Hal Blaine | |
|---|---|
 Blaine recording at theRecord Plant in 1995 | |
| Background information | |
| Born | Harold Simon Belsky (1929-02-05)February 5, 1929 Holyoke, Massachusetts, U.S. |
| Died | March 11, 2019(2019-03-11) (aged 90) Palm Desert, California, U.S. |
| Genres | |
| Instruments |
|
| Years active | 1949–2019 |
| Formerly of | |
Hal Blaine (bornHarold Simon Belsky; February 5, 1929 – March 11, 2019) was an American drummer andsession musician,[1] thought to be among the most recorded studio drummers in the music industry, claiming over 35,000 sessions[1] and 6,000 singles. His drumming is featured on 150 US top 10 hits, 40 of which went to number one.
Born inHolyoke, Massachusetts, Blaine moved with his family to California in 1944 and began playing jazz andbig band music before taking uprock and roll session work. He became one of the regulars inPhil Spector's de factohouse band, which Blaine nicknamed "the Wrecking Crew". Some of the records Blaine played on includethe Ronettes' single "Be My Baby" (1963), which contained a drum beat that became widely imitated, as well as works by popular artists such asFrank Sinatra,Elvis Presley,the Beach Boys,Simon & Garfunkel,the Carpenters,Neil Diamond, andthe Byrds.[2]
Blaine's workload declined in the 1980s as recording and musical practices changed. In 2000, he was among the inaugural "sidemen" inductees to theRock and Roll Hall of Fame. In 2007 he was inducted into theMusicians Hall of Fame and Museum as a member of the Wrecking Crew and in 2018 he received aGrammy Lifetime Achievement Award.
Blaine was born Harold Simon Belsky, one of four children of Jewish Eastern European immigrants Meyer and Rose Belsky (née Silverman),[3] inHolyoke, Massachusetts.[4] When he was seven, his family moved toHartford, Connecticut.[5] He began playing drums at the age of eight,[6] and got his first drum kit at 13. His father worked at a nightclub and Hal followed him to work, learning drum patterns from the musicians in jazz bands and orchestras.
On July 6, 1944 Blane was a survivor of the Hartford Circus Fire. He attended the circus primarily to watch the band perform, especially the drummer. When the fire broke out he followed the band escaping under the bottom of the big top’s apron. As ambulances arrived one of the drivers asked Hal to help with a gurney. He ended up assisting victims well into the night.
In 1944, he and his family moved to California.[7]
From 1949 to 1952, Blaine learned drums fromRoy Knapp, who had also taught jazz drummerGene Krupa.[8] He began his professional career playing overnight sessions in Chicago strip clubs, which allowed him to practice and perfect hissight reading skills.[8] He subsequently played as part ofCount Basie's big band and toured withPatti Page andTommy Sands before taking up session work.[7] Unlike many of his jazz contemporaries, Blaine enjoyed playingrock and roll and this meant he played on numerous such sessions during the 1950s. Blaine rarely performed live, with the exception of working withNancy Sinatra atCaesars Palace in Las Vegas in the 1960s, and withJohn Denver's band in the 70s.[9]
Blaine was a core member ofthe Wrecking Crew, the close-knit group of Los Angeles session musicians that played on hit records during the 1960s.[10] Blaine claimed to have invented the name as the "old-school" studio musicians feared these new, younger guys were a "destructive force" in the conservative studio environment of the time.[6] He played with guitaristsGlen Campbell andTommy Tedesco, bassistsCarol Kaye andJoe Osborn, and keyboardistsLeon Russell andDon Randi.[11]
Blaine drummed forthe Ronettes' 1963 single "Be My Baby", produced byPhil Spector at Hollywood'sGold Star Studios, heard as part of theWall of Sound.[12] The pattern was created when Blaine accidentally hit the snare on just the fourth beat, instead of the two and four. It was a mistake that Spector decided to leave in.[13] DrummerMax Weinberg wrote, "If Hal Blaine had played drums only on ... "Be My Baby", his name would still be uttered with reverence and respect for the power of his big beat."[14]
Blaine played less session work from the 1980s onwards as computers and electronics began to be used in studios, and producers began to bring in younger players.[15] The popularity of thedrum machine also reduced demand for session drummers like Blaine.[16] He kept busy recording advertising jingles for a number of years, before semi-retiring from performing.[15] He lost most of his wealth following a divorce. At one point, he was working as a security guard in Arizona.[2]
Blaine was married six times; he was widowed by the 1968 death of his first wife, with whom he had one daughter. He died ofnatural causes on March 11, 2019, at age 90 inPalm Desert, California.[17][18] A statement from his family read "May he rest forever on 2 and 4", referring to the second and fourth beats of ameasure in music.[19]Beatles drummerRingo Starr andBeach Boys leaderBrian Wilson expressed public condolences and praised Blaine's musicianship.[6]Ronnie Spector praised Blaine for "the magic he put on all our Ronettes recordings".[6]
"Hal Blaine Strikes Again" was a rubber stamp used by Blaine to mark music scores and places where he played. When asked to explain about the stamp, Blaine said, "I always stamp my charts. And there's a reason why I started that; it wasn't all ego."[14] The stamp was used for any piece of music Blaine played on.[14] Another drummer,Mike Botts, then with the band Bread, recalled: "Every studio I went to in the late sixties, there was a rubber stamp imprint on the wall of the drum booth that said, 'Hal Blaine strikes again.' Hal was getting so many studio dates he actually had a rubber stamp made. He was everywhere!"[20]
Blaine was a prolific session player and by his estimation played on over 35,000 recordings, including 6,000 singles.[10][21]
Blaine is widely regarded as one of the most in-demand drummers in rock and roll history, having "certainly played on more hit records than any drummer in the rock era".[22]Bruce Gary, drummer forthe Knack, once said he was disappointed to find that his 10 favorite drummers turned out to all be Hal Blaine.[23] He is also credited with popularising the "disco beat" after he recorded a "pshh-shup" sound by opening and closing thehi-hat at appropriate intervals onJohnny Rivers' "Poor Side of Town". The effect had been widely used in jazz, but professional recording engineers disliked it because of its resemblance towhite noise. The sound subsequently became sought after by producers in the 1970s.[8][additional citation(s) needed]
In 2014, Blaine was portrayed by Johnny Sneed in the filmLove & Mercy, a biopic of the Beach Boys' Brian Wilson.[2]
The instrumental song "Hal McBlaine" – a portmanteau combining the names of Blaine and guitaristJohn McBain – by psychedelic garage rock bandWellwater Conspiracy on their 1999 albumBrotherhood of Electric: Operational Directives is an homage to Blaine.
Blaine played on six consecutiveGrammy AwardRecord of the Year winners:[15]
In March 2000, Blaine was one of the first five sidemen inducted into theRock and Roll Hall of Fame (one of the other inductees was his long-time friend and drumming colleagueEarl Palmer).[24] He was inducted into theModern Drummer Hall of Fame in 2010.[25] In 2018, he received aGrammy Lifetime Achievement Award.[26]
In addition to playing on 150 US top 10 singles, Blaine played drums on 39 recordings that hit number one on theBillboard Hot 100.[6] The dates given are when each song reached number one:[28]
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Artists | |
| People | |
| Other | |
