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Hal Blaine
Blaine recording at the Record Plant in 1995
Background information
Birth name	Harold Simon Belsky
Born	(1929-02-05)February 5, 1929 Holyoke, Massachusetts, U.S.
Died	March 11, 2019(2019-03-11) (aged 90)
Genres	Pop, rock and roll
Occupation(s)	Musician
Instruments	Drums percussion
Years active	1940s–2019
Associated acts	Wrecking Crew, The Beach Boys, The Byrds, Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Johnny Rivers, Neil Diamond, John Denver

Hal Blaine (born Harold Simon Belsky; February 5, 1929 – March 11, 2019) was an American drummer and session musician. He was one of the most prolific session drummers in the history of popular music, playing on a large number of hit records. Blaine is most remembered for his work with the Wrecking Crew, a group of musicians who recorded prolifically in the Los Angeles music scene and played behind a large number of musicians in the 1960s and 1970s.

Career

Blaine was born Harold Simon Belsky to Jewish Eastern European immigrants, Meyer and Rose Belsky, in Holyoke, Massachusetts.^[1] He moved with his family to California in 1943.^[2] The following year, aged 15, Blaine survived the Hartford circus fire - one of the worst disasters in American history.^[3]

In the 1940s, Blaine learned drums from Roy Knapp, who had also taught jazz drummer Gene Krupa. He played as part of Count Basie's big band and toured with Patti Page and Tommy Sands before taking up session work.^[2] Unlike many of his jazz contemporaries, Blaine enjoyed playing rock 'n' roll and this meant he played on numerous such sessions during the 1950s. He was a key member of The Wrecking Crew, the close-knit group of Los Angeles session musicians that played on hit records during the 1960s.^[4]

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. He kept busy recording advertising jingles for a number of years, before semi-retiring from performing.^[5]

Hal Blaine Strikes Again

"Hal Blaine Strikes Again" was a rubber stamp used by Blaine to mark music scores and places where he played. Drummer and author Max Weinberg spotted the stamp in Wembley Arena's dressing room while touring with Bruce Springsteen's E-Street Band. ^[6] 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." The stamp was used for any piece of music Blaine played on.^[6]

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!" ^[7]

Legacy

External video

Oral History, Hal Blaine shares special moments of his life story. interview date August 24, 2002, NAMM (National Association of Music Merchants) Oral History Library

Blaine was a prolific session player and by his estimation played on over 6,000 recordings.^[4] He 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".^[8] He can be heard as part of the Wall of Sound on the Ronettes' 1963 US #2 hit "Be My Baby",^[9] produced by Phil Spector at Hollywood's Gold Star Studios. Max Weinberg wrote, "If Hal Blaine had played drums only on the Ronettes' "Be My Baby", his name would still be uttered with reverence and respect for the power of his big beat."^[6]Rolling Stone magazine listed the song as No. 22 on The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.^[10] Blaine also played on Beach Boys sessions during the mid-1960s (covering for the group's official drummer Dennis Wilson), including the group's critically acclaimed 1966 album Pet Sounds and single "Good Vibrations".^[2]

In March 2000, he was one of the first five sidemen inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (one of the other inductees was his long-time friend and drumming colleague, Earl Palmer).^[11] He was inducted into the Modern Drummer Hall of Fame in 2010.^[12]

Grammy Awards

Blaine played on six consecutive Grammy Award Record of the Year winners:^[5]

• 
  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 and 1970 for "Up, Up and Away" and "Aquarius/Let the Sunshine In"


• 
  Simon & Garfunkel in 1969 and 1971 for "Mrs. Robinson" and "Bridge over Troubled Water"

In 2018, Blaine received a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award.^[13]

Death

Blaine died on March 11, 2019 at the age of 90. A statement from his family read "May he rest forever on 2 and 4", referring to the second and fourth beats of a measure in music.^[14] No further details were released at the time of his death.^[2]

Number one hits

Blaine played drums on the following recordings that hit No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100:

Discography

• "Deuces, T's, Roadsters and Drums (1963)^[21]
  


• 
  Drums! Drums! A Go Go (1966)^[22]
  


• 
  Psychedelic Percussion (1967)^[23]
  


• 
  Have Fun!!! Play Drums!!! (1968)^[24]
  


• 
  Buh-Doom (1998)^[23]
  

See also

• List of recordings of songs Hal Blaine has played on


• Hal Blaine and the Wrecking Crew

References

External links

• 
  Hal Blaine on Facebook
  


• 
  Hal Blaine interview from the I'd Hit That podcast


• 
  Hal Blaine interview at NAMM Oral History Program
  


• 
  "Hal Blaine". Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.