25 Facts About Hal Blaine

Hal Blaine's drumming is featured on 150 US top 10 hits, 40 of which went to number one.

Hal Blaine became one of the regulars in Phil Spector's de facto house band, which Blaine nicknamed "the Wrecking Crew".

Hal Blaine's workload declined in the 1980s as recording and musical practices changed.

Hal Blaine was born Harold Simon Belsky, one of four children of Jewish Eastern European immigrants Meyer and Rose Belsky, in Holyoke, Massachusetts.

Hal Blaine began playing drums at the age of eight, and got his first drum kit at 13.

Hal Blaine's father worked at a nightclub and Hal followed him to work, learning drum patterns from the musicians in jazz bands and orchestras.

From 1949 to 1952, Hal Blaine learned drums from Roy Knapp, who had taught jazz drummer Gene Krupa.

Hal Blaine began his professional career playing overnight sessions in Chicago strip clubs, which allowed him to practice and perfect his sight reading skills.

Hal Blaine subsequently played as part of Count Basie's big band and toured with Patti Page and Tommy Sands before taking up session work.

Unlike many of his jazz contemporaries, Hal Blaine enjoyed playing rock and roll and this meant he played on numerous such sessions during the 1950s.

Hal Blaine rarely performed live, with the exception of working with Nancy Sinatra at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas in the 1960s, and with John Denver's band in the 70s.

Hal Blaine was a core member of the Wrecking Crew, the close-knit group of Los Angeles session musicians that played on hit records during the 1960s.

Hal Blaine claimed to have invented the name as the "old-school" studio musicians feared these new, younger guys were a "destructive force" in the conservative studio environment of the time.

Hal Blaine played with guitarists Glen Campbell and Tommy Tedesco, bassists Carol Kaye and Joe Osborn, and keyboardists Leon Russell and Don Randi.

The pattern was created when Hal Blaine accidentally hit the snare on just the fourth beat, instead of the two and four.

Hal 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.

Hal Blaine kept busy recording advertising jingles for a number of years, before semi-retiring from performing.

Hal Blaine lost most of his wealth following a divorce.

Hal Blaine was married six times; he was widowed by the 1968 death of his first wife, with whom he had one daughter.

Hal Blaine died of natural causes on March 11,2019, at age 90 in Palm Desert, California.

Hal Blaine was a prolific session player and by his estimation played on over 35,000 recordings, including 6,000 singles.

Hal Blaine 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".

Hal Blaine played on six consecutive Grammy Award Record of the Year winners:.

In March 2000, Blaine was one of the first five sidemen inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Hal Blaine was inducted into the Modern Drummer Hall of Fame in 2010.