What's Spinning: Season 2, Vol. 1
The Wrecking Crew makes good.
Who's an artist you weren't overly familiar with, but were given a few of his albums to listen to? For me, it is Glenn Campbell. It was another artist that my mom truly enjoyed before she passed.
Campbell got his start with the famous 'Wrecking Crew'. They were session musicians based in Los Angeles during the 60s and 70s. At the time they helped record over 100 top 40 hits and were viewed as Phil Spector's house band.
Campbell and his fellow session musicians played behind countless famous acts of the time; Sonny and Cher, Frank and Nancy Sinatra, the Byrds and even helped the Beach Boys on their album, Pet Sounds.
They were aptly named the, Wrecking Crew, as older musicians thought they would wreck the music industry and it was unprofessional to use session musicians. How wrong they were! They produced some of the most talented musicians of the time.
Back to Campbell though; still not a household name and a session musician, he took a chance on John Hartford's song, Gentle on my Mind, from 1967. He left this behind for the studio producer who loved it so much, he released a demo without Campbell's knowledge.
The song instantly became a hit and garnered 2 Grammy awards later that year. This solidified Campbell's status as a solo artist and launched a very successful career.
Another great song on this album is the cover of Donovan's, Catch the Wind, which was a folk hit for him. Which become synomonius with growing counter culture movement. This is also one of my favorite songs that Campbell sings.
Overall, this album is one of my most treasured in my collection. Yes, because my mom got it for me, but also it helped me discover a fabulous musician and a very interesting part of music history, The Wrecking Crew.
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Glenn Campbell - Gentle on my Mind
Capitol, 1967
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At least the Wreckers were real live human musicians- it would be the automation of the decades after them that truly ruined the business.
imo, story of the Wrecking Crew is one of the most fascinating in music history. Always happy to read about it.
One thing -- "They were aptly named the, Wrecking Crew, as older musicians thought they would wreck the music industry and it was unprofessional to use session musicians"
If I remember correctly -- and I may not be, but I think I am -- it wasn't that the older musicians didn't approve of session players -- session players had been around well before and the older generation themselves *were* session players -- but rather that the attitude of the Wrecking Crew and their willingness to play rock and roll, which the older musicians either refused to play or didn't understand well enough to play. And since rock and roll was taking over the music business, the Wrecking Crew took over along with them and those older musicians were left high and dry.
And then of course the same thing happened to the Wrecking Crew, rendered obsolete largely because of The Beatles and the resulting expectation that bands would play their own instruments on the record.