{"id":791354,"date":"2018-12-17T07:03:54","date_gmt":"2018-12-17T14:03:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/?p=770008"},"modified":"2018-12-17T07:03:54","modified_gmt":"2018-12-17T14:03:54","slug":"joe-osborn-wrecking-crew-bassist-dead-at-81","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/music-news\/joe-osborn-wrecking-crew-bassist-dead-at-81\/","title":{"rendered":"Joe Osborn, Wrecking Crew Bassist, Dead at 81"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Joe Osborn, the bassist in the famed Wrecking Crew, the group of studio musicians who performed on tracks like Simon & Garfunkel\u2019s \u201cBridge Over Troubled Water\u201d and the Mamas & the Papas\u2019 \u201cCalifornia Dreamin\u2019,\u201d has died at the age of 81.<\/p>\n

Denny Tedesco, the director of the 2008 documentary The Wrecking Crew<\/em>, confirmed to Rolling Stone<\/em> that Osborn died December 14th following a long battle with pancreatic cancer.<\/p>\n

The Louisiana-born Osborn entered the music business as a member of Ricky Nelson\u2019s backing band and appeared on the pop singer\u2019s 1961 hit \u201cTravelin\u2019 Man\u201d before the bassist moved to Los Angeles in 1964; soon after, Lou Adler and Bones Howe recruited to join their iteration of the Wrecking Crew, a team of elite session musicians often called upon by the Beach Boys, Phil Spector, the Monkees and more.<\/p>\n

As a member of the Wrecking Crew, Osborn contributed to hit singles like the Fifth Dimension\u2019s \u201cAquarius\/Let the Sunshine In,\u201d Tommy Roe\u2019s \u201cDizzy,\u201d Grass Roots\u2019 \u201cMidnight Confessions,\u201d the Association\u2019s \u201cWindy,\u201d Richard Harris\u2019 \u201cMacArthur Park,\u201d Simon & Garfunkel\u2019s \u201cThe Only Living Boy in New York\u201d and \u201cBridge Over Troubled Water,\u201d America\u2019s \u201cVentura Highway\u201d and the Carpenters\u2019 \u201cClose to You.\u201d<\/p>\n