I remember hearing about this film being produced as early as 2004, and remembering that I couldn't wait to see it. I had, for the most part, forgotten about it, and missed it when it made its festival run in 2008, but interestingly as it turns out, it wasn't until this year that it made a theatrical run, a fact to which I was completely oblivious. It wasn't until a few nights ago when hunting for my next film to watch that the title popped back into my head and I found myself renting it on iTunes.
I've been sucked into a number of documentary films in the past couple of years that deal with music, but more notably, groups of musicians and producers who built empires in far flung places. Most of these people, while excellent musicians and producers in their own right, all seemed to have flown the flag of underdog at one time or another in their careers, but what they managed to achieve in terms of their contributions to pop culture is nothing short of incredible.
One such group, based in Los Angeles was known as "The Wrecking Crew", given the moniker because the established studio musicians at the time felt that the new crop of younger, hipper, rock oriented players would wreck the music industry. They achieved something decidedly contrarian to this prediction. Playing with such producing giants as The Beach Boys Brian Wilson and Phil Specter, this group of musicians played on some of the most memorable tracks of our time. They took music that otherwise would have come off as mundane had it been played as written and turned it into something special with their embellishments.
It really is a pretty fascinating look into the development of the LA music scene and the creation of some of the most recognizable music of an entire generation.
The film itself was, as produced, about average. There was nothing particularly special about its production techniques or shooting; it didn't have some of the flair of Muscle Shoals for example, but the content was well presented, and the revelations at times, at least for me, were striking. I for one had no idea that Glen Campbell got his start as a sessions player in this crew, or that a woman, Carol Kaye, was behind the signature bass lines of "The Beat Goes On" (Sonny and Cher) the "Mission Impossible" TV show theme, and dozens of other notable tracks as well.
Director Denny Tedesco gives the film a feel that comes off as a bit reverential at times of his father, Tommy, but his prominence as part of the crew and Denny's life makes that understandable. I don't think this detracts too much from what I perceive as the films intent of showing the people behind so much great music.
As most eras do however, it came to an end when into the late 60's and early 70's, fans became more aware of groups who actually played the music on the records that they were playing on stage when on tour. With a few notable exceptions, the era of the Wrecking Crew and those that preceded them were mostly working in service of the song, the era that followed was about the personalities of the band and the talents that they brought to bear not only in their live performances, but in their studio performances as well.