{"id":483322,"date":"2019-03-12T15:18:07","date_gmt":"2019-03-12T21:18:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/?p=807270"},"modified":"2019-03-12T15:18:07","modified_gmt":"2019-03-12T21:18:07","slug":"al-jardine-remembers-hal-blaines-work-with-the-beach-boys-we-got-lucky","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kqzr\/music-news\/al-jardine-remembers-hal-blaines-work-with-the-beach-boys-we-got-lucky\/","title":{"rendered":"Al Jardine Remembers Hal Blaine\u2019s Work With the Beach Boys: \u2018We Got Lucky\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"
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When you think of the classic incarnation of the Beach Boys<\/a>, it\u2019s easy to recall Dennis Wilson holding down the drum kit. In fact, the man supplying the beats for many of their enduring mid-1960s recordings was Hal Blaine<\/a>, the legendary Los Angeles-based session drummer and member of the Wrecking Crew studio group, who died on March 11th<\/a> at age 90.  <\/em><\/p>\n

Blaine\u2019s resume \u2014 some of the most well-known records made by Frank Sinatra, Simon and Garfunkel, the Mamas and the Papas and the Fifth Dimension; many Phil Spector productions; even the Partridge Family \u2014 could fill a Rock & Roll Hall of Fame exhibit. He also played on enough Beach Boys classics to fill one of their hits packages: \u201cHelp Me Rhonda,\u201d \u201cCalifornia Girls,\u201d \u201cGood Vibrations,\u201d \u201cI Get Around,\u201d \u201cDarlin\u2019,\u201d and later albums like<\/em> 15 Big Ones. In this new conversation with RS, founding Beach Boy Al Jardine<\/a> recalls Blaine\u2019s contributions to the band.<\/em><\/p>\n

Hal played on so many important historical recordings. He was the glue that held them together \u2014 that Sinatra stuff, whew<\/em>. I can\u2019t remember the first time we used him on Beach Boys records, but Brian might have starting using him after the \u201cSurf City\u201d session. [Ed. Note: Wilson co-wrote the chart-topping 1963 hit for Jan & Dean.<\/em>] Hal and Earl Palmer played double drums on that, and that impressed Brian a lot.<\/p>\n

We worked feverishly on the first few albums, but at one point the Wrecking Crew came in, because we were on the road so much.  We would come home and do the vocals, but the Crew would be tracking. Brian wasn\u2019t in the touring band, so he got to play with those guys. I remember coming into the studio one day and hearing one of the songs on [1965\u2019s] Summer Days (and Summer Nights)<\/em>. I remember thinking, \u201cWow, what a great drum track \u2014 amazing!\u201d<\/p>\n

There\u2019s a lot of pressure in the studio. We had three-hour sessions, and we\u2019d try to do three songs in three hours. You had to have your shit together. Hal was the session leader, and he had this calming effect. He had those intense, friendly blue eyes of his. He was very engaging and always interested in what you were doing. He told a lot of funny jokes. He would calm your nerves when you had an idea.<\/p>\n

Brian and I would have a great idea, but you had to put it all together and organize it. It was a huge deal. We were chord guys, but when you\u2019re talking to a trumpet player or reed player, you need a translator.  Hal produced the guys in the chairs. He made sure all the charts were legible. He\u2019d hand them out like he was the teacher. Hal was the producer of the producers. Brian idolized him.<\/p>\n

Hal was like an artist with a paintbrush. His genius is that he would add a particular part of his own. Listen to the cymbals on \u201cCalifornia Girls.\u201d We didn\u2019t use cymbals much in those days. But that was a tasty little trademark right in the intro. Brian produced an amazing track for \u201cSloop John B.\u201d I love the part when it goes to straight 8\u2019s. We called it the \u201ccowboy section,\u201d with the oom-pa-pa, but in drummer language, it was 8s.<\/p>\n

Hal would be told what to play, but make it better. That was his special talent. He enhanced all of our Beach Boys recordings. He gave them a breadth and depth that only experience brings. We got lucky.<\/p>\n

via:: Rolling Stone<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

When you think of the classic incarnation of the Beach Boys, it\u2019s easy to recall Dennis Wilson holding down the drum kit. In fact, the man supplying the beats for many of their enduring mid-1960s recordings was Hal Blaine, the legendary Los Angeles-based session drummer and member of the Wrecking Crew studio group, who died […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[56],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-483322","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-music-news"},"acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-06-15 07:46:39","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"KQZR - The Reel","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kqzr","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kqzr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/483322","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kqzr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kqzr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kqzr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kqzr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=483322"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kqzr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/483322\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kqzr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=483322"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kqzr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=483322"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kqzr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=483322"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}