The Wrecking Crew: The Inside Story of Rock and Roll's Best-Kept Secret
Written by Kent Hartman
Narrated by Dan John Miller
4.5/5
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About this audiobook
Kent Hartman
KENT HARTMAN is a longtime music industry entrepreneur who has worked with dozens of well-known artists, including Three Dog Night, Steppenwolf, Hall & Oates, Counting Crows, and Lyle Lovett. He has written for American Heritage, The Oregonian, and Portland Tribune. Hartman teaches marketing at Portland State University and for several years produced The Classic Comedy Break, a nationwide radio feature. He lives in Portland.
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Reviews for The Wrecking Crew
30 ratings12 reviews
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Engrossing stories about the small group of musicians who helped create much of popular music in the 1960s,
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5As a session player who came in after The Wrecking Crew left the building, I think Kent’s book is possibly the most real and accurate account of what went on in those magic places called recording studios. Ain’t nothin’ like the real thing, baby.
Wish he’d do a follow up with more, maybe even using chunks of the real words from the interviews. Thanks, Kent, for a valuable addition to the canon of American music history. We need it. - Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Let's get this out of the way, right off the bat: Kent Hartman is a pedestrian writer at best.
That being said, he does an obviously good job at researching, and recreating certain events—if from more of a high-level view—during that phenomenal period of time when the Wrecking Crew could truly do no wrong, and were blasting out of our speakers on so many of the songs I loved, and still love, back in the Sixties and Seventies.
Along the way, he also does give a glimpse into the timeline of some of those songs (god, what I wouldn't give for a song-by-song breakdown of who played and what happened).
So, lots of stars for the subject matter and giving us some glimpses into key events, but dismally few stars for the banal attempts at suspense (the songs he hints at before revealing are hilariously obvious) and workmanlike prose. - Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A very interesting read that really shows what really went on behind the scenes of a number of (perhaps the majority of) pop songs of the 60's & 70's. And that would be enough, the book then goes in depth into the background and personality of the people who'd made the music that topped the charts. I got confused with all the names at certain points and sometimes it felt a little repetitive but still interesting.
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The Wrecking Crew was a core group of talented session musicians who played on an astounding number of top 40 hits from the early 60s to the early 70s. While band members of groups like The Byrds, The Monkees, The Mamas and The Papas, and The Beach Boys played live concerts to adoring fans, these session musicians provided the actual instrumentation on the recordings. It was a big secret and often a source of contention between the band members, who were not allowed to play on their own songs, and the producers, who wanted the recorded performances to be perfect.I found the anecdotes fascinating and often had to stop the audio book to listen to the songs being described - a fun little trip down memory lane since a lot of this music was the soundtrack of my childhood/early teens. The story deserved to be told. The writing is pretty dreadful (I kept thinking of Stephen King: the adverb is NOT your friend), and the narrator grated on my nerves, but if you can give that a pass, and if the subject interests you, this is worth a listen.
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Stories about the studio musicians who helped create many rock and roll hits back in the day. I enjoyed the many stories behind many of the big hits.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Fun read, well told story.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5I enjoyed this a lot. It tells the story of the LA session musicians circa 1962 - 1974. Born in 1950, I've always just listened to music and never thought a whole lot about the musicians. Until recently. I couldn't believe how these amazing musicians contributed so greatly to the "birth of rock & roll" and never got the credit. At least they got paid well. An interesting read.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5This is a rollicking saga of the LA studio musicians who ruled the 1960s and 1970s, backing up every big hit we all still love today. The stories of the producers (Phil Spector and Sonny Bono), bands (Beach Boys, Carpenters, Mama and Papas, Simon and Garfunkel, Ronettes, Byrds, Righteous Brothers, Frank Sinatra, Monkees, Barbra Streisand), and the players (Leon Russell, Glen Campbell) are detailed and fascinating. The most astounding portrayal is of the unknown bassist Carol Kaye, responsible for the aching tone of "Wichita Lineman" and the "dum-dum-dum-dum-DUM-dum-dee-dum-dum" bass line of "The Beat Goes On". The primary premise is that these bands were on the road playing their own instruments but in the studio, the pros took over. The wool was pulled over our eyes and it's great that these outstanding players finally get their due credit. Similar to "20 Feet From Stardom" and "Standing In The Shadow of Motown", "The Wrecking Crew" movie is coming soon to a theatre near you.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5While I was aware for a long time about the "pre-fab" nature of a lot of the popular music of the 1960s (someone had to be playing the actual instruments for those "vocal groups" after all) the virtue of this book is that it shows how deep the phenomena went, before improved recording technology somewhat undermined the need for session musicians who could knock out tunes quickly as a combo and as "authenticity" became a virtue. As for this particular gang of players they basically came together as Phil Spector's house band when he was creating his "wall of sound" and remained in demand from that point on; eventually gaining the credibility that if you needed saving from yourself in regards to musical arrangements you were wise to take their advice! That said, having looked at some of the negative reviews at Amazon, the author might be guilty of imposing more of a narrative then actually existed on his material.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Just really interesting stuff, boots on the ground insight.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Well researched, compelling narrative, great development of each character. The author gives an in depth understanding of the people and music industry of the 60s and 70s. Excellent narration.