Nashville Recording A Team vrs. LA's Wrecking Crew

Duane Becker · From: Elk,Wa 99009 USA

Lately in one of the local bands that I play with, the guys have been talking about the recording musicians in the 1960s and 70s. Mention was made of Hal Blaine, Carol Kaye and others on the Wrecking Crew. But when I mentioned Buddy Harmon, Bob Moore, even Lloyd Green from the Nashville A Team, the guys more less brushed me off, and they acted like the Nashville boys weren't that important as the Wrecking Crew.
I just don't understand that type of thinking. Yes the guys in my the band are all from rock music backgrounds, but me being from a country and western background, I still know about the Wrecking Crew and even Muscle Shoals. I've also noticed the Nashville A team doesn't get enough credit compared to say the LA musicians.
I really wish guys like Paul Franklin would read this post since he's on the forum from time to time, I'd like to hear his and other Nashville A Team member responses. Funny too because for years I've collected A Team recordings. The Nashville A Team can play it all, and even with the rock and jazz stuff that I've heard, they nail it. But the rock recording musicians including the Wrecking Crew, they really cant play country, yes its great but it just doesn't sound right-rhythms are different too...

Franklin · Posted 25 Jul 2021 7:33 am

Duane, my 2 cents...The abilities of the wrecking crew are unequaled within any form of music back in the 60's. The LA rhythm section could play Country as well. In those situations they would enhance their band with Burton and the local Fiddle and Pedal Steel players. Back in Nashville, The A team had to also enhance their rhythm section with the local rock players like the Area Code 615 musicians...Its all relevant...The Wrecking Crew rhythm section players played movie dates and created grooves the A team in Nashville would mimic.
For example Rose Garden was Nashville players playing a groove created in LA... Brenda Lee and The Everly's was Nashville players imitating the popular sounds of the Wrecking Crew...Both cities sometimes influenced musical directions

The real truth is that both Nashville and LA studio players hold extreme respect for each others contributions and abilities...

The biggest difference was that surviving in LA at the highest level meant players needed to be exceptional within a very wide pallet. Whereas in Nashville it was more a specialized focus based around traditional Country and several of those A team bass players could not play Pop which is why bass players were brought in to play with Harmon, Floyd, or Pig...Chet even flew in Johnny Smith to enhance Don Gibson recordings.

Todays studio players in both cities have to be as widely diverse as the original Wrecking Crew was back in the day.

Jim Fogle · From: North Carolina, Winston-Salem, USA

The session musicians from Los Angeles, Nashville, Memphis, Muscle Shoals and Detroit seem to be getting their justified acknowledgements. YouTube interviews, documentaries and books have shed a lot of light onto a practice that was little known or understood by the mass public.

The same can not be said regarding session players in Chicago, New York, London, Europe or other parts of the world.

Listen to country music recorded in South Africa, Australia or Ireland and it's easy to believe the recordings are made in the United States.

Listen to the covers or original music of Leonid and Friends (Russia and Ukraine session musicians and singers) and it's like horn bands are back in style.https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCD5ZsXiIFlrWrbOCM6rEDKQ
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Duane Becker · From: Elk,Wa 99009 USA

Thanks Jim and especially Paul for your comments.
I really appreciate it!

Jim Fogle · From: North Carolina, Winston-Salem, USA

I believe another big difference between Los Angeles (LA) and all the other session musicians is the LA session musicians supported the television and motion picture industry. Nashville, Muscle Shoals, Detroit, Atlanta, New York and Miami session musicians only served the music industry.

Because of the large quantity and the quality of session work available, the Los Angeles area seemed to draw more musicians to it than other areas of the country.

Many musicians did session work in multiple locations throughout their career.
_________________
Remembering Harold Fogle (1945-1999) Pedal Steel Player
Dell laptop Win 10, i3, 8GB, 480GB
2024 BiaB UltraPlus PAK
Cakewalk by Bandlab Computer DAW
Zoom MRS-8 8 Track Hardware DAW

scott murray · From: Asheville, NC

Willie Nelson recorded the definitive versions of some of his early classics in LA in 1961 including Crazy, Hello Walls, Funny How Time Slips Away, Mr Record Man, 3 Days, and Darkness on the Face of the Earth which all appear on his And Then I Wrote album. session musicians included Leon Russell, Billy Strange, Glen Campbell, and Roy Nichols. don't forget Buck Owens was also a Capitol session guitarist before hitting it big and Ralph Mooney was on tons of LA sessions too. other great LA steel players include Red Rhodes, JayDee Maness, and Buddy Emmons for several years.

I would love to see a documentary on all the great Nashville musicians though, like they've done for The Wrecking Crew, The Funk Brothers, and Muscle Shoals. it's a shame