Thanks so much for focusing on Leon, my bias is obvious & I'm not ashamed of my pride & love for all the Okies that have taken part in creating GREAT iconic music. We're all blessed to have lived to be in presence &/or listened to their talents.
Leon and David Gates played together in Oklahoma in 1957, before coming to L.A. Then Leon and James Burton got together for guitar work before getting in as session musicians, with the help of Glen Campbell. A few minutes near the end of an interview with Glen Campbell on the Bob Costos program, Glen tells about how him and Leon and Jackie Ward did a Lady Clairol Hair commercial, early 1960’s. They sang and played the music in the commercial. Great stuff.
Whether or not they were not called the Wrecking Crew prior to Hal Blaine's book, the fact is the name is now synonymous with those 2 or 3 dozen amazing talents. Great documentary, I only wish it could be twice as long. Hopefully the eventual DVD will have extras.
thank you for this video.. after watching this, i remembered a story of Willie Nelson, John Cash, Waylon Jennings, Kris Krisofferson and others, they did it their way, Leon Russell Did it His Way Too, And I Worked . To Make it real you have to be yourself, just like all of the others i mentioned, Leon was a special keyboard player, he had the attitude like James brown as a Band Leader. Give It To Me One The One , James would say.. Leon Was The Same way, as a Band Leader, Words just can't explain the Gift that Leon Had, R.I.P. , ...........................................................
I still don't understand your point. Where is it said that these other musicians have a problem with the documentary? "Wrecking Crew" was an affectionate name that others *within the industry* had given this loosely associated, rotating group of session players. Most people never knew - and still don't know - that this handful of people were responsible for an extensive part of the soundtrack of their youth. This film shines a favorable light on them. Isn't that the point?
Actually, all of us who were music fans in the 60s and 70s read the back of our albums, and knew who all these people were. What bothers some of the musicians who were in the scene of the time, were all of those who were left out. The documentary was produced by the son of guitarist, Tommy Tedesco, so it might be understandable that the names of Larry Carlton, Dennis Budimir, Dick Rosmini, Barney Kessell, Mike Landau, Jay Graydon, and a stack of other guitarists were left out. They kind of had to include Glenn Campbell because his story is so interesting. And if all you knew about the LA studio scene in the 60s and 70s was this film, you might think that Carole Kaye was the only bass player in the scene. There were actually five or six in constant rotation, and more on call. Did you know that the bassist on the first Jackson Five single, "I Want You Back" was Wilton Felder, the sax player from the Crusaders who doubled on bass on pop and jazz recordings? We all thought it was Motown's James Jamerson. Joe Osborne, another hugely successful LA session man on bass, also get shut out, as did Bob Glaub and Max Bennett. Look these people up. The Wrecking Crew is in interesting film, but it gives a distorted picture of the scene, and leaves a lot of good people out.
People should know that musicians like Carole Kaye, Mac Rebennack (Dr. John), Earl Palmer, and even Leon Russell himself do not support this documentary film. They never called themselves the Wrecking Crew. That was a name that Hal Blaine created to stir up attention and for him and Tommy Tedesco to capitalize on their own success.
But they never called themselves the Wrecking Crew. Hal Blaine made that up. Besides Leon Russell made a name for himself songwriting and his own solo career.
What difference does the name make? Yes, Blaine came up w/ that name. Below is what has been told over & over, the ORIGINAL names weren't really "Documentary friendly" names. It's not really something to be dwelled on.....IMHO. Lots of docs are named a certain way to "attract buyers". The Wrecking Crew doc for created to be what it is.....Tedesco's son did the best he could w/ it, probably made some money. At least people are HEARING about this special group of musicians, it's WAY more than anyone else has done to promote them & their place in music history. RIP to all the members gone, especially our beloved Leon. Forever the MOSAT. No one w/ ever know for sure, but MOST likely JJ Cale & other Okie KEY MUSICIANS like Jamie Oldaker, Jim Keltner & Chuck Blackwell wouldn't have ventured out to LA when they did, if no Leon had been born. JJ Cale most likely wouldn't have met Eric Clapton thru Leon. Leon was MUCH MUCH more than a songwriter w/ a career. ;o)) "Although the peak of their output was during the 1960s and 1970s, it was only when Wrecking Crew drummer Hal Blaine published his memoir in 1990 that people got to know them by their nickname. As noted by Udiscover Music, the group was informally known as "The Clique" and "The First Call Gang" before they adopted the "Wrecking Crew" moniker. This, according to Blaine, was a reference to how older studio musicians were concerned that the drummer and his young colleagues were going to "wreck" the music industry by focusing on rock and pop music."
Thanks so much for focusing on Leon, my bias is obvious & I'm not ashamed of my pride & love for all the Okies that have taken part in creating GREAT iconic music. We're all blessed to have lived to be in presence &/or listened to their talents.
