Northwest author reveals rock’s best kept secret

The Beach Boys, The Byrds,
Simon and Garfunkel and many of the biggest groups in
music history all share a dirty little secret. They didn’t
play on most of their own albums. It turns out a small
group of studio musicians were the secret weapons behind
some of the greatest hits in rock music.

“They came in, took maybe three or four takes and
‘boom’, there it is. The song went to number one,” says
Kent Hartman, author of the new book “The Wrecking Crew:
The Inside Story of Rock and Roll’s Best Kept Secret.”

In a visit to 97.3 KIRO FM, the Portland-based writer
and former Seattle resident explains he first learned of
the semi-secret society that dominated the Los Angeles
music scene in the 60s and 70s when he met one of the
members.

“He told me these stories and the further we drove, the
further my jaw dropped,” Hartman says.

The handful of guitar players, drummers, and other
musicians gained popularity when legendary producer Phil
Spector first put them to use creating his legendary “wall
of sound”.

“Once Phil Spector had hits with the Wrecking Crew,
then every producer in town wanted to use them,” Hartman
says.

From there, they were enlisted to play on hundreds of
hits ranging from the Byrds’ “Hey Mr. Tambourine Man” to
many of the Beach Boys hits, including “Good Vibrations”.

The official members of those bands didn’t like it, but
they didn’t have the power to do anything about it. And
Hartman says at the time, the focus was on quickly
creating hits, not albums. Producers needed musicians who
could quickly crank out a number of songs in as few takes
as possible. And everyone was basically sworn to secrecy.

Among those was Frank Sinatra’s “Strangers in the
Night,” which even in its utmost efficiency, took too long
for the legend.

“It took three takes and he was steamed by the third
one and that’s when he added the ‘doobie doobie doos’ at
the end,” Hartman says.

Among his favorites was the lone woman in the crew,
Everett native Carol Kaye. Hartman says she grew up dirt
poor in Snohomish County, but took to the guitar as a
young girl after the family moved to Southern California.

“And there she was in the middle of this couple of
dozen guys in LA as part of the Wrecking Crew and she was
every bit as good as they were,” Hartman says fondly.

The secret eventually got out and as technology and the
music business changed, the demand for the Wrecking Crew
waned. But not before this relatively unknown crew left
its indelible imprint on music history.

-Josh Kerns/My Northwest.com, co-host “Seattle
Sounds”