Incredibly, the great drummer Hal Blaine turns 90 today. One of Phil Spector's legendary Wrecking Crew, he worked with an astonishing number of other musicians, playing on 40 number one singles, 150 top ten hits, and a total (by his calculation) of something like 35,000 recorded tracks. This surely makes him the most prolific drummer of the rock era, as well as one of the very best.
Some of us remember him fondly for his great work on that strange masterpiece, John Phillips' Wolfking of LA ('Hit it, Hal!'). My old friend the Sage of Tiverton is one. Ten years ago he told me he was determined not to die before Hal Blaine had joined the great jam session in the sky. I hope he makes it...
Here's Blaine at work on The Ronettes' Be My Baby. Enjoy!
Dear Sir Ness, you comment so often on popular music, it makes me want to tease out of you what instrument you play. My guess is bass guitar - bit unflashy, but very steady. Am I right or am I right?
Nige, who, like Mr Kenneth Horne, prefers to remain anonymous, was also a founder blogger of The Dabbler and a co-blogger on the Bryan Appleyard Thought Experiments blog. He is the sole blogger on this one, and his principal aim is to share various of life's pleasures. These tend to relate to books, art, poems, butterflies, birds, churches, music, walking, weather, drink, etc, with occasional references to the passing scene. His book, The Mother of Beauty: On the Golden Age of English Church Monuments, and Other Matters of Life and Death, is available on Amazon or direct from the author.
Dear Sir Ness, you comment so often on popular music, it makes me want to tease out of you what instrument you play. My guess is bass guitar - bit unflashy, but very steady. Am I right or am I right?
ReplyDeleteBass guitar would have done me very nicely at one time, but alas I never became even competent in anything except (classical) piano.
ReplyDelete