, Joe Sidore (engineer), Joe Osborn, Dean Parks, and Larry Carlton during the 1972 recording of Rivers's
L.A. Reggae
album, which featured Larry Knechtel (not pictured) playing the classic piano part on “Rockin' Pneumonia and the Boogie Woogie Flu.” Omartian, Parks, and Carlton were among the new breed of sidemen that gradually began to replace the Wrecking Crew.
Courtesy of Johnny Rivers

The check that Michel Rubini returned to Phil Spector after the final, aborted recording date at Studio 56 in 1992. Rubini felt the payment was undeserved. An appreciative Spector promptly sent it back to the keyboardist with a friendly note written in red that said, “Thanks, Michel. Happy Holidays! See you soon—Warmest Regards, Phil.” The two would never work together again.
Courtesy of Michel Rubini

About the Author

 

Kent Hartman is a longtime music industry entrepreneur who has worked with dozens of well-known artists, including Three Dog Night, Steppenwolf, Hall & Oates, Counting Crows, and Lyle Lovett. He has written for
American Heritage, The Oregonian,
and the
Portland Tribune.
Hartman teaches marketing at Portland State University and for several years produced
The Classic Comedy Break,
a nationwide radio feature. He lives in Portland.

 

THOMAS DUNNE BOOKS
.

An imprint of St. Martin's Press.

 

THE WRECKING CREW: THE INSIDE STORY OF ROCK AND ROLL'S BEST-KEPT SECRET.
Copyright © 2012 by Kent Hartman. All rights reserved. For information, address St. Martin's Press, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10010.

 

www.thomasdunnebooks.com

www.stmartins.com

 

The Library of Congress has cataloged the print edition as follows:

Hartman, Kent.

The Wrecking Crew : the inside story of rock and roll's best- kept secret / Kent Hartman.—1st ed.

    p. cm.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN 978-0-312-61974-9 (hardcover)

ISBN 978-1-4299-4137-2 (e-book)

1.  Wrecking Crew (Musical group)   2.  Rock musicians—California—Biography.   I.  Title.

ML421.W74H37 2012

781.66092'2—dc23

[B]

2011033233

e-ISBN 9781429941372

First Edition: February 2012