A labor-of-love documentary paying homage to an overlooked–yet well respected within the industry–group of studio musicians behind assorted 1960s’ and ‘70s’ hits finally hit the theaters last month. Titled The Wrecking Crew, the feature-length film was produced and directed by Denny Tedesco whose father Tommy was one of those revered musicians and known in some circles as “the king of L.A. session guitarists.”
When Tommy Tedesco was diagnosed with cancer in 1996, his son embarked on making a documentary about this select group of behind-the-scene musicians who, while often going uncredited on the record albums, played music for the likes of Herb Alpert, Nat “King” Cole, Frank Sinatra, the Monkees, Simon & Garfunkel, The Mamas & The Papas, Elvis Presley, The Beach Boys (“Wouldn’t It Be Nice”), the Righteous Brothers (“You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feelin’”), The Byrds (“Mr. Tambourine Man”) and Nancy Sinatra (“These Boots Are Made for Walkin’”).
While a couple of these musicians went on to stardom–namely Glen Campbell and Leon Russell–the rest for the most part stayed outside the spotlight. The documentary introduces us to Tommy Tedesco (who played the opening notes on the Bonanza TV show theme), prolific rock drummer Hal Blaine, bassist Carol Kaye (Sonny and Cher’s “The Beat Goes On”), and saxophonist Plas Johnson (“The Pink Panther” theme), among others. Because so many were uncredited in much of their work, there’s some debate as to how many musicians were in The Wrecking Crew–an estimate on the high side would be about 20. They were so in demand that they played in recording studio sessions day and night, made good money yet in some cases had to make sacrifices in their private lives since so much of their time was dedicated to the work.
This insightful, enjoyable piece of music history was shown in a prior version at some film festivals in 2008. The documentary didn’t hit mainstream commercial movie theaters until now. That’s because hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of licensing fees had to be made for use of those songs. The needed money was eventually raised through a Kickstarter campaign and other donations, culminating in The Wrecking Crew finally being in the position of finding an audience at large.
The Wrecking Crew (Magnolia Pictures) was a special project for cinematographer Rodney Taylor, ASC, who along with Trish Govoni and Denny Tedesco shot the documentary. Taylor’s recent endeavors include the feature film Supremacy, the upcoming season of the FX network series Married, and the HBO series Getting On.
SHOOT: How did you become involved in The Wrecking Crew?
Taylor: We started shooting this film about 20 years ago. Denny [Tedesco] and I were working together as crew members on an Imax film. He was the key grip and I was the camera assistant. We started together on an Imax film called Ring of Fire. For several years we traveled as a team working on Imax films. He told me about his dad and this group of musicians. I remember we were driving in a truck somewhere in Japan and we found this radio station playing 1960s music. Every song that came on, he’d say, “My dad’s on this.” This went on for a couple of hours and spanned every genre of music you could imagine.
I was always someone who loved music. I was the kind of kid who used to look at the record album covers to see who the musicians were. But when Tommy Tedesco and The Wrecking Crew were playing, they didn’t get their credits on the records. That part of the story became appealing to me.
I remember Denny coming to me and telling me that his dad was diagnosed with cancer. Before his dad goes, Denny said he wanted to make this great film about The Wrecking Crew. Early on we got several of The Wrecking Crew musicians together in a room and put them around a table where they reminisced and told stories. It was an amazing day where we had this kind of music godfathers gathering at a roundtable. We shot it all on 16mm film which back then was sort of what you did. There weren’t many other choices other than 16mm for this kind of budgeted film.
SHOOT: You shot The Wrecking Crew on film and digitally, correct? Also, what was the division of labor regarding the cinematography in that you and Trish Govoni were the credited DPs on The Wrecking Crew?
Taylor: This was an ongoing project so over the years I couldn’t commit to shooting everything. Trish took over and did a lot of interviews and shooting. I suspect Denny did quite a few himself. Because of the budgetary limitations, we wound up over the years using every digital format known to man. We shot film, digital, any camera Denny could hand me. We even did some Super 8 stuff–I think that included seeing Denny’s hand flipping through records at an old record store.
This is the kind of film where you’d like to see some of the footage from back in the day. But there wasn’t any archival footage of The Wrecking Crew. Nobody really wanted people to know who these guys were and that they were playing the music on these recordings. Some still photos were found but even then there weren’t a whole lot of them. So we had to figure things out, to make it visually interesting beyond just talking heads. I’m proud of the godfather scenario at the table and the filming we did in recording studios.
SHOOT: What stood out for you as you told the stories of these musicians?
Taylor: I remember shooting Glen Campbell, a great session guitarist who went on to become a big star. But I don’t think most of them even wanted to be stars. Tommy Tedesco, for example, just loved being in the studio and working. It was that simple.
SHOOT: Tell us about your other recent projects, including your diversifying into digital formats.
Taylor: I shot a feature film, Supremacy, directed by Deon Taylor that was shot in 16mm. For Getting On [HBO], we shot on location in a hospital in documentary style–we used the RED Epic. We beat up the image a little bit for the storyline. I’m currently prepping for the next season–13 episodes this year–of the series Married [FX Network]. For Married, we’re going with the ARRI ALEXA.
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