# Talk:The Wrecking Crew (music)

Question: was Howard Roberts not considered part of this clique? Fawcett5 20:39, 3 March 2006 (UTC)

I have often seen Roberts associated with this group in music publicationsPaulmeisel 12:53, 19 September 2006 (UTC)

Needs fixing: The link to Max Bennet takes you to a list of ice hockey players (one of whom was named Max Bennet); different guy Mike 12:43, 19 September 2006 (UTC)
Does anyone have a timeline for these guys (and gals)?83.180.128.192 23:15, 11 November 2006 (UTC)
Leon Russell went on to some bit of fame himself. Besides Tightrope (a hit in the 70's), he made 2 or 3 country albums (Hank Wilson, I think he used as the stage name).  He's also responsible for the musicians on Joe Coker's "tour de force" Mad Dogs and Englishmen.Bigrafa (talk) 16:07, 22 April 2008 (UTC)
According to the Wrecking Crew documentary the album "Summer Days and Summer Nights" was the first album to use the personnel from  the Wrecking Crew, although "The Beach Boys Today!" clearly uses session musicians as well.  Beach Boy songs before "Help Me, Rhonda" should not be in this list, in my opinion.  — Preceding unsigned comment added by Sinenomine cc (talk • contribs) 06:54, 29 July 2015 (UTC) 

"The Wrecking Crew" is a great name for a group!  
But how did this unusual name come about?  Anybody know?  Captain Quirk (talk) 03:41, 20 October 2011 (UTC)

See Hal Blaine and the Wrecking Crew (which should really be merged with this article).  According to that article, "The name The Wrecking Crew was derived from the impression that Blaine and the younger studio musicians made on the businesses’ older generation who felt that they were going to wreck the music industry. "  Ghmyrtle (talk) 07:09, 20 October 2011 (UTC)
Thanks! :-)   Captain Quirk (talk) 17:15, 26 November 2011 (UTC)

I propose that Hal Blaine and the Wrecking Crew be merged into this article. The article about the book is short and of minor importance in itself, and has been tagged for improvement, because of multiple issues, since 2008.  It should be covered in this article.   Ghmyrtle (talk) 07:14, 20 October 2011 (UTC)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Wrecking_Crew_(music)#Members
Does such a person exist? I realize that the (007) part is bogus but I don't want to remove his name entirely from the article. Can anyone confirm? 
146.201.162.145 (talk) 18:35, 9 April 2012 (UTC)

it appears that he's a real guy! I reverted my edit 146.201.162.145 (talk) 18:37, 9 April 2012 (UTC)

The Musicians Hall of Fame induction of 2007 was deleted with the reasoning that it's not notable.  I ran into this at the Glen Campbell article as well.  The talk page comments I made at that article have been included here, since there are the same points and same argument for inclusion:
I thought about [the notability of the award] for a bit and decided to look into Wikipedia's definition notability in regard to stand alone lists (such as the now deleted sub-heading under "Awards").  I ran across the following here [1].  From what I can see, the Musicians Hall of Fame meets the criteria for notability for stand-alone lists and the General Notability Guideline (see here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Notability#General_notability_guideline).  In this manner, the Musicians Hall of Fame has received significant coverage in secondary reliable sources independent of the subject (I learned what all this means from the article linked above).  Here is a list of links where you can find secondary source reporting of the MHOF induction online at what seem to be reliable sources: [2], [3], [4], [5].  The MHOF also has their own website here [6].  Since notability has been established, I'm going to put this back into the article.  I'm not trying to start an edit war.  But this is a legitimate award and item of interest that should be included in the article.  It's now been included as a part of a new stand-alone list at the bottom of the article. Winkelvi (talk) 05:04, 30 March 2013 (UTC)

The guideline at Wikipedia:Notability#Stand-alone_lists does not apply here. The Wrecking Crew is not a stand-alone list, it is a description in prose. As well, the Notability guideline is for determining whether to have an article on a topic, but nobody is arguing against the Wrecking Crew topic.
In your links, the Ovation Guitars website is for promotion, not reliable news.
The Benicia Herald notes that being inducted to the Musician's Hall of Fame does not help a group become notable: "few know the story of the band, or recognize its name".
The Musicstack reprint of a Goldmine article mentions the MHOF in passing, no more.
Same with the Vacations Made Easy website, which can hardly be thought of as reliable.
I should tell you that before I went around Wikipedia deleting most of the MHOF mentions, I looked and looked for sources to satisfy notability requirements, specifically WP:GNG. I found nothing to show that the Musician's Hall of Fame was notable, so instead of writing an article about them, I deleted the mentions. I have performed this same sequence of actions previously, a few years ago, with a little-known group called the Big Band & Jazz Hall of Fame. Such minor halls of fame usually draw upon the already-established fame of musicians to make themselves appear notable. They are not like the Country Music Hall of Fame which is notable because of excellent musicology scholarship, extensive archival research, steady funding and widespread respect for their opinion. Binksternet (talk) 14:05, 30 March 2013 (UTC)
This is all a reasonable explanation.  Too bad, too.  It's great that the Wrecking Crew has finally been recognized by an award, and then it turns out from what you've said here, the award isn't that big of a deal.  But I have to ask: what harm does it do the article to leave something like that in? Wikipedia articles are supposed to be as complete as possible as well as informative, correct?  Seems to me that in spite of the non-notability, having the award in the article is correct and informative. Keep in mind I'm not arguing, just wondering what benefit there is to taking the information out. Winkelvi (talk) 16:17, 30 March 2013 (UTC)
I'm on the fence here because the Wrecking Crew is not so well known as they should be, and a minor award is made more important than otherwise. Regarding Glen Campbell, however, I would say take it out because it is too minor. Binksternet (talk) 16:24, 30 March 2013 (UTC)

