‘The Wrecking Crew’ Tells the Untold Story to American Music

Sandra Miska

Not only is Ethan Hawke’s classical piano documentary “Seymour: An Introduction” opening this week; another music doc, this time about rock musicians, will be coming to theaters.  “The Wrecking Crew” tells the story about a group of musician who brought to life some of the biggest rock hits of the 1960s and 1970s.

It’s a little-known fact that many of the biggest musical acts of 1960s, such as The Beach Boys, The Mamas & the Papas, and The Monkees didn’t always play the instruments heard on their records.  Instead, a group of musicians known as The Wrecking Crew often filled in at Los Angeles studio sessions.  Because of the secretive nature of their work, these artists never got their proper due.  All this is about to change with “The Wrecking Crew,” a documentary that first premiered at the 2008 South by Southwest Film Festival and is just now getting a theatrical release due to lengthy song right negations.

Director Danny Tedesco has a personal connection to the subjects of his first documentary: late Wrecking Crew guitarist Tommy Tedesco was his father.  The younger Tedesco started the project in 1995 after his father was diagnosed with terminal cancer.  In an interview, Danny Tedesco explained how he initially tried to keep his personal views and feelings out of the film.

“I was so determined at first to actually say to in the interviews, ‘please say ‘Tommy’ instead of your dad’. I really wanted to keep myself out of the picture but in the end, I came around and embraced it. The hard part was to telling the story of the “Wrecking Crew” and at the same time telling my father’s story. Finally, a friend mentioned to me that you really couldn’t tell one and not the other, so you might as well literally acknowledge it. Once we did that, it was easier and felt right.”

Danny Tedesco interviewed not only original members of The Wrecking Crew, including bassist Carol Kaye, the sole woman in the crew, but countless of other musicians, songwriters, and producers.

The Wrecking Crew” opens in theaters and is available on iTunes March 13.