BIOGRAPHY
Hal Blaine, born Harold Simon Belsky on February 5, 1929 in Holyoke, MA, is an American drummer and session musician, best known for being one of the most recorded drummers of all time. A member of the 60's Los Angeles, California group of studio musicians called The Wrecking Crew, Blaine played on numerous hits by popular artists, bands and groups, including The 5th Dimension, The Beach Boys, The Byrds, The Carpenters, John Denver, Jan & Dean, Neil Diamond, John Lennon, The Mamas & the Papas, Dean Martin, Elvis Presley, The Ronettes, Diana Ross, Simon & Garfunkel, Nancy Sinatra, Sonny & Cher, Barbra Streisand, The Supremes, The Ventures, and numerous others.
Blaine also played drums for a lot of television and film scores, including "The Brady Bunch," “Dynasty,” “Happy Days," "Hotel," “Laverne & Shirley,” “The Partridge Family,” “Three’s Company,” ”WKRP,” and many others.
A member of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, Hal Blaine co-wrote a book in 2003 with writer David Goggin, Hal Blaine and the Wrecking Crew: The Story of the World's Most Recorded Musician, which recounts Blaine's experiences as a professional drummer, playing with/for such greats as Phil Spector, Brian Wilson, Frank Sinatra and a host of other well-known artists, beginning in the late 1950s.
In 2008, The Wrecking Crew, a 95-minute documentary film directed by Denny Tedesco, depicts the story of the LA based group of session musicians known, according to Hal Blaine, as The Wrecking Crew. There is some controversy with the name 'Wrecking Crew' as others from the elite group of musicians (eg. Carol Kaye) say that they were only referenced as the 'Clique.'
Hal Blaine died of natural causes on Monday, March 11, 2019 at the age of 90.
Bart Elliott & Hal Blaine (Nashville, TN - 2011)