that Strangers in the Night should be included in their discography (or whatever) here.  Although several Crew members did play on the session there really was much more to it than just them.  I say Remove it, how about you?  Einar aka Carptrash (talk) 19:16, 25 December 2015 (UTC)

with including Mother and Child Reunion by	Paul Simon in the selected songs section.  Check out the song, it looks as if the only WC member was Larry Knetchel who seems to have overdubbed some piano after the original recording session.  However my attempt to remove it from the chart have not been successful, so how about you give it a try?  If you agree with me.  Carptrash (talk) 19:57, 10 August 2016 (UTC)

I agree that the "selected recordings" list is arbitrary and so I removed it. I think a better list of "select recordings" would be limited by number-one singles.--Ilovetopaint (talk) 14:50, 11 August 2016 (UTC)
@Ilovetopaint:, no, no don't  take out the whole selection because of one song. Someone spent a lot of time and effort making that chart, it really needs to come back. A much better approach (opinion) would be to add a column or two for noting the position that the song achieved on the US and UK charts.
See WP:INDISCRIMINATE. "Selected" lists are not encyclopedic unless data can be put in context. One way of doing this is by simply listing Wrecking Crew singles that charted highly. Since they had so many top 40 hits, it would be wiser to limit to number ones.--Ilovetopaint (talk) 23:52, 11 August 2016 (UTC)
How about you put the chart back and then we talk about it?  Or maybe I'll try. Carptrash (talk) 00:46, 12 August 2016 (UTC)
@Carptrash: I only saw this edit now, but the reason why I added the song was cause it was one of the songs attributed to the Wrecking Crew in Hartman's book (see page 263). If you want me to double check if the book mentions who was on the track, I can if you wish (and yes I just read the following section underneath it). Otherwise I don't mind leaving it out if it's not 100% verified per following discussions underneath. --MrLinkinPark333 (talk) 17:43, 15 January 2019 (UTC)
@MrLinkinPark333: I have Hartman's book and this is a good example of the futility of trying to create such a list and why good sources can not always be trusted.  Our article on the song states that it was recorded in Jamaica and lists the musicians.  It then adds, " Simon later overdubbed piano and vocals to the track back in New York.  The article includes "Piano: Larry Knechtel" who is/was a WC member, and who presumably did the overdubbing. So does one WC member on a song make it a Wrecking Crew song just because the author of a pretty good source says so?  We are not obligated to follow the sources and I urge us in the most strong terms to NOT do so in this case. To suggest that every tune that one member of the Crew played on should be attributed to them all would be (opinion) a nightmare, a disaster, or worse. Carptrash (talk) 01:42, 16 January 2019 (UTC)
@Carptrash: Alrighty. No worries from me. I'm glad that the inclusions in Hartman's book are double checked with other sources with variability and deemed needed/unneeded based on the specific details. Keep up the good work! --MrLinkinPark333 (talk) 23:47, 16 January 2019 (UTC)

There need to be some criteria adopted as to which recordings are listed in the table.  I'm not sure what the original criteria were - I assume that the list comes from Hartman's book, but I am not sure what his criteria are.  Does he state them?  If so, the simplest solution would be just to state his criteria for inclusion in the text, and then require very exceptional circumstances for any additions to be made to the list.  If he based his criteria on chart success, then I think it would be worthwhile including chart placings - but, without knowing his criteria, we do not know whether those listed were the highest-charting singles that they played on, or simply some sort of selection.  Without knowing, it seems redundant and potentially misleading to include the chart placings - we are not necessarily saying they are the biggest hits that the musicians played on.  There are already anomalies - "River Deep Mountain High" was a very minor hit in the US but a huge one in the UK, for instance, and I'm sure there were many other recordings that charted higher in the US that are not listed.  So, we essentially need some referenced text to justify the list in the table, in my view.   Ghmyrtle (talk) 06:49, 13 August 2016 (UTC)

