Hal Blaine, RIP

[paul secor]

NY times article: https://www.nytimes.com/2019/03/12/arts/music/hal-blaine-drummer-songs.html

[Teasing the Korean]

On March 14, 2019 at 9:24 PM, Milestones said:

Is he the most-recorded drummer ever?  I'e heard it's about 6,000 recordings.  I imagine some jazz guys would at least give him a run for money.

I can't tell you how many LPs I own that have a blurb on the back cover reading "Shelly Manne appears through the courtesy of Contemporary Records."

[Brad]

12 hours ago, paul secor said:

NY times article: https://www.nytimes.com/2019/03/12/arts/music/hal-blaine-drummer-songs.html

Great article. Makes you want to go back and listen to each of those songs. 

[Kevin Bresnahan]

Born & raised in my old hometown of Holyoke, Massachusetts.

[paul secor]

I heard Hal Blaine tell an amusing story on a radio show years ago. He recounted that he was playing on a Simon & Garfunkel recording (I believe it was "The Boxer). They wanted to get a certain echo sound on the drums and placed him and his drum set in an elevator outside the studio. Blaine obviously had headphones on, so he could hear what was happening in the studio. There was an older security guard who happened to be approaching the elevator just as Blaine hit his drums or cymbals loudly, and the man was so surprised that he nearly had a heart attack. (I guess that it wasn't funny for the security guard, but when Blaine told the story, it was funny.) As Mel Brooks said, "It's tragedy when I cut my finger. It's comedy when you fall into an open sewer and die."

[felser]

On 3/14/2019 at 9:24 PM, Milestones said:

Is he the most-recorded drummer ever?  I'e heard it's about 6,000 recordings.  I imagine some jazz guys would at least give him a run for money.

No doubt he is the most HEARD drummer ever.  Multiply # of tracks by # of plays per each track by # of listeners to each play.   One play of "Be My Baby" on WABC or WINS or KRLA in 1963 had an insane # of listeners compared to those who have heard any given Billy Higgins performance.

[Teasing the Korean]

1 hour ago, felser said:

No doubt he is the most HEARD drummer ever.  Multiply # of tracks by # of plays per each track by # of listeners to each play.   One play of "Be My Baby" on WABC or WINS or KRLA in 1963 had an insane # of listeners compared to those who have heard any given Billy Higgins performance.

Well, Shelly Manne played on a lot of TV themes, so many of those could have the equivalency of a number one record.  How about the Jetsons theme?

[felser]

1 hour ago, Teasing the Korean said:

Well, Shelly Manne played on a lot of TV themes, so many of those could have the equivalency of a number one record.  How about the Jetsons theme?

Not sure they would - they got played once a week.  How often was "Be My Baby" being played in 1963?  Every hour on every station, I would think.

[Teasing the Korean]

2 hours ago, felser said:

Not sure they would - they got played once a week.  How often was "Be My Baby" being played in 1963?  Every hour on every station, I would think.

Inviting strangers into your house once a week - and every day, when you're syndicated - creates just as much of a cultural impact. 

[Brad]

23 hours ago, Kevin Bresnahan said:

Born & raised in my old hometown of Holyoke, Massachusetts.

Near my old stomping grounds. I went to law school in Springfield.