Linda, and others, I have just watched the movie "The Wrecking Crew". It has
been out for awhile already. I had it on Blu-Ray -- but that doesn't make a
difference. You should be able to find it at your local store, or library.
It is very 1970s style. That is, it is made up of all little short clips, with
a lot of graphics all over the place. Sometimes the screen is made up of
several photos. Some of them are cut up into little pieces to form the whole.
Names of the speakers appear quickly to identify them. It is a documentary, so
it moves very fast from person to person. There are many photos appearing as
someone is speaking. Many times, we are driving along the street with Tedesco
as he points out studios where much of the recordings were made. I can't
imagine how this could be described fully to get the full effect.
It was very informative, and so nostalgic. We get to see very young versions of
many of the performers from those days. We see them rehearsing in the studio.
For many, it would be a shock to realize that all the recordings we know so
well were NOT performed by the artists we associate with them. It all came out
with the Monkees -- it was then that we realized many bands could be put
together by performers, not by musicians. Many times, if a song was a hit, a
band of performers (actors) -- usually white -- were put together to go on the
road to play the part and be the face of the group. Herb Alpert used the studio
musicians to record his first song, The Lonely Bull, but was only able to pay
his musicians fifteen dollars each (two for 25). After it was a hit and he made
his million dollars, and was fined by the musicians union, he did go back and
paid them all their proper wages.
Interesting story, revealing the behind-the-scenes activity of an innocent
time. Tallguy
From: Linda Gehres <ljgehres@xxxxxxx>
To: ourplace@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Sent: Thursday, February 18, 2016 9:44 PM
Subject: [ourplace] Re: The Wrecking Crew Book
#yiv0450483683 #yiv0450483683 -- _filtered #yiv0450483683
{font-family:Calibri;panose-1:2 15 5 2 2 2 4 3 2 4;} _filtered #yiv0450483683
{font-family:Tahoma;panose-1:2 11 6 4 3 5 4 4 2 4;}#yiv0450483683
#yiv0450483683 p.yiv0450483683MsoNormal, #yiv0450483683
li.yiv0450483683MsoNormal, #yiv0450483683 div.yiv0450483683MsoNormal
{margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;font-size:12.0pt;}#yiv0450483683 a:link,
#yiv0450483683 span.yiv0450483683MsoHyperlink
{color:blue;text-decoration:underline;}#yiv0450483683 a:visited, #yiv0450483683
span.yiv0450483683MsoHyperlinkFollowed
{color:purple;text-decoration:underline;}#yiv0450483683 p
{margin-right:0in;margin-left:0in;font-size:12.0pt;}#yiv0450483683
p.yiv0450483683msonormal, #yiv0450483683 li.yiv0450483683msonormal,
#yiv0450483683 div.yiv0450483683msonormal
{margin-right:0in;margin-left:0in;font-size:12.0pt;}#yiv0450483683
p.yiv0450483683msochpdefault, #yiv0450483683 li.yiv0450483683msochpdefault,
#yiv0450483683 div.yiv0450483683msochpdefault
{margin-right:0in;margin-left:0in;font-size:12.0pt;}#yiv0450483683
span.yiv0450483683msohyperlink {}#yiv0450483683
span.yiv0450483683msohyperlinkfollowed {}#yiv0450483683
span.yiv0450483683emailstyle18 {}#yiv0450483683 span.yiv0450483683emailstyle19
{}#yiv0450483683 p.yiv0450483683msonormal1, #yiv0450483683
li.yiv0450483683msonormal1, #yiv0450483683 div.yiv0450483683msonormal1
{margin-top:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-left:0in;font-size:10.0pt;color:#FFFFCC;}#yiv0450483683
span.yiv0450483683msohyperlink1
{color:blue;text-decoration:underline;}#yiv0450483683
span.yiv0450483683msohyperlinkfollowed1
{color:purple;text-decoration:underline;}#yiv0450483683
span.yiv0450483683emailstyle181 {color:#1F497D;}#yiv0450483683
span.yiv0450483683emailstyle191 {color:#1F497D;}#yiv0450483683
p.yiv0450483683msochpdefault1, #yiv0450483683 li.yiv0450483683msochpdefault1,
#yiv0450483683 div.yiv0450483683msochpdefault1
{margin-right:0in;margin-left:0in;font-size:10.0pt;color:black;}#yiv0450483683
span.yiv0450483683EmailStyle30 {color:#1F497D;}#yiv0450483683
.yiv0450483683MsoChpDefault {font-size:10.0pt;} _filtered #yiv0450483683
{margin:1.0in 1.0in 1.0in 1.0in;}#yiv0450483683 div.yiv0450483683WordSection1
{}#yiv0450483683 Thanks, Tallguy. I gather this is available on a DVD movie
from someplace like Amazon? For sure I’m gonna read the book, but I also want
to see the movie—well—at least hear it!! Linda G. From:
ourplace-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:ourplace-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf ;
Of Tallguy (Redacted sender "tallguy403" for DMARC)
Sent: Thursday, February 18, 2016 8:30 PM