Yes, we need to think about this a bit, these guys played on thousands of recordings and I am not in favor of listing them all.  However part of the wonder that these musicians create, at least in me, is the sheer volume of exceptional recordings they did do and just listing the artists they played with is very unsatisfactory because a reader would not know what Byrds song they played on and then you multiply that times how many artists there are. I just added the US chartings because it was more information about particular songs and I believe this helps put their accomplishment in context.  Or something.  For the record, I consider myself to be an inclusionist.  Carptrash (talk) 07:14, 13 August 2016 (UTC)
Perhaps in addition to Hartman, we could put a layer of ref's from Billboard to verify the chart positions.  Perhaps we could also indicate that the ones shown are US chart positions--or perhaps find a way to show some British chart positions and indicate which country. Garagepunk66 (talk) 07:48, 13 August 2016 (UTC)
P.S.: We could perhaps establish top ten as a criteria, unless a hit was top ten in another country like "River Deep", and for those exceptions include the British chart position also.Garagepunk66 (talk) 07:57, 13 August 2016 (UTC)
I would have no problem in listing, say, US and UK top ten singles - I have the sources for both - but the problem is that we would not know if it is comprehensive.  It was rare for backing musicians to be credited on singles.  That is why it would be good to know what Hartman's criteria for his list were.   Ghmyrtle (talk) 08:31, 13 August 2016 (UTC)
The list is certainly not comprehensive.  Plenty of songs were mentioned throughout the book, but not included in the list (which is called "the Timeline").  Non-included songs, of course, appear in the index.  The list is on pages 261-266, and serves as part of a addendum or de facto appendix.   It gives name of songs, featured acts, and years, but provides no chart positions, though they are mentioned from time-to-time in the text.  Under the title it reads: "A Small Sample from the Wrecking Crew's Hundreds of Hit Recordings".  He does not seem to have a set criteria.  Some of the songs on our list do not appear on his, but I have referenced both pages of text and the list, so all except for two or three get covered--those songs get separate citations that are indicated next to the song.  Garagepunk66 (talk) 10:00, 13 August 2016 (UTC)
I had removed Simon & Garfunkel's "I am a Rock" from the list yesterday, because I was highly doubtful that they recorded it in L.A. with the Wrecking Crew.  Although Hartman mentions the song in the list in the back of his book (not in the text), I think he is mistaken.  I remember reading that S&G had recorded the album in New York with Dylan's sidemen from Highway 61. I just checked Song Facts, and they say, as I suspected, that "I Am a Rock" was recorded in NY with producer Bob Johnson featuring Ralph Castle on the island-style guitar part, as well as Al Kooper and Bobby Gregg, who had played on Highway  61.  So, "I am a Rock" cannot include the Wrecking Crew. Garagepunk66 (talk) 02:27, 14 August 2016 (UTC)

Just because someone is a reliable reference it does not mean we have to repeat his or her mistakes.  I got in a big fight about that once when someone was quoting the Manchester Guardian whose reporter was (opinion)  too lazy to get the story straight, and another editor liked the mistake so it was a real hassle getting it right.  Good work, GaragePunk. Carptrash (talk) 02:32, 14 August 2016 (UTC)

Thanks for your kind words.  I'm glad that there are other editors like you (and I'd count GHmyrtle as well) who understand that reliable sources are reliable, not necessarily infallible and that the only thing more important than reliable sources are a consensus of reliable editors making good judgments about what we glean from the variety of references we use.  The sources are our tools--our roadmaps and compasses (...and mile-markers), but not necessarily our destination.  It is wonderful having good editors along on the journey! Garagepunk66 (talk) 22:50, 14 August 2016 (UTC)
Here's one thing we could check into... I think that the Johnny Rivers' song, "Mountain of Love" might have been recorded with members his own backing band, rather than the Wrecking Crew.  I'm not sure.  I know that his drummer, Mickey Jones, accompanied Bob Dylan on the later parts of the 1966 tour (taking the place place of Levon Helm, who hated those booing "we want acoustic Dylan" fans, and supposedly quit the tour after angry catcallers threw tomatoes at his drum set).  Certain pre-1966 Johnny Rivers songs, such as "Secret Agent Man", clearly have the sound of Mickey Jones baking him up.  "Mountain of Love Sounds" like one of the songs backed by Jones at those sessions.  Whereas later songs such as "Poor Side of Town" clearly have the sound of the Wrecking Crew, with Hal Blaine on drums.  You can tell--for smoother arrangements, like on Sinatra's "Strangers in the Night", Blaine would use calfskin drum heads--you hear that same sound in "Poor Side of Town".  I know that the Mickey Jones article says that Jones played on "Mountain of Love".  Though the statement is unsourced, I definitely think that Jones played on that cut (listen to Dylan live in '66--you hear that same Mickey Jones sound).  The only remaining question is, were other members of the Wrecking Crew on it or was it all Rivers' own band members?  The list in the back of Hartman's book (pg. 262) says the Wrecking Crew played on "Mountain of Love".  That may be another instance of a mistake.  I have the highest regards for Hartman and would say that everything in his text sections are 100% true.  I have a feeling that he may not have been as involved with the list in the back of the book--that may have been tacked on by the editors.  I'd say that the list on pg. 262 is mostly quite accurate, but it may have a couple of mistakes.  "Poor Side of Town" is definitely the Wrecking Crew.  But, maybe we could do some checking into "Mountain of Love" to see if any members of the Wrecking Crew were on it.  Garagepunk66 (talk) 04:43, 16 August 2016 (UTC)
According the Hal Blaine in his book he played on "Mountain of Love" as well as "Son of a Seventh Son" (Seventh Son?), Poor Side of Town, "Baby I Need Your Lovin'" and "Tracks of My Tears."  More food for thought. Carptrash (talk) 05:21, 16 August 2016 (UTC)
You make a great point.  You have provided the perfect reason keep the song on the list. Garagepunk66 (talk) 06:40, 21 August 2016 (UTC)

