# Hal Blaine has died **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 11, 2019, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hal-blaine-has-died/830974 "2019-03-11T22:58:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2019, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hal-blaine-has-died/830974/1 "2019-03-11T22:58:57Z")
I just saw something about this on the Facebook page for one of my local radio stations, and [Blaine’s official Facebook page](https://www.facebook.com/HalBlaine/) 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. ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2019, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hal-blaine-has-died/830974/2 "2019-03-12T00:22:26Z")
Be easier to list who he _hasn’t_ played for. RIP. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Peyote\_Coyote](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/5f8ce5/32.png) [@The\_Peyote\_Coyote](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Peyote_Coyote)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2019, 12:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hal-blaine-has-died/830974/3 "2019-03-12T00:39:10Z")
He was a great drummer. RIP, Mr. Blaine. ---
**Author:** ![Labdad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/439d5e/32.png) [@Labdad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Labdad)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2019, 3:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hal-blaine-has-died/830974/4 "2019-03-12T03:34:40Z")
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¡ ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2019, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hal-blaine-has-died/830974/5 "2019-03-12T15:30:02Z")
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](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1185418/?ref_=nm_knf_t2) documentary. If not, find a source now. ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2019, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hal-blaine-has-died/830974/6 "2019-03-12T15:38:13Z")
An appropriate tribute, from his Facebook page: > [@](#): > > May he rest forever on 2 and 4. ---
**Author:** ![Gordon\_Urquhart](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/db5fbb/32.png) [@Gordon\_Urquhart](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gordon_Urquhart)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2019, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hal-blaine-has-died/830974/7 "2019-03-12T20:18:56Z")
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)](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xfdL62ss-vQ), 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](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZV5tgZlTEkQ) 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. ---
**Author:** ![Gordon\_Urquhart](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/db5fbb/32.png) [@Gordon\_Urquhart](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gordon_Urquhart)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2019, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hal-blaine-has-died/830974/8 "2019-03-12T20:34:35Z")
(Too late to edit …) Here’s a [backing track](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UJrFYKrGhVM) 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. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2019, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hal-blaine-has-died/830974/9 "2019-03-12T21:28:48Z")
Found on YouTube. [Hal Blaine - Tribute To World’s Greatest Drummer - Part 1](https://youtu.be/JNMimNlG9oY) [Hal Blaine - Tribute To World’s Greatest Drummer - Part 2](https://youtu.be/JuLTTgJDa1g) ---
**Author:** ![Hatchie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hatchie/32/3983_2.png) [@Hatchie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hatchie)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2019, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hal-blaine-has-died/830974/10 "2019-03-12T23:39:23Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2019, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hal-blaine-has-died/830974/11 "2019-03-12T23:59:27Z")
> [@Hatchie](#): > > 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? It appears that[it was Blaine, himself](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Wrecking_Crew_(music)), 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. ---
**Author:** ![Hatchie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hatchie/32/3983_2.png) [@Hatchie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hatchie)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2019, 6:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hal-blaine-has-died/830974/12 "2019-03-13T06:02:39Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2019, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hal-blaine-has-died/830974/13 "2019-03-13T16:48:20Z")
> [@Hatchie](#): > > The only sure thing is that Carol Kaye played bass on every record ever made - just ask her. She didn’t? 😃 😉