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The flipSide 12/28/2015

12/28/2015

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The Wrecking Crew

PictureMembers of the Wrecking Crew employed for a session at Gold Star Studios in the 1960s.
"The Wrecking Crew" was a nickname coined by drummer Hal Blaine for a collective of studio and session musicians that played anonymously on many records in Los Angeles, California  during the 1960s. The crew backed dozens of popular singers, and were one of the most successful groups of studio musicians in music history.  They were occasionally featured on productions by Phil Spector under the name the Phil Spector Wall of Sound Orchestra. Other names such as "the Clique" and "the First Call Gang" have been attributed to the band.

Two of their members, drummers Hal Blaine and Earl Palmer, were among the inaugural "sidemen" inductees to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame  in 2000, while the entire Wrecking Crew was inducted into the Musicians Hall of Fame in 2007.  In 2008, they were the subject of the documentary of the same name. 

The record producers most often associated with the Wrecking Crew are:  Phil Spector, who used the Crew to create his trademark "Wall of Sound"; and Beach Boys member and songwriter Brian Wilson, who used the Crew's talents on many of his mid-1960s productions including the songs "Good Vibrations", California Girls", Pet Sounds, and the original recordings for Smile.  Members of the Wrecking Crew played on the first Byrds single recording, "Mr. Tambourine Man", because, with the exception of Roger McGuinn, Columbia Records—namely, producer Terry Melcher —did not trust the musical competency of the band's members.   Spector used the Wrecking Crew on Leonard Cohen's fifth album, Death of a Ladies Man. 
So here is a group, "The Wrecking Crew", that accompanied most popular hit records during the 50's and 60's . . . and . . . most of us, never heard of them.  Backup music during the 50's was originally contracted on the East Coast.  Those guys demanded printed music sheets outlining exactly which notes to play.  No improvisation.  

Rock and Roll was just coming on the scene.  Artists wanted (and needed) more.  They would not get that on the East Coast . . . but in Los Angeles "The Wrecking Crew" was ready to get the job done! No written or "preplanned" script required.  Their talent was to "Make Music" and make it they did.  The Wrecking Crew is most certainly the reason for the success of many of our most popular singers of the day.  

Following is a rare look at the "The Wrecking Crew's"  creative talent. Watch as they transform a background sound into something great.  Glen Campbell plays lead guitar.  Glen could not read music.
                            Happy New Year from the flipSide!
Till Next Week

Harv
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The flipSide 12/21/2015

12/21/2015

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Christmas Vacation . . . Most everyone, by now, is familiar with Christmas Vacation.  If you're not . . . rent the movie!  Or, better yet, buy it!  It's our FAVORITE Christmas movie. You'd think that after 10+ years of watching this movie we'd know every scene by heart. Not so!  Seems that each year we find some funny incident that we've overlooked.  Definitely a classic!

In this clip we catch Clark in a chatty conversation with the "ladies intimate apparel" clerk.  Question is . . who's selling and, (more importantly), who's buying???

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Home Alone 2 - (sequels are never as good as the original but this one made a pretty good run at it) In this clip Harry Stern (Joe Pesci) and Marv Merchants (Daniel Stern) are making an attempt to retrieve a camera with film incriminating them in a house robbery.  The camera was stolen by Kevin McCallister (Macaulay Culkin).  Harry and Marv do their best to talk Kevin into giving them the camera but Kevin is having none of it.  

As in Home Alone there is lots of action and much of it really funny.  Mostly because of the polished delivery by Pesci, Stern and Culkin.  

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A Christmas Story - Set in the 40's when we were little kids and Christmas was truly magical.  

In this scene Ralphie (Peter Billingsley) finally receives his membership papers for the Little Orphan Annie club's "Secret Circle" which includes a certificate and decoder ring.  Ralphie is so excited he can barely contain himself. 

Coachmen "Point of Order"

What was that the "final word"  on a Coachmen decoder ring???

Till Next Week

Harv
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The flipSide 12/14/2015

12/14/2015

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Gunslinging ain't for kids!

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Howard Darby began his career as a fast & fancy gun handler in 1979 when he acquired a replica Colt Peacemaker. Since the gun was unable to shoot, he started spinning it, often doing so for hours each day. In 1981 Howard learned of a Fast Draw club located in his home town. From the moment he strapped on his first Fast Draw gun, Howard knew he had found a sport that he could sink his teeth into.

