DOC The Wrecking Crew: The Inside Story of Rock and Roll's Best-Kept Secret by Kent Hartman in History

Review

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful. Denny did a nice job. This book is goodBy Rob TocI watched the documentary first; which was done by Denny Tedesco; the son of one of the Wrecking Crew guitar players. As a director and editor myself; Denny did a nice job. This book is good; but after reading Carol Kaye's 'not so good' review [guitar bassist for Wrecking Crew] before reading; that was always in the back of my mind. What is true in here and what is not? Carol disagrees with a lot of the stuff in this book; and she was there!! She seems like a real cool person in my opinion. Would love to hear all her stories! The book held my interest for about 3/4 of the way through; and just fizzled at the end. Still a very very interesting topic to me. And if you haven't seen the Glen Campbell [also in the Wrecking Crew] documentary yet; I highly recommend that as well. Cheers! -RT2 of 2 people found the following review helpful. Interesting Subject; but pedestrian writing skillBy jmbncrftI selected this title after several of my musician friends referenced it in a conversation we had on playing "tightly". I have always been interested in the music of the 1960's and play in a 60's pop cover band; so the subject matter is right up my alley. Hartman's writing style was distracting. The repetitive template for each vignette or character study was the same: So-and-so came from (select poverty; broken home; affluence) and dreamed of being a big name musician. It was a HUGE surprise that Glen Campbell made it big and Jim Gordon ended up in prison and Carol Kaye suffered arthritis and was a pioneer in her field. Maybe I am too familiar with the material; but back to the template. Such-and-such is a fading (select one of the following: star; producer; eccentric producer; eccentric star) who is in desperate need of another big hit; finds a passable song; calls in the "wrecking crew" and bangs out a top ten hit. By the second half of the book; tedium was tapping on my shoulder. IF you are interested in this book I highly recommend the Kindle version due to the fact that you can switch over to youtube and listen to the songs that are described in the book. Do I recommend it? Maybe...Carol Kaye certainly wasn't a fan of this book. Find her review below - it's more fun to read than Hartman's book.1 of 1 people found the following review helpful. The Wrecking Crew are given their just due but with lackluster writing.By Classics CollectorResearch and some (but not enough) first hand accounts by Wrecking Crew participants; with drummer Hal Blaine and bassist Carol Kaye (and many others including Glen Campbell) emerging (or reemerging for those who knew of their contributions) as great stars of the era. A good lead up to the documentary that will soon be released on dvd. But imagine the wealth of anecdotes; musical and otherwise; that Blaine and Kaye could provide if pressed. The author misses the boat here; a couple of humorous incidents about a studio full of musicians laughing reveals little in the way of content.For all the biographical details; it feels like the author gets some of it wrong; with the chronology a bit askew. He glosses over the epic Good Vibrations sessions (even though entitling a chapter Good Vibrations) having written Brian Wilson off as a burnout immediately after Pet Sounds. He writes off By The Time I Get To Phoenix as a minor hit for Glen Campbell even after featuring it in a prior chapter as a multi-Grammy winner. Odd. Yet another bio with way too much unnecessary made-up banal dialogue ostensibly to move the story along. ("I'd like to talk to Phil Spector; please" he said. 'Who may I ask is calling?' a female voice responded." is a scintillating example. Where are the editors?)The Wrecking Crew are given their just due here; no complaints about the book's intent. Well researched but not well written. Buy it for the short bios of the obscure but not for the prose.