THE WRECKING CREW

Here's a trailer for the documentary about the Wrecking Crew by Tommy Tedesco's son Denny. It's hard for me to write about this amazing group of musicians without an embarrassing reliance on superlatives-- but a movie about them is an essential document of a little corridor in American pop music history. It was a time when rock and roll was changing pop music, but the old assembly line approach to recording was still in place-- perhaps the last gasp of the Tin Pan Alley golden era. This meant that top-notch old-school players were brought in to play cutting-edge modern pop like Phil Spector's productions and the Beach Boys' "Pet Sounds" album, and the result (in its best moments) was exhibit A for the argument that knowing how to play doesn't have to mean that soulless plastic drivel is all you can do.

My comments here are just the tip of the iceberg-- which you already know if you are watching the clip. Check out their site for more information, and an opportunity to contribute to a historic project.

Thanks to Denny for passing this link along. www.wreckingcrewfilm.com/index2.html