Hal Blaine

Induction Year: 2000

Induction Category: Sidemen

Hal Blaine may well be the most prolific drummer in rock and roll history. He’s certainly played on more hit records than any drummer in the rock era, including 40 #1 singles and 150 that made the Top Ten. Eight of the records he played on won Grammys for Record of the Year. Blaine, who was born Harold Simon Belsky in 1929, became a professional drummer in 1948 and joined teen idol Tommy Sands’ band in the late Fifties. He was the most in-demand session drummer in Los Angeles during the Sixties and early Seventies, and a list of musicians he played with reads like a who’s who of popular music.

In 1961, Blaine drummed on “Can’t Help Falling in Love With You,” one of Elvis Presley’s most memorable sides, and he would play on Presley’s film soundtracks throughout the Sixties. However, Blaine’s best-known affiliation is with producer , where he served as the percussive backbone of the “Wrecking Crew"the nickname that younger studio hands on the L.A. scene bestowed on themselves after the rock-hating old-timers complained they were “wrecking the business.” He was a key component of Spector’s “Wall of Sound” production, which yielded such classic rock and roll hits as “Be My Baby,” by the , and “Da Doo Ron Ron,” by the Crystals.

Blaine also established a fruitful relationship with Beach Boys leader Brian Wilson, for whom he served as the first-call session drummer. Blaine appeared on innumerable Beach Boys hits, ranging from “Surfer Girl” to “Good Vibrations.” He also drummed on countless recordings by the cream of West Coast pop musicians, including Jan and Dean, , , Johnny Rivers, the Association, Sonny and Cher, the Grass Roots, and Gary Lewis and the Playboys. On the more “adult” side of the pop ledger, Blaine played drums on recordings by Frank Sinatra and Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass. By Blaine’s own estimate, he performed on 35,000 recorded tracks over in a quarter century’s worth of work. He published his memoirs, Hal Blaine and the Wrecking Crew, in 1990.

TIMELINE

February 5, 1929: Harold Simon Belsky (a.k.a. Hal Blaine) is born in Holyoke, Massachusetts.

1959: “Baby Talk,” by Jan and Dean, becomes the first of more than 150 singles featuring Hal Blaine on drums to reach the Top Ten.

1962: “He’s a Rebel,” by the Crystals, becomes the first major -produced hit to feature Hal Blaine.

1963: In one incredible year, Hal Blaine drums on the following classics: “Then He Kissed Me” and “Da Doo Ron Ron,” by the Crystals; “Another Saturday Night,” by Sam Cooke; “Be My Baby,” by the ; “Surf City” and “Drag City,” by Jan and Dean; “Surfer Girl” and “Surfin’ USA,” by .

1964: Hal Blaine turns up on big hits by and Jan and Dean, as well as surf and car groups like the Rip Chords ("Hey Little Cobra"), the Hondells ("Little Honda") and the Marketts ("Out of Limits").

1965: Hal Blaine fills in for drummer Michael Clarke on ’ “Mr. Tambourine Man,” a #1 hit. He drums on four other chart-toppers: “I Got You Babe,” by Sonny and Cher; “Eve of Destruction,” by Barry McGuire; “Help Me, Rhonda,” by ; and “This Diamond Ring,” by Gary Lewis & the Playboys.

1966: ‘Drums! Drums!’ A Go Go, an instrumental album by Hal Blaine, is released. He drums for artists as disparate as ("Good Vibrations"), ("If I Were a Carpenter"), Frank Sinatra ("Strangers in the Night") and Nancy Sinatra ("These Boots Are Made for Walkin’").

1967: Hal Blaine is omnipresent on recordings by , Johnny Rivers, the Grass Roots, the Fifth Dimension, the Association and the Monkees.

1968: Hal Blaine drums on the epic hit “MacArthur Park,” composed by Jimmy Webb and sung by Richard Harris.

1969: Hal Blaine appears on three #1 hits, including the Fifth Dimension’s “Aquarius/Let the Sunshine In” medley from the musical Hair.

1970: Simon and Garfunkel’s majestic “Bridge Over Troubled Water,” featuring Hal Blaine on drums, tops the singles chart.

March 6, 2000: Hal Blaine is inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame at the fifteenth annual induction dinner. Mike Leiber and Jerry Stoller are his presenters.

Essential Recordings

Be My Baby (Ronettes)
Da Doo Ron Ron (Crystals)
Wouldn’t It Be Nice (Beach Boys)
Bridge Over Troubled Water (Simon and Garfunkel)
MacArthur Park (Richard Harris)
Mr. Tambourine Man (Byrds)
California Dreamin’ (Mamas and the Papas)
Along Comes Mary (Association)
Good Vibrations (Beach Boys)
Surf City (Jan and Dean)

Recommended Reading

Hal Blaine and the Wrecking Crew
Hal Blaine with David Goggin. Emeryville, CA: Mix Books, 1990.

“Hal Blaine: Rock ‘n’ Roll’s House Drummer.”
Brian Gari. Goldmine (October 5, 1990): 40-46, 146.