The member list should be in this format:

Hal Blaine — drums, percussion
Carol Kaye — electric bass, electric guitar
etc...--Ilovetopaint (talk) 07:38, 24 August 2016 (UTC)

I think that you are saying the list should mention the names first and then the instruments afterward.  We could do that, but it may ramble-on too long (and get confusing).  Doing this would involve a lot of alphabetizing.  We could try it, but would you be willing to help out?  It has been this way for a long time, and it may be in its current format due to carefully-considered judgments of prior contributors. Garagepunk66 (talk) 02:11, 25 August 2016 (UTC)
P.S.: I have re-named the members' list "List of members according to instruments played".  I hope that will solve the problem without having to re-format the whole thing.  Would that be a workable solution? Garagepunk66 (talk) 02:50, 25 August 2016 (UTC)
It's tedious and that's why I haven't done it myself. The formatting is awkward, and duplicated entries are abound since the members often played more than one type of instrument.--Ilovetopaint (talk) 05:23, 15 September 2016 (UTC)

"Mother and Child Reunion" by  Paul Simon is a bit of a stretch.  Did you read the article?  Carptrash (talk) 02:20, 7 August 2017 (UTC)

Also including Dean Martin's Everybody Loves Somebody is (opinion) misleading. While Blaine and a few others might have been at the session, the orchestra, choir are a lot more present in the record than are the Wrecking Crew.  I am inclined to remove this too. Carptrash (talk) 02:50, 7 August 2017 (UTC)

I think that we should remove all the songs mentioned in this section that can not at all be linked to the WC.  Nat King Cole's Route 66 is a great song but just because Irv Cottler played on it shouldn't be enough to get it into this article.  If we want to tout Cottler, or anyone else, we should list songs by the WC that these folks played on. Carptrash (talk) 16:01, 21 October 2017 (UTC)

This is the Irv Cottler section now.  I am going to remove all the songs that are not WC songs.  Which, I think, is all of them.  This is an article about the WC.  All song examples should be WC songs.  Which is not always clear cut, but we can do better than this:
"Irv Cottler First call drummer percussionist for Nat King Cole, Dinah Shore, Bobby Darin, Ricky Nelson and Frank Sinatra. Irv Cottler famous for his use of Brushes on drums, Cottler's most notable notable drum work appears on "Return to Me", "Everybody Loves Somebody", Dean Martin, "Route 66", Nat King Cole, "Poor Little Fool", Ricky Nelson, "I Wan'na Be like You (The Monkey Song)", Louis Prima, "The Bare Necessities", The jungle book, "Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious", "Chim Chim Cher-ee", "Jolly Holiday", "The Penguin Dance",   Mary Poppins, Walt Disney, "Strangers In The Night", "Summer Wind", "In the Wee Small Hours", "Fly me to the moon", "Come Fly with Me" and many more Frank Sinatra tunes.  Among Cottler's theme song work is; The "Bonanza" theme. Carptrash (talk) 15:10, 27 October 2017 (UTC)
I have looked through the usual sources as well as Googled and I find no reason to include Irv here  This is the guy who said, "Like today’s music, most of it is a bunch of garbage. Music has gone back 50 years. I’m not a rock fan." Carptrash (talk) 18:16, 27 October 2017 (UTC)

I am inclined to go through the "Musicians" section and remove songs that are mentioned that can in no way be considered to be WC ventures.  That Hal Blaine played on I Can't Help Falling In Love With You is irrelevant to the WC.  There should be good examples of stuff that they played on that can be considered WC material, even though there is not a straight, even line between what is WC and what is not. Carptrash (talk) 18:25, 27 October 2017 (UTC)

So I am going to start removing songs and info from this section if it does not hit on the WC as a group. Carptrash (talk) 04:19, 18 December 2017 (UTC)

|"The Way We Were"
|Barbra Streisand
| 1
| 31
|-
it probably had Blaine & maybe Tadesco at the session but it was not a Wrecking Crew session.  Those guys played all sorts of other dates too. Carptrash (talk) 00:15, 28 November 2017 (UTC)

@Binksternet: and anyone else, from the article let us know of your intentions.  There are sources to be had, please give us a chance to use them by alerting us to your intentions. Carptrash (talk) 23:06, 19 December 2017 (UTC)

I think we should not be relying on all those "See also" templates at the top of each instrument section. They ought to be removed. It's enough to link to the musician's name in prose, and also list them down below in the section called "List of members by instrument". If nothing else, the redlinks in the See also templates should be removed as unhelpful.
Very detailed additions such as this are not about the whole Wrecking Crew experience but about individual session musicians. Binksternet (talk) 23:36, 19 December 2017 (UTC)
I don't mind seeing the See Also links removed, shall I make a motion and consider that you have seconded it?  Also I removed the Irv Cottler stuff in October (see above on the talk page) and now it has weaseled its way back in.  I have discovered no reference to him in any WC connection, other than he hated R&R. I am also going to remove other non-WC songs and links- especially for musicians wh o have their own articles, which most of them do. Carptrash (talk) 00:28, 20 December 2017 (UTC)

