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The Wrecking Crew (2015)

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Frayed Knot Jul 04 2015 07:42 AM

Son of the late WC guitarist Tommy Tedesco makes a documentary film of the loose confederation of legendary LA-based studio musicians known informally (and mostly in retrospect) as 'The Wrecking Crew' who played on every single record ever recorded during the 1960s (or so it seems at times). A combo of survivors recollections, home movies, and archive footage galore, it's as much a celebration/tribute as a pure documentary.

Edgy MD Aug 16 2015 08:26 PM Re: The Wrecking Crew (2015)

Like with the documentary about the Sherman brothers, this film is both blessed and cursed by being directed by the son of one of the principles. It's blessed by his connections and family archives, but cursed by being over-attached to Tedesco's angle. Great to hear them sit around and tell stories of the records, but a narrative and a timeline are lacking. They go from a record that seems 1964 to a record that seems 1968-ish, and then double back to 1958. They all admit that they're not quite sure who counted as being in the Wrecking Crew, and who didn't, but they never really apply the sort of scholarship to figure it out. With some of the players — Tedesco, Carol Kaye, Plas Johnson — you get some of the backstory of where they were from and how they came to Hollywood, but others arbitrarily just seemed to materialize there. And that's the magic, the American dream of going out to Hollywood, starving for a few years, but one day pulling out your baritone sax and playing lead on the Pink Panther theme. Heck, if they just went record by record and listed who was on it, the narrative would have taken care of itself.

sharpie Sep 08 2015 12:25 PM Re: The Wrecking Crew (2015)

I pretty much agree with Edgy on this. The Wrecking Crew was such an amorphous group that had the doc not been made by Tedescu's son, then there probably could have been a whole 'nother documentary made featuring an entirely different crew.

Vic Sage Sep 08 2015 04:45 PM Re: The Wrecking Crew (2015)

[fimg=800:2d5fz3m7]https://s.yimg.com/fz/api/res/1.2/snrk24OIl6vwZz_fpNgkUw--/YXBwaWQ9c3JjaGRkO2g9MTE1ODtxPTk1O3c9MTUwMA--/https://classicfilmaficionados.files.wordpress.com/2015/01/wrecking_crew_xlg.jpg[/fimg:2d5fz3m7]