RIP...Hal Blaine

[Mikey]

A lot of you kids never heard of Hal Blaine, but he was by far the most prolific session drummer in all of pop music.

A member of "The Wrecking Crew" he played in over 35,000 sessions and 6,000 songs, on 40 #1 hits and 150 top 10 US singles.

Probably his earliest claim to fame was the opening of this song:



Blaine played on six consecutive Grammy Award Record of the Year winners:

Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass in 1966 for "A Taste of Honey"
Frank Sinatra in 1967 for "Strangers in the Night"
The 5th Dimension in 1968 for "Up, Up and Away"
Simon & Garfunkel in 1969 "Mrs. Robinson"
The 5th Dimension in 1970 for "Aquarius/Let the Sunshine In"
Simon & Garfunkel in 1971 for "Bridge over Troubled Water"


Some #1 hits that he played on:

"Johnny Angel" – Shelley Fabares[19]
"He's a Rebel" – The Crystals[3]
"Surf City" – Jan & Dean[20]
"I Get Around" – The Beach Boys[6]
"Everybody Loves Somebody" – Dean Martin[6]
"Ringo" – Lorne Greene[21]
"This Diamond Ring" – Gary Lewis & the Playboys[21]
"Help Me, Rhonda" – The Beach Boys[6]
"Mr Tambourine Man" – The Byrds[3]
"Eve of Destruction" – Barry McGuire[22]
"My Love" – Petula Clark[21]
"These Boots Are Made for Walkin'" – Nancy Sinatra[6]
"Monday Monday" – The Mamas & the Papas[6]
"Strangers in the Night" – Frank Sinatra[6]
"Poor Side of Town" – Johnny Rivers[4]
"Good Vibrations" – The Beach Boys[6]
"Somethin' Stupid" – Frank & Nancy Sinatra[6]
"The Happening" – The Supremes[1][23]
"Windy" – The Association[6]
"Mrs. Robinson" – Simon & Garfunkel[6]
"Dizzy" – Tommy Roe[21]
"Aquarius/Let the Sunshine In" – The 5th Dimension[6]
"Love Theme from Romeo and Juliet" – Henry Mancini[21]
"Wedding Bell Blues" – The 5th Dimension[21]
"Bridge Over Troubled Water" – Simon & Garfunkel[21]
"(They Long to Be) Close to You" – The Carpenters[6]
"Cracklin' Rosie" – Neil Diamond[6]
"I Think I Love You" – The Partridge Family[21]
"Indian Reservation" – The Raiders[21]
"Song Sung Blue" – Neil Diamond[6]
"Half Breed" – Cher[21]
"Annie's Song" – John Denver[21]
"Top of the World" – The Carpenters [6]
"The Way We Were" – Barbra Streisand[6]
"Thank God I'm a Country Boy" – John Denver[6]
"Love Will Keep Us Together" – Captain & Tennille[6]
"I'm Sorry"/"Calypso" – John Denver[21]
"Theme from Mahogany (Do You Know Where You're Going To)" – Diana Ross[21]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hal_Blaine

If you ever get a chance, stream this movie:




If you don't already know the story, you'll be blown away.

[smackaholic]

I would say he is the most prolific, pre-1970.

I think Steve Gadd has him beat since then. Maybe not in number of pop music #1s, but he is pertty much everyone's go to drummer for the last 50 years or so.