I am not sure why this section is named like this.  It makes it sound as if the Wrecking Crew was choosing producers instead of the producers choosing them.  I think just  Producers would be a better name. Carptrash (talk) 23:22, 19 December 2017 (UTC)

I think the notion that The Wrecking Crew was used on all the Los Angeles 60's records should be dispelled as false, because the biographies often overlook the fact that not all 60's Los Angeles based used The Wrecking Crew extensively at the expense of their studio rights (e.g. recording their own instrumentation, vocals and compositions, essentially the same rights as The Beatles), but rather there were many L.A. bands in the decade who were more than capable of being mostly self-contained in the studio such as The Doors, The Beach Boys, Captain Beefheart and His Magic Band, Little Feat, Frank Zappa, The Byrds, Steppenwolf, Paul Revere and The Raiders, Gary Puckett and The Union Gap, Gary Lewis and The Playboys, Herb Alpert and The Tijuana Brass and Poco to name just a few. I don't see why producers should've been fearful of taking chances with bands who were new in the studio, because let's face it: it wasn't like they were playing Russian Roulette or endangering their lives. I think all bands and their managers should've back in the 1960's stipulated in their record contracts that they be allowed the same rights as The Beatles, as I mentioned earlier.
There is a possibility that the cause of the exaggerated contributions of The Wrecking Crew was the fact that The Beach Boys were almost always credited with vocals only on their recordings, not instrumentation, and it can't always be verified by studio documentation or logs. Carol Kaye says that she played bass on "Bernadette" by The Four Tops, "I Was Made to Love Her" by Stevie Wonder and "Suspicious Minds" by Elvis Presley, but that isn't true and her memory is not always reliable and there are cases of misremembering or faulty memories because of the passage of time, senior citizen age and many years causing recollections to fade, hence that official studio documentation and session tapes are handy, but in fairness to Carol and other former Wrecking Crew members, you can't expect an 80 something year-old musician, retired, semi-retired or active, to have an infallible memory of all the sessions they played on, considering the huge workload.
Roger McGuinn says that The Wrecking Crew could get a song done in approximately three takes whereas The Byrds took 78 takes to get a single song right, but where is the studio documentation and session tapes to prove it? It could be a case of misremembering, but if what he says is true, then why did he work with Chris Hillman, Michael Clarke, David Crosby, Gene Clark, Kevin Kelley, Gram Parsons, Clarence White, Gene Parsons (no relation to Gram), John York and Skip Battin in the studio and on tour for as long as he did during The Byrds' career? I mean, Clarence White and Gene Parsons did session work, didn't they? I've listened to The Byrds' songs on which they actually played on and I cannot detect any faults with their playing, let alone Michael Clarke's drumming.
Don't get me wrong: I have nothing against The Wrecking Crew, because I agree that they were top-rate fantastic musicians from Los Angeles, but I just don't believe it was a good idea of them to be working nonstop at the expense of not just the health of the musicians, but also (by their own self-admitted regret) their family quality time and the rights of the L.A. bands who naturally wanted to be self-contained in the studio. Remember: don't believe everything you read.115.64.25.61 (talk) 05:20, 28 December 2017 (UTC)