Leon and David Gates played together in Oklahoma in 1957, before coming to L.A. Then Leon and James Burton got together for guitar work before getting in as session musicians, with the help of Glen Campbell. A few minutes near the end of an interview with Glen Campbell on the Bob Costos program, Glen tells about how him and Leon and Jackie Ward did a Lady Clairol Hair commercial, early 1960’s. They sang and played the music in the commercial. Great stuff.
Leon Russell playing piano in "The Wrecking Crew", behind so many of the classic hits. Cher and others talking about in the doc. "The Wrecking Crew.".
Gotta LOVE it! I'm just grinning ear to ear and couldn't be more pleased unless I'd done it myself! Thanks so much for the post. Hail to the master!
Whether or not they were not called the Wrecking Crew prior to Hal Blaine's book, the fact is the name is now synonymous with those 2 or 3 dozen amazing talents. Great documentary, I only wish it could be twice as long. Hopefully the eventual DVD will have extras.
thank you for this video.. after watching this, i remembered a story of Willie Nelson, John Cash, Waylon Jennings, Kris Krisofferson and others, they did it their way, Leon Russell Did it His Way Too, And I Worked . To Make it real you have to be yourself, just like all of the others i mentioned, Leon was a special keyboard player, he had the attitude like James brown as a Band Leader. Give It To Me One The One , James would say.. Leon Was The Same way, as a Band Leader, Words just can't explain the Gift that Leon Had, R.I.P. , ...........................................................
Have you ever heard the words"F##K YOU"?? CLASSIC-CLASSIC
Leon you bad ass!
God bless Leon Russell... you are missed old friend.
@leosagcap5910 Thank you so much for sharing this! I love it!!!!
RIP Mr. Russell
I still don't understand your point. Where is it said that these other musicians have a problem with the documentary? "Wrecking Crew" was an affectionate name that others *within the industry* had given this loosely associated, rotating group of session players. Most people never knew - and still don't know - that this handful of people were responsible for an extensive part of the soundtrack of their youth. This film shines a favorable light on them. Isn't that the point?
Actually, all of us who were music fans in the 60s and 70s read the back of our albums, and knew who all these people were. What bothers some of the musicians who were in the scene of the time, were all of those who were left out. The documentary was produced by the son of guitarist, Tommy Tedesco, so it might be understandable that the names of Larry Carlton, Dennis Budimir, Dick Rosmini, Barney Kessell, Mike Landau, Jay Graydon, and a stack of other guitarists were left out. They kind of had to include Glenn Campbell because his story is so interesting.
And if all you knew about the LA studio scene in the 60s and 70s was this film, you might think that Carole Kaye was the only bass player in the scene. There were actually five or six in constant rotation, and more on call. Did you know that the bassist on the first Jackson Five single, "I Want You Back" was Wilton Felder, the sax player from the Crusaders who doubled on bass on pop and jazz recordings? We all thought it was Motown's James Jamerson. Joe Osborne, another hugely successful LA session man on bass, also get shut out, as did Bob Glaub and Max Bennett. Look these people up.
The Wrecking Crew is in interesting film, but it gives a distorted picture of the scene, and leaves a lot of good people out.
People should know that musicians like Carole Kaye, Mac Rebennack (Dr. John), Earl Palmer, and even Leon Russell himself do not support this documentary film. They never called themselves the Wrecking Crew. That was a name that Hal Blaine created to stir up attention and for him and Tommy Tedesco to capitalize on their own success.
But they never called themselves the Wrecking Crew. Hal Blaine made that up. Besides Leon Russell made a name for himself songwriting and his own solo career.
What difference does the name make? Yes, Blaine came up w/ that name. Below is what has been told over & over, the ORIGINAL names weren't really "Documentary friendly" names.
It's not really something to be dwelled on.....IMHO. Lots of docs are named a certain way to "attract buyers". The Wrecking Crew doc for created to be what it is.....Tedesco's son did the best he could w/ it, probably made some money. At least people are HEARING about this special group of musicians, it's WAY more than anyone else has done to promote them & their place in music history.
RIP to all the members gone, especially our beloved Leon. Forever the MOSAT.
No one w/ ever know for sure, but MOST likely JJ Cale & other Okie KEY MUSICIANS like Jamie Oldaker, Jim Keltner & Chuck Blackwell wouldn't have ventured out to LA when they did, if no Leon had been born. JJ Cale most likely wouldn't have met Eric Clapton thru Leon. Leon was MUCH MUCH more than a songwriter w/ a career. ;o))
"Although the peak of their output was during the 1960s and 1970s, it was only when Wrecking Crew drummer Hal Blaine published his memoir in 1990 that people got to know them by their nickname. As noted by Udiscover Music, the group was informally known as "The Clique" and "The First Call Gang" before they adopted the "Wrecking Crew" moniker. This, according to Blaine, was a reference to how older studio musicians were concerned that the drummer and his young colleagues were going to "wreck" the music industry by focusing on rock and pop music."
Cher was HOT.