SKU: 59107422307

The Wrecking Crew: The Inside Story of Rock and Roll's Best-Kept Secret

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The Wrecking Crew: The Inside Story of Rock and Roll's Best-Kept SecretWinner of the Oregon Book Award for General Nonfiction and Los Angeles Times bestseller It makes good music sound better. Janet Maslin in The New York Times A fascinating look into the West Coast recording studio scene of the '60s and the inside story of the music you heard on the radio. If you always assumed the musicians you listened to were the same people you saw onstage, you are in for a big surprise Dusty Street, host of Classic Vinyl on Sirius

Winner of the Oregon Book Award for General Nonfiction and Los Angeles Times bestseller

It makes good music sound better.-Janet Maslin in The New York Times

A fascinating look into the West Coast recording studio scene of the '60s and the inside story of the music you heard on the radio. If you always assumed the musicians you listened to were the same people you saw onstage, you are in for a big surprise -Dusty Street, host of Classic Vinyl on Sirius XM Satellite Radio

If you were a fan of popular music in the 1960s and early '70s, you were a fan of the Wrecking Crew-whether you knew it or not.

On hit record after hit record by everyone from the Byrds, the Beach Boys, and the Monkees to the Grass Roots, the 5th Dimension, Sonny & Cher, and Simon & Garfunkel, this collection of West Coast studio musicians from diverse backgrounds established themselves in Los Angeles, California as the driving sound of pop music-sometimes over the objection of actual band members forced to make way for Wrecking Crew members. Industry insider Kent Hartman tells the dramatic, definitive story of the musicians who forged a reputation throughout the business as the secret weapons behind the top recording stars.

Mining invaluable interviews, the author follows the careers of such session masters as drummer Hal Blaine and keyboardist Larry Knechtel, as well as trailblazing bassist Carol Kaye-the only female in the bunch-who went on to play in thousands of recording sessions in this rock history. Readers will discover the Wrecking Crew members who would forge careers in their own right, including Glen Campbell and Leon Russell, and learn of the relationship between the Crew and such legends as Phil Spector and Jimmy Webb. Hartman also takes us inside the studio for the legendary sessions that gave us Pet Sounds, Bridge Over Troubled Water, and the rock classic Layla, which Wrecking Crew drummer Jim Gordon cowrote with Eric Clapton for Derek and the Dominos. And the author recounts priceless scenes such as Mike Nesmith of the Monkees facing off with studio head Don Kirshner, Grass Roots lead guitarist (and future star of The Office) Creed Bratton getting fired from the group, and Michel Rubini unseating Frank Sinatra's pianist for the session in which the iconic singer improvised the hit-making ending to Strangers in the Night.

The Wrecking Crew tells the collective, behind-the-scenes stories of the artists who dominated Top 40 radio during the most exciting time in American popular culture.

Binding Type: Paperback
Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin
Published: 05/21/2013
ISBN: 9781250030467
Pages: 292
Weight: 0.61lbs
Size: 8.04h x 5.68w x 0.81d
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SKU: 59107422307

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Amazon Customer
Belleville, US
★★★★★ 5
Worth buying again and/ or for gifts
Format: Paperback
I am pro guns. I thought I knew quite a bit about them. This book was a genuine eye opener!!!!. It seemed to share so much information and stories, yet in a non judgemental way. I actually gave this book to a friend, but I will get another copy for myself. It is amazing reading things that now seem so obvious, yet I never thought about them. I approve of the Christian theme as well. Again without judgment or a lofty aditude. I do recomend
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Reviewed in the United States on November 26, 2025
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D. Mourn
West Palm Beach, US
★★★★★ 5
Guns and a Christlike God
Format: Kindle
I heartily give this book 5 stars for being such a rich, balanced mix of real life stories, black-smithing analogy, published statistics, and the unabashed challenge of faithFULLY following Christ who revealed how we were created to be unconditionally loving, self-giving, and forgiving. The sad realities of America, the richest and most powerful nation the world has known, is scarred by the problems of guns AND heart. This intelligent and humble presentation of information is a very helpful expose’ in exploring the intersection of faith and guns in America. I have a bias in that I know (and admire) Mike Martin, am a fan of Shane Claiborne, and am on a journey with Christ which finds much truth and wisdom within the Anabaptist tradition. I would like to counter any critique of this book which insinuates oversimplification and misrepresentation through selective/incomplete methodology. I’m glad this book is “bite-size” to reach its stated, intended audience of just about everyone, of every faith tradition, who is weary of violence. The writers are quite capable of presenting a dreadfully long and robust exploration of the scriptures but wisely chose to hold Jesus, his teaching, and the cross as a focal figure of faith who advocated and lived and died non-violence as God’s nature. I hesitate to put words in their mouths but am sure they would love to expose the full context and textures of the prophetic plowshare visions, and I would welcome it. They might just mention the strong strands of the early church fathers who explicitly read the prophetic telling of God’s/Jesus’ wrath and judgment—not as evidence for a violent, human like God to be feared—but as metaphor for the suffering humanity brings upon itself. Just as Paul rhetorically blasted, early in Romans, God turns us over to our ways to wallow in the consequences (we judge and punish ourselves) as we reject God and that which we were created to be. So, perhaps the authors fail by not pointing to scholarly works which spell out with the detail necessary to fully understand the pacifist’s theology—the list is long—however they successfully create the spirit of a movement for everyone by not getting bogged down with a couple proof-texts (we must study their contexts) which seemingly challenge the ubiquitous teachings and lives of Jesus, the New Testament writers, and the pre-Constantinian church. “Cherry-picking”, though often intended to undermine, is a noble compliment as one studies the hermeneutical method of Jesus who also “cherry-picked” the varied voices of the Hebrew testament to shape his gospel of peace. We all cherry-pick and contexts bend toward OUR contexts, but toward what end—to look like Jesus, peace, and the way of the cross? I highly recommend this book: With faith set aside completely for its well referenced guide in understanding America’s inclination toward violence and the idolatrous place guns, constitutional faith, our entertainment, our historical heroes, and the NRA play in it; and with faith at center whose Jesus discipled a way of heart which carries a cross to establish peace and justice—not a sword/gun. Jesus forgave and loved as the transformative powers which Jesus presented as our way of hope.
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Reviewed in the United States on March 12, 2019
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Sue Schneider
Pawtucket, US
★★★★★ 5
brilliant book!
Format: Paperback
Highly recommend this book to everyone who wants to go beyond "thoughts and prayers" in addressing the deep issue of gun violence in our nation. Well-written and illustrated, with helpful graphs and statistics. Non judgy, whether you are a gun owner or not.
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Reviewed in the United States on March 11, 2024
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Wendy Hiester
Alexandria, US
★★★★★ 4
Beating guns - important things to ponder (so they do not beat us!)
Format: Kindle
I recently read an early copy of this book (Feb 2019). Beating Guns presents a thoughtful view of guns in our country. Seems like a good overview of where we are and how we got there. I appreciate that the views are presented by (fellows) that have held guns, so that they are not an abstract concept but a reality to them. I would hope this book helps people see the issues perhaps with a bit more understanding, and that in turn may lead to dialogue between people to arrive at a less antagonistic situation. This topic is complicated; no one book can possibly cover all the angles and options, yet this book and this approach are a reasonable way to keep people thinking about solutions.
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Reviewed in the United States on March 23, 2019
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Amazon Customer
Charlottesville, US
★★★★★ 5
Solid information
Format: Paperback
This book was a gift to my husband and he was very pleased with the content
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Reviewed in the United States on June 12, 2024

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