To: ourplace@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [ourplace] Re: The Wrecking Crew Book What the Funk Brothers did for
Motown...The Wrecking Crew did, only bigger, for the West Coast Sound. Six
years in a row in the 1960's and early 1970's, the Grammy for "Record of the
Year" went to Wrecking Crew recordings. And now, THE WRECKING CREW tells the
story in pictures and that oh, so glorious sound. The favorite songs of a
generation are all here, presented by the people who made them for you. THE
WRECKING CREW is a documentary film produced and directed by Denny Tedesco, son
of legendary late Wrecking Crew guitarist Tommy Tedesco. The film tells the
story of the unsung musicians that provided the backbeat, the bottom and the
swinging melody that drove many of the number one hits of the 1960's. It didn't
matter if it was Nat "King" Cole, Frank Sinatra, Nancy Sinatra, The Monkees,
The Byrds or The Beach Boys, these dedicated musicians brought the flair and
musicianship that made the American "west coast sound" a dominant cultural
force around the world. The film is a fun and moving tribute from Denny to his
father and to the music, the times and to the secret star-making machine known
only as "The Wrecking Crew". The Wrecking Crew is a 2008 American documentary
film directed by Denny Tedesco. It covers the story of the Los Angeles-based
group of session musicians known as The Wrecking Crew, famed for having played
on numerous hit recordings throughout the 1960s. The film premiered at the 2008
South by Southwest Film Festival. Production began in June 1996 and was
completed in February 2008. The film played in film festivals in North America,
and was the closing film at the Nashville Film Festival on April 24, 2008. A
Kickstarter campaign at the end of 2013 raised over three hundred thousand
dollars to cover music licensing and final production costs. The film opened in
theaters across the United States on March 13, 2015. Seven years after its
premiere gigs at the 2008 SXSW and Nashville film festivals (when it was
originally reviewed by Variety), “The Wrecking Crew” finally has a fair chance
to chart on theatrical and VOD turntables. Slightly expanded with a handful of
new interviews, not unlike an extra-added-tracks CD edition of a classic LP,
this nostalgia-drenched rockumentary remains a hugely entertaining treasure
trove of witness-at-creation anecdotes and enduringly potent ’60s pop hits.
Stuffed with samplings of golden oldies, the movie is a well-nigh irresistible
treat for auds old enough to recall the era when acts like the Beach Boys,
Sonny and Cher, the Association, Nancy Sinatra and the Monkees loomed large on
AM radio-station playlists. But even younger folks more attuned to streaming
their favorite music may be fascinated by director Denny Tedesco’s examination
and celebration of the title subjects, a loose-knit group of largely unknown
(except by industry insiders) session musicians, many of whom supplied the
defining licks and backbeats — and, in some cases, actually played instruments
for band members — on legendary recordings. Tedesco began work on the project
shortly before the 1997 death of his father, Tommy Tedesco, one of two dozen or
so exceptionally versatile session musicians known collectively during their
mid-century heyday as the Wrecking Crew. Most of these unsung heroes of the
‘60s L.A. music scene had jazz or classical backgrounds before they started
playing for rock, pop and R&B artists. (A few, the movie pointedly notes, made
the transition only with extreme reluctance.) And all of them, judging from the
testimonies of the elder Tedesco and other interviewees, had the time of their
lives while enjoying steady employment and, occasionally, making musical
history. It is especially affecting to hear and see clips of an interview with
Glen Campbell, a Wrecking Crew regular who played for everyone from Frank
Sinatra to the Mamas and Papas, and eventually toured with the Beach Boys — as
a temporary replacement for Wilson! — before his solo stardom. The Rhinestone
Cowboy sounds hale and hearty during most of his time on screen. But there is a
fleeting moment when he pauses, visibly strains to recall a detail, and then
casually admits, “I forget what it was.” And that moment is all it takes to
remind a viewer that the Campbell of today is a man tragically incapacitated by
Alzheimer’s disease. There are more than a few similarly melancholy moments
throughout “The Wrecking Crew,” moments that emphasize that the past so
joyfully celebrated here is — well, past. But the beat goes on. Archival
footage, still photos and interviews shot in various formats over several years
are neatly assembled in a technically polished package. Tallguy
