Battle of the LA Session Musos: the Wrecking Crew vs. the LA Mafia

me in high school / early 20s would have voted Wrecking Crew easy but somewhere in my mid-twenties I really developed a taste for that slick LA sound...something about how these dudes sound like they really wanna showboat but always (usually) rein it in just enough

which crew will win?????

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

xp I think that's the mark of a quality session pro; the ability to find that balance. I said before that the sound of the wrecking crew was hard to identify.. Thinking about it, I don't think I could necessarily distinguish the mafia from their 70s sessioneer peers (although I suspect they wrote the book w/r/t that sound).

I had another totally brilliant thing to say but I lost it

don't think I'd ever seen this before - in-studio footage of Lee Hazlewood recording with the Wrecking Crew including James Burton and Hal Blaine
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EDW2K4zxkXw

mellow mafia was basically just Danny Kortchmar, Craig Doerge, Leland Sklar, and Russ Kunkel, right? that's what wiki tells me, with a little bit of david lindley and waddy wachtel sprinkled in there.

Not sure about the others, but Russ Kunkel played on “(Listen To The) Flower People” and was the drummer in that scene.

Where do Graydon, hey, and dacosta fit in ?

Not sure about the others, but Russ Kunkel played on “(Listen To The) Flower People” and was the drummer in that scene.

There's a great scene in the Hired Gun doc where Graydon and one of the Toto guys breaks down Graydon's guitar solo for Steely Dan's "Peg". My big takeaway was that one of the guys (the Toto guy, I think) copped to being so anally repressive that they couldn't take a shit without first removing all their clothes.

That was Graydon, iirc, with Lukather. And I think the story was about them whipping up a hit for ... George Benson? Which is super funny, having Lukather, one of the most talented guitarists, playing piano for Graydon, one of the most talented guitarists, writing a song for Benson, one of the most talented guitarists.

Kortchmar & Co. AKA The Section:
https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/the-section-knights-of-soft-rock-233728/
Fave thing I remember from this: Carole King's junkie caveman hubbie (def post-Goffin) punching out DK,
who had just come off stage and gotten too much applause or sump'n.

Also-- much more recently, they had their own record & tour:
https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-features/immediate-family-session-veterans-cruel-twist-1012555/

Oh yeah, and they got back with Carole and James---I wrote this preview when they played Columbus OH, in 2010:
Carole King & James Taylor
Carole King & James Taylor performed at L.A.'s formidably hip
Troubadour club in 1969, when veteran songwriter King as was new to
the spotlight as Taylor. They returned in 2007 with the Section, the
backing band that helped define 70s soft rock. This warmly adept
concert, documented on Live At The Troubadour, inspired Tayor & King's
current tour with the Section and Cleveland's Arnold McCuller, whose
voice has accompanied Taylor's for thirty years.
05/30 @ The Schottenstein Center, 555 Arena Dr.
7:30 p.m.

Trying to remember the name of the unreleased project some of these guys did with Billy Cowsill.

Bridey Murphy. All the performing Cowsill brothers were involved, apparently, but only Billy ate the tape.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jh2KTuHuAxo

walls with sound

looololol

s

also RIP Shakey (jks jks jk ;)

come back to ilm imo

Feeling the urge to spam the board with another story about Steve Lukather’s guitar teacher Jimmy Wyble, especially since I ran into another one of student’s this weekend. Will just link this website I don’t think I’ve linked before: https://rjacobson.wordpress.com/2010/01/18/irec-and-miss-jimmy-wyble/

I’ve heard more than one story about some ambitious guitarist in their early years calling up some famous guitar name like Barney Kessel for lessons and the response being: “I don’t teach. Call Jimmy!” *click* *dialtone*

Update! The xpost Section, who've got their own albums to do as The Immediate Family, are ba-a-ack---and so are Carole and James! (good timing for her, after "Natural Women" so striking in Respect : now I enjoy it even more than the Aretha biopic's title song):
THE IMMEDIATE FAMILY MEMBERS
DANNY KORCHMAR, RUSS KUNKEL, LELAND SKLAR
TO BE FEATURED IN THE UPCOMING DOCUMENTARY
“CAROLE KING & JAMES TAYLOR: JUST CALL OUT MY NAME”
TO PREMIERE ON CNN AND HBO MAX IN LATE 2021

THE BAND MEMBERS WILL ALSO BE PERFORMING WITH CAROLE KING AT THE ROCK & ROLL HALL OF FAME INDUCTION CEREMONY

THE IMMEDIATE FAMILY’S 2021 TOUR KICKS OFF ON NOVEMBER 3 IN SUPPORT OF THEIR NEW SELF-TITLED ALBUM



October 26, 2021 -- Supergroup The Immediate Family have a full schedule this Fall/Winter with bandmates Danny Kortchmar, Russ Kunkel and Leland Sklar’s participation in the documentary Carole King & James Taylor: Just Call Out My Name, premiering on CNN and HBO Max and also performing with Carole King at her induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame ceremony on October 30. The band then heads out on their national tour in support of their new album The Immediate Family released on Quarto Valley Records.

Prior to forming The Immediate Family, Kortchmar, Kunkel and Sklar have worked together since the early '70s as the legendary ensemble “The Section” backing up James Taylor and Carole King on The Troubadour Reunion Tour as well as appearing on Taylor and King’s various albums.

The Immediate Family which also includes Waddy Wachtel and Steve Postell, will be embarking on their national tour on November 3. Some of the stops include San Juan Capistrano, CA (The Coach House), Agoura Hills, CA (The Canyon Club), and New York City (The Society of Ethical Culture). The band has just released their latest album, The Immediate Family, which debuted at #6 on Billboard’s Blues chart and features the single “Fair Warning.” Complete list of tour dates below. For more information on The Immediate Family and to explore their new merch store, visit: www.immediatefamilyband.

2021/2022 Tour
November 3 - San Juan Capistrano, CA @ The Coach House
November 6 - Santa Barbara, CA @ Lobero Theatre
November 7 - Agoura Hills, CA @ Canyon Club
November 14 - South Windsor, CT @ Clinic & Concert
November 16 - Norwalk, CT @ Wall Street Theatre
November 17 - Yarmouth, MA @ The Music Room
November 18 - Derry, NH @ Tupelo Music Hall
November 20 - New York, NY @ Concert Hall at NY Society for Ethical Culture
November 21 - Ardmore, PA @ Ardmore Music Hall
February 14-18 - The Rock Legends Cruise IX
February 19 - Boca Raton, FL @ The Funky Biscuit
February 20 - Hallandale Beach, FL @ Sport of Kings Theatre at Gulfstream Park & Casino
Be there or be---not square? No, I wanna go the Society For Ethical Culture, and know I need it.

This interview with Danny Kortchmar I watched earlier this summer I thought was interesting and had alot of background on many classic records. If you have seen that one session musician documentary and the Billy Joel guys barking on getting fired, there is a bit later on in that with on how that gone down from a different angle.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ngEhoa9fJU

https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=267362992039629

Concerning the mystery of who played drums on “These Boots.”