If you combined the discographies of every self-recorded artist you could mention between 1962 to 1968, it would probably amount to less material than the Crew would cut in a single month.  By my estimate, they were cutting dozens of pop records a week — at least a few hundred for every yearly quarter. The article doesn't say that they played on every LA record in the '60s, just the vast majority of them.--Ilovetopaint (talk) 19:58, 28 December 2017 (UTC)
Okay, so where in the article is, "the notion that The Wrecking Crew was used on all the Los Angeles 60's records" to be found? Carptrash (talk) 18:55, 10 February 2018 (UTC)
Of the bands you mention, “The Doors, The Beach Boys, Captain Beefheart and His Magic Band, Little Feat, Frank Zappa, The Byrds, Steppenwolf, Paul Revere and The Raiders, Gary Puckett and The Union Gap, Gary Lewis and The Playboys, Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass and Poco”,  it is interesting to me that about half of them did use Wrecking Crew members in some of their recordings.  it is difficult to see what your point is, but perhaps we can find it.
You then state, “I don't see why producers should've been fearful of taking chances with bands who were new in the studio, because let's face it: it wasn't like they were playing Russian Roulette or endangering their lives.”  It is all about money, which for a lot of these folks, the producers and stock holders in the record companies, to waste that was to practically endanger their lives.  Truman Capote, in the screenplay for Beat the Devil has Peter Lorrie ask, “Time, time, what is time” and part of the answer is, “Americans say it is money.”  So wasting time in the studio was wasting money.  The most utilized session musicians (opinion) were drummers because they were the ones most likely to miss one beat - “oh gotta start all over again” or to speed up a bit going into the chorus, “oh gotta start all over again” etc.  Producers were not using session musicians to be cruel to the band members, they were doing it to get the best product out the fastest.
You then postulate, “I think all bands and their managers should've back in the 1960's stipulated in their record contracts that they be allowed the same rights as The Beatles, as I mentioned earlier.”  Are you suggesting that the Beatles had something in their contract with someone stating no session musicians were to be used?  How then do you explain the fact that Andy White plays drums on some versions of their first single, Love Me Do?  You are also betraying remarkable naivety as to how the music business worked in the 1960s. Bands did nopt get to stipulate anything back then and it was as likely that the manager was out to screw them just as badly as the recording companies.  And there is more but I need lunch. Carptrash (talk) 19:44, 10 February 2018 (UTC)
I never insinuated that, but what I meant with the stipulation of being allowed to play on their own recordings, I meant in general and only hire studio players if and when needed and The Beatles are a prime example of this. I meant the tone of the article appeared to insinuate that no 60's band played on their own recordings, which contrary to what journalists or propagandists try to write, is absolutely untrue. I've read that according to David Crosby, management pressurized Columbia Records to let The Byrds play on the remaining 10 tracks on their first album.
If bands didn't get to stipulate anything in their contracts, then The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, The Velvet Underground, Vanilla Fudge, The Mothers of Invention, Buffalo Springfield, The Turtles, The Byrds, The Move, The Doors, Deep Purple, Led Zeppelin and Pink Floyd would never have played on their own records and if record labels or managers were screwing them, then they wouldn't have been able to live comfortable lifestyles and buy all the nice things they had. I speak from my own observations of these anecdotes and I'm sure the 60-78 takes was probably an exaggeration, because that is an insane amount of takes, even for the 60's, and The Beatles had no trouble getting through songs in a number of takes, but they rarely did as many as 100 takes. I mean The Beatles were capable of recording some of their songs in one solitary take and The Velvet Underground recorded "Sister Ray" in one take. My point is that I'm frustrated with how many journalists try to give the impression that lots of 60's bands (e.g. The Beach Boys) were replaced in the studio by studio professionals as if they were incapable of playing on their own records and The Beach Boys have fallen victim to this misconception as have Paul Revere and The Raiders (Phil Volk denies that The Wrecking Crew exclusively filled in for them, but rather they were only hired as augmenting musicians, as does Gary Lewis). A common misconception is that Dennis Wilson was replaced exclusively by studio drummers, but that is again untrue and if you want further proof, read interviews with musicians who deny the myths and Jon Stebbins' FAQ book about The Beach Boys as well as Craig Slowinski, because he is a very reliable source with The Beach Boys.
I probably did exaggerate my words a bit, but I was saying these things to make a point, and in regards to the aforementioned stipulation, Hartmann says in his book that perhaps because of The Monkees and The Grass Roots, bands began to stipulate that they be allowed to play their own instruments in the studio. For purposes of clarification, he probably means in general and again, I never suggested meaning that session musicians should be eliminated from their individual recording methods altogether.
203.221.15.210 (talk) 00:30, 11 February 2018 (UTC)

Hint. "stipulate"and "insinuate" are words that need to be used carefully and NEVER more than once each in a posting. Also you don't exaggerate words you exaggerate with words, etc. Carptrash (talk) 05:04, 11 February 2018 (UTC)

It says that the musicians were not publicly recognized in their own time, but that is not entirely true, because if you look at Discogs, you'll see that individual members, including Hal Blaine, got credited for their work on album sleeves as early as 1963 and Joe Osborn even got credited on Ricky Nelson's album sleeves before he was a part of The Wrecking Crew.
For purposes of clarification, I'm talking about album credits in general and again, I'm not saying that The Wrecking Crew were collectively credited as such in album sleeves, but rather, I mean musicians getting individual credits.
115.64.244.198 (talk) 23:57, 23 April 2019 (UTC)

I am looking at Leonard Cohen's Death of a Ladies' Man, produced by Phil Spector, drums by Hal Blaine and Jim Keltner, bass Ray Pohlman, guitar Ray Pohlman, keyboards, Don Randi, Steve Douglas, sax & flute, and Nino Tempo is all over it, even Larry Levine in the engineer.  So can this be added to the discography or do I need to find a source saying that this is the WC? Carptrash (talk) 19:34, 4 January 2018 (UTC)

It's already mentioned.--Ilovetopaint (talk) 08:59, 5 January 2018 (UTC)

"(occasionally credited as the Phil Spector Wall of Sound Orchestra)"
The PSWoSO is not the same as the Wrecking Crew.  It is just another configuration that some of the members played in, like all the other band's albums and singles that they played on. It is like saying (writing) the WC was occasionally credited as The Byrds, or The Grass Roots, or The Carpenters, etc. This might belong in the article somewhere but not in the lede as an alternate name. Carptrash (talk) 18:54, 10 February 2018 (UTC)

