I just saw something about this on the Facebook page for one of my local radio stations, and Blaine’s official Facebook page has a post confirming that he died today, at age 90.
For those unfamiliar, Blaine was a longtime session drummer, and member of the Wrecking Crew session group. He’s credited with playing on forty #1 singles, and estimated that he played on over 35,000 tracks.
Be easier to list who he hasn’t played for. RIP.
He was a great drummer. RIP, Mr. Blaine.
Very sad. 
Probably my favorite drummer of all time!
“A Christmas Gift to You From Phil Spector” is not only the very best Christmas album ever, it’s one of the best albums, period! Listen to his work on “Santa Claus is Coming to Town;” it will change that song for you forever¡
It’s equally sad that this thread has received so few posts. He should be treated with as much respect as, say, Freddy Mercury.
I hope everyone saw The Wrecking Crew documentary. If not, find a source now.
An appropriate tribute, from his Facebook page:
I was born in 1969 so I didn’t hear a lot of the Wrecking Crew’s work as it was released, but I’ve spent a lot of my 50 years listening to it. There’s a good chance that if it’s a '60s song that’s a favorite of mine, Hal Blaine played the drums on it. From the Beach Boys output to Phil Spector’s Wall of Sound to one-offs like No Matter What Shape (Your Stomach’s In), Blaine’s drumwork was there for all of it.
The snap of the bass drum and snare at the outset of The Ronettes’ Be My Baby is iconic, but it’s Blaine’s drum fills toward the end of the song that just give me a huge thrill. Powerful stuff.
Blaine’s work had, and continues to have, a huge impact on my life.
(Too late to edit …)
Here’s a backing track to Jan & Dean’s Ride the Wild Surf, one of my absolute favorite 1960s songs, that showcases the Wrecking Crew and Blaine’s work. Pretty cool.
Found on YouTube.
As I heard it, they weren’t really called the Wrecking Crew back when they were the ubiquitous studio group - they never had a name either formal or informal. I don’t know who started using that retrofitted name - it doesn’t really fit, does it?
In any case, so long Hal.
It appears thatit was Blaine, himself, who popularized the name, in his 1990 memoir, in which he said that older musicians had referred to the group by that term. Some of the other members of the group corroborated this, while Carol Kaye said that they were called The Clique.
Of course, who was in the group, by whatever name, depended on who was available and what the producer wanted.
The only sure thing is that Carol Kaye played bass on every record ever made - just ask her.
She didn’t? 
