Hal Blaine played on some of the John Lennon & Phil Spector sessions in the 70s:
To John Lennon fans, Hal Blaine is probably known as one of the famous group of West Coast Musicians who were known as the Wrecking Crew. They were essentially session musicians who backed so many musical stars of various musical ilks over the years. They were adaptable, versatile and extremely professional and accomplished. You would literally drop your jaw if you saw the hits that they played on but the various artists that they backed. In the last six years I was fortunate to be able to acquire a signed Hal Blaine book.
Hal Blaine passed away on March 11, 2019, at the age of 90. Hal Blaine, when he lived in Hartford, CT on July 6, 1944, was a survivor of the Hartford Circus Fire where many people perished. Blaine went to the circus to watch the musicians play there that day. In true Hal Blaine style, he was asked to help carry a gurney and assist helping survivors to escape the circus tragedy. I remember my mom telling me stories of how she planned to attend the circus that day as a young lady, but family plans were changed at the last minute and she never attended. It shows you the somewhat happenstance nature of life because if she had attended, I may not have been here to create and participate in this section of the blog and report this facet of the story to you and relate it as another “what if” circumstance of what can happen if the wrong decision is made in one’s life. Sometimes we perceive a decision as being right or wrong only in retrospect as we look back on it!
The back cover of the book indicates that Mr. Bonzai worked with Hal Blaine on this book and Mr. Bonzai’s contributions to both musical journalism and photography are well-respected in the industry. They make a great team on this book venture!
AMAZON US:
Hal Blaine and the Wrecking Crew: Blaine, Hal: 9781888408126: Amazon.com: Books
AMAZON UK:
David Goggin Hal Blaine And The Wrecking Crew 3rd Edition
by Hal Blaine (Author), David M. Schwartz (Editor), Bonzai (Contributor)
I try to collect the signatures of many of the individuals that worked with the Beatles or the solo Fabs over the years, so I was very happy to receive the book that had the signature of the drummer who resided in my home state of Connecticut for a few years in his youth. Hal Blaine moved to my home state of Connecticut with his family when he was seven years old and made his name a very prominent one on the West Coast when he was an adult. He is one of the musicians who played on more hit records than virtually anyone else. That is a crown he richly deserves and earned!
More About Hal Blaine
Hal Blaine — Boom. Boom-Boom. Bap. The Beat Behind 6,000 Singles
The Foreword of the book:
The Foreword of the book was written by none other than prominent drummer, Jim Keltner. Jim Keltner of course has backed the solo Beatles on so many fantastic projects including be the drummer for the Traveling Wilburys. In the book, Hal Blaine claims that his involvement in the John Lennon/ Phil Spector sessions was due to receiving a phone call from Jim Keltner asking Blaine to be on the sessions!
One of several Jim Keltner’s signatures in my collection. My perception is that Jim feels uncomfortable in signing autographs for some reason. My perception may be incorrect but that is how I genuinely feel as you do not see many of Jim’s autographs in circulation.
The Hal Blaine book does not spend too much time discussing the Lennon/ Spector sessions, only a couple of pages. However, it does reveal that Hal Blaine and John got along very well and he and John and their sons had a great meal together at a restaurant. I would love to see an entire book about the reflections of all of the survivors from those sessions recalling their memories and impressions of John. Do you think the opinions would be wide ranging?
A few audio samples from the Lennon/ Spector sessions in California. Some of these tracks appear on the Rock ‘n’ Roll Album and some from Menlove Avenue, though someone has posted Be My Baby on YouTube, I do not believe that has been an official release yet.
John was unhappy with many of these tracks and chose not to use most of them on his 1975 Rock ‘n’ Roll album.
The Spector/ Lennon sessions often had numerous session musicians and several members of the Wrecking Crew playing on them. I will not list who is paying on each track but let it be sufficient to say there are many legendary players on the sessions! Check out the fantastic Chip Madinger Mark Easter book Eight Arms to Hold You for further details as to who performs on each track:
The book is available on an expanded ebook edition at Chip’s website:
Amazon US:
Amazon UK:
Some of the Lennon/ Spector Sessions from YouTube
You Can’t Catch Me (Remastered 2010) This is the song where Morris Levy sued John Lennon for using one of the lines from the song in the track Come Together. Author and former attorney Jay Bergen was to defend John in the Levy matter, and it is detailed in the book: Lennon, the Mobster & the Lawyer: The Untold Story: Bergen, Jay, Gruen, Bob: 9781942531425: Amazon.com: Books
More of the Lennon/Spector sessions:
ANGEL BABY. (Ultimate Remix, 2020) – John Lennon.
John Lennon- Be My Baby – YouTube
John Lennon – Since My Baby Left Me
John Lennon – To Know Her is to Love Her
John Lennon – Here We Go Again – YouTube
The Table of Contents for the book:
Publishing information:
A note in the book from the producer of the documentary film “The Wrecking Crew”, which I also purchased. This is a fantastic documentary, and you will be both shocked and amazed about all of the popular music hits that these stellar musicians played on over the years! The producer of the documentary was Denny Tedesco!
The US Blu-Ray of the documentary:
AMAZON US:
Amazon.com: The Wrecking Crew [Blu-ray] : Denny Tedesco: Movies & TV
AMAZON UK
The Wrecking Crew [DVD]: Amazon.co.uk: Various Artists: DVD & Blu-ray
The UK cover of the DVD
Not only are the book and the DVD part of musical history, but they also incorporate an overlap into my interest in the short-lived solo career of Mr. John Lennon!
Hope you check out the books mentioned and the DVD. I was pleased with them, and I would enjoy hearing your opinions about them if you already have them or planning to get them.
Some people can never have enough information and others say enough is enough. That is the ultimate beauty of many of these products, as the ultimate observation about such matters is that you can never satisfy everyone!
Be healthy and be happy!
Buzz
OUR BOOK OF THE WEEK – CAVERN CLUB: THE INSIDE STORY
Cavern Club – The Inside Story
This first-hand account of Debbie’s teen years frequenting and eventually helping to run the original Cavern Club is the authentic inside story of the Beatles launch pad, full of triumphs and failures – and surprise celebrity encounters.