Read the article carefully. The only reason "the Wrecking Crew" got established was because they were the musicians Phil Spector used. "The Wrecking Crew" and "Phil Spector's band" are one and the same. And they were never credited as "the Byrds" or "the Grass Roots". They weren't credited at all except on rare occasions. --Ilovetopaint (talk) 15:13, 11 February 2018 (UTC)
Okay, I'll bite.  So where is the Wrecking Crew "credited as the PSWoSO?" And you are going to say "On such and such a record" and I am going to say, "They are credited as "the Wrecking Crew?" and you'll say, "no as the PSWoSO" and I'll say, "That's just another band these guys played for."   So . . ...where is the credit for the WC? Carptrash (talk) 17:40, 11 February 2018 (UTC)
@Binksternet:  @Garagepunk66: I’d sort of like to have you involved in this discussion.  That is, should the “Phil Spector Wall of Sound Orchestra” be mentioned as an alternate name for the Wrecking Crew in the lede?  Or anywhere? Carptrash (talk) 19:16, 11 February 2018 (UTC)
Certainly, yes. Christian Matijas-Mecca mentions two alternate names for the Wrecking Crew in the footnotes of the book The Words and Music of Brian Wilson: "The First Call Gang and The Phil Spector Wall of Sound Orchestra were also used to describe this collection of musicians." Binksternet (talk) 06:30, 12 February 2018 (UTC)
There is no doubt that we should mention "PSWoSO" somewhere in the lead section.  The question is where (?).  My only slight reservation about saying it in the very first sentence might be the name's lack of regularity of use.  It is not a commonly held moniker (and was only used for Phil Spector's records), so it may apply more in a subcondition (i.e. to be explained a few sentences later).  For instance, should we say "...sometimes credited as Luke the Drifter..." in the first sentence of the Hank Williams article just because he cut certain records under that name (?)—we could definitely add mention of his pseudonym to the lead section, but would the saying it in first sentence be going too far there too? That's just a thought.  I don't have the answers, so I could be wrong.  I guess we'll figure it out.  Garagepunk66 (talk) 10:29, 13 February 2018 (UTC)
"The Wrecking Crew" and "Phil Spector's band" are one and the same."  Sop we could say that the Phil Spector Wall of Sound Orchestra plays on Mr Tambourine Man and Mrs Robinson and all those other songs because that's what "one and the same" says to me. And I don't agree. Carptrash (talk) 00:58, 14 February 2018 (UTC)
Carptrash, Ilovetopaint, Binksternet, you all make valid points, so I was wondering if there is an alternative we could find that would be acceptable to everyone.  Maybe we could keep mention of PSWoSO in bold letters somewhere in the lead section, but put it slightly later, rather than in the first sentence.  Would that work?  That's just a thought.  Garagepunk66 (talk) 02:16, 14 February 2018 (UTC)
@Carptrash: I don't see the issue. It's interesting that you use "Mrs. Robinson" as an example when it's barely a Wrecking Crew record - only Hal Blaine and Larry Knechtel are on it. You don't appear to understand that "the Wrecking Crew" is not a band, it's a pool of musicians who got famous specifically for their work with Phil Spector. It wasn't like a random group of jazz musicians who accidentally became the backing band for every pop singer in LA in the '60s.  --Ilovetopaint (talk) 03:54, 14 February 2018 (UTC)
@Ilovetopaint: Oh what, we have to do credentials now?  I started editing the Hal Blaine article in 2004, Earl Palmer the same year.  Jim Gordon (musician) a few years later. Joe Osborn in 2006.  I started the Ray Pohlman article.  I bought Hal Blaine’s autobiography, which I dated on the inside cover “June 25, 1995.”  I have Earl’s autobiography, I have Max Weinman’s, “The Big Beat.”  I have Tommy Tedesco’s autobiography. I have the Hartman book.  I emailed back and forth with Carol Kaye in around 2000.  She told me Hal’s joke about the Golden Bar.  I have 2 Hal Blaine CDs.  So please do not pull the condescending crap on me. I also emailed Christian Matijas-Mecca, but enough of this. You’ve got your Phil Spector Wall of Sound Orchestra in the lede where I do not believe that it belongs.   Carptrash (talk) 05:20, 14 February 2018 (UTC)
...And? Those are authoritative sources, but not necessarily reliable. Not even they can agree on what their supposed "band" nickname was. --Ilovetopaint (talk) 14:53, 14 February 2018 (UTC)
So, @Ilovetopaint:, we are back at it.  Could you at least supply a referenced list of who plays in the the Phil Spector Wall of Sound Orchestra? Carptrash (talk) 18:23, 17 August 2018 (UTC)