Regular focused practise and refinement of techniques has paid off. Howard has won Fast Draw world titles seventeen times, and the World Gun Spinning title six times... more than any other gun spinner. Howard also currently holds the title of WFDA "Fastest Gun Alive" and twenty-two world records in the sport of Fast Draw.

Well that's nice!  Gun Spinning and Fast Drawing is fun . . . but back in the "Wild West" slinging guns had consequences.  Why?   Because having a reputation as a "gunslinger" could get you in trouble.  Think about it now . . . what if you were Doc Holliday and met Johnny Ringo in a bar.  Wyatt wouldn't interfere . . . since he was retired an all.  How would you handle this situation???
OK so it did bother Doc . .  you know . .  being put down in that bar and all . . in front of his friends.  So he just went out to find Johnny Ringo.  Maybe Doc would have the chance to "set things right".  

Now . . . if you have a weak stomach . . . you might want to skip the following video.  It is, what you might call, self explanatory!
Till Next Week

Harv
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The flipSide  12/07/2015

12/7/2015

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James Taylor 

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Early Life
James Vernon Taylor was born on March 12, 1948, in Boston, Massachusetts. At the age of 3, he moved with his family to North Carolina, where he lived for the rest of his childhood (though his well-off family usually spent summers on Martha's Vineyard, off the coast of Massachusetts). Taylor's mother had studied singing; Taylor, like all of her children, was also musically inclined. Initially a cellist, he began to play the guitar when he was around 12 years old.

In 1965, James Taylor committed himself to McLean Psychiatric Hospital in Massachusetts. During his stay there, he honed his songwriting skills. After leaving McLean in 1966, he helped form a band, The Flying Machine. When the group broke up, Taylor moved to London, where he was signed by the Beatles' Apple record label. Taylor's debut album, James Taylor, was well-liked by critics, but didn't sell well.

In 1969, Taylor returned to the United States. Struggling with a heroin addiction, he checked into a hospital in New York, and then went to Austin Riggs, a Massachusetts psychiatric facility. After those stays, he played the 1969 Newport Folk Festival. Then he moved to California and recorded a new album, this time for Warner Brothers.

"You've Got a Friend" Taylor's career skyrocketed with the success of his second album, Sweet Baby James (1970), which contains what may be Taylor's best-known song, the gentle "Fire and Rain." Both the album and the song reached No. 3 in their respective chart categories. On his next album, Mud Slide Slim and the Blue Horizon, Taylor had a No. 1 hit with his cover of "You've Got a Friend," written by Carole King. He also won a Grammy for his performance of that song.

Following a few moderately successful releases, James Taylor's Greatest Hits came out in 1976. The album was a success from the start, and has now received diamond certification (meaning it has sold more than 10 million copies). In 1977, Taylor won a second Grammy for his cover of "Handy Man." It was from the first album he recorded for Columbia, the multiplatinum-selling JT.
Over the next few decades, Taylor's musical output included studio albums, live recordings and even work on a Broadway musical. Hourglass (1997) won the Grammy for Best Pop Album (Taylor won Grammys in 2001 and 2003 as well). Touring has also enhanced Taylor's popularity, as well as his album sales; almost all of his releases have now attained either gold or platinum status.

In June 2015, Taylor released his first album of original material in 13 years with 
Before This World. Amazingly, after a half century in the music business, it was his first album to top the Billboard 200 chart.
Taylor has been sober since 1984. After two failed marriages—to Carly Simon from 1972 to 1983, and to Kathryn Walker from 1985 to 1996—he wed Carolyn Smedvig in 2001.
Throughout his career, Taylor—who is proudly liberal—has offered his support to causes and people he believes in. He has given concerts for politicians such as George McGovern, Barack Obama and Elizabeth Warren, and was a staunch opponent of Jesse Helms. Taylor has also appeared at numerous benefit concerts, including one to raise funds for victims of the 2013 Boston Marathon bombings.
In 2000, Taylor was inducted into both the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and the Songwriters Hall of Fame. He received a National Medal of the Arts in 2011 and was designated a Chevalier of the Order of Arts and Letters by the French government in 2012. In November 2015, he was honored with the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
Perhaps most important, Taylor continues to be esteemed as a songwriter and performer whose work speaks to people's inner emotional lives.

Till Next Week

​Harv

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