Yeah it's right here: The Wrecking Crew (music)#List of members --Ilovetopaint (talk) 20:28, 17 August 2018 (UTC)
No, that's a list of Wrecking Crew members.  I'd like to see a referenced list of the members of "the Phil Spector Wall of Sound Orchestra". Carptrash (talk) 20:41, 17 August 2018 (UTC)
They're one and the same --Ilovetopaint (talk) 20:55, 17 August 2018 (UTC)
That is what you keep saying but I don't see the reference that says so. Do you feel that the name can be applied to them when they are not playing for Phil? Because the other names, "the clique" and "first call guys" (or whatever) CAN be used interchangeably with "Wrecking Crew." Can it be said that the Phil Spector Wall of Sound Orchestra plays on The Beat Goes On (Sonny & Cher song) or You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin' ?  Carptrash (talk) 21:11, 17 August 2018 (UTC)
WP:DEADHORSE, take another look at the above discussion please. And to answer your question, yes. I've never read a biography or article about the Wrecking Crew that failed to acknowledge them as "Phil Spector's backing musicians" or something to that effect.--Ilovetopaint (talk) 04:15, 18 August 2018 (UTC)
I am not claiming that the WC did not play on records labeled "the Phil Spector Wall of Sound Orchestra".  But in saying that SPWoSO is another name for the WC, it means that you could say that the PSWoSO backed up the Mamas and Papas, and the Partridge Family and The 5th Dimension and you can't say that.  The SPWoSO was a name that appeared on a record label, like the Mamas and Papas, and the Partridge Family and The 5th Dimension.  The WC played on all that stuff but you can't just interchange the names. The other names given, "The Clique" and "the First Call Bunch" (or whatever) can be used interchangeably with "WC." You can say "The Clique" and "the First Call Bunch" played on the Mamas and Papas, and the Partridge Family and The 5th Dimension and even the PSWoSO, but all you should say that the PSWoSO played one are records that are labeled with that name. If you continue to think like a dead horse I will continue to think, "No, there must be a thinking something in there. But since everyone else (and I know lots of folks watch this article) is strangely silent on this subject I am not going to revert you. Carptrash (talk) 05:24, 18 August 2018 (UTC)

I think there is too much ink devoted to the non-Wrecking Crew work of the musicians.  So I would like to removes things such as "Years later, in 1978, Douglas played on Bob Dylan's 1978 "Street-Legal" album and accompanied Dylan on tour that year as part of his eight piece backing band. " from the text.  And a lot more.  Steve Douglas is not any more impressive (opinion) because 15 years after playing in the WC he played with Dylan.  Pretty much all of these musicians have their own articles if folks want more of them. What's your take on this? Carptrash (talk) 01:11, 18 August 2018 (UTC)  
I agree, and tried to trim a lot of this stuff in the past, but most of it was reverted. --Ilovetopaint (talk) 22:27, 19 September 2018 (UTC)

and moved it here to be discussed.

"They were also occasionally credited as the "Phil Spector Wall of Sound Orchestra" for a few of his later records."
I am not sure if the reference will show up here but I went to it and there is no mention of the "Phil Spector Wall of Sound Orchestra" anywhere in the piece. I will beat this dead horse a bit more and say that the "Phil Spector Wall of Sound Orchestra" was NOT an AKA for the Crew, as the "Clique" and the "First Call Gang" (Bunch?) was.  Those are generic names and can be applied to anything that these folks played on.  The "Phil Spector Wall of Sound Orchestra" can only be used on tracks that use those words on the label. Carptrash (talk) 16:16, 7 September 2018 (UTC)

The logic you're pushing forth here makes no sense. They're all generic names. It doesn't actually mean anything whether you call them the Wall of Sound or the Clique. The only thing that binds these people together is that they were a group of musicians who became famous through their association with Phil Spector. Names like "Phil Spector's Wall of Sound" or "Wall of Sound Orchestra" are the only monikers that we know for sure existed among these musicians in the '60s or '70s. --Ilovetopaint (talk) 22:23, 19 September 2018 (UTC)

The photo caption lists Carol Kaye as bassist and, though she was indeed a bassist for the Wrencking Crew and perhaps the most badass bass player in the biz, inspection of that particular photo reveals the person holding a bass guitar (image right) is a brunette male not a blond female (which Kaye is). Also, the face shape is wrong for Kaye. I don't know what Wiki people do when they find such errors but I thought I'd point it out and hope someone who can either replace the image or fix the caption (hopefully without delisting Kaye entirely). CoveArts (talk) 04:24, 4 October 2020 (UTC)

Kaye was also a very talentel guitar player and in this picture (which does not label her as a bassist) she is right behind the second keyboard player, blond as you said, playing some kind of a Fender 6 string.  You can find larger versions of this picture and it is pretty clear. Carptrash (talk) 04:48, 4 October 2020 (UTC)

These bands aren't notable for being backing bands in the same sense as the rest of the bands listed in the "see also" section. That said, I'm gonna replace them with the Nashville A-Team and the Salsoul Orchestra.2601:153:881:3D60:20CF:5F56:F5FB:33BD (talk) 12:42, 8 January 2022 (UTC)

Couldn't the article (being so short) of the recently deceased Cipriano be merged with this article? Editrite! (talk) 09:45, 15 November 2022 (UTC)

There seem to be sufficient sources, and he seems to be of sufficient notability, for his article to be expanded.  Ghmyrtle (talk) 10:18, 15 November 2022 (UTC)

Hello. I started a page for Gary L. Coleman the wrecking crew’s percussionist. It has been nominated for deletion for lacking notable citations. Anyone out there who can help edit or discuss why he shouldnt be deleted? Renatak (talk) 04:04, 2 May 2024 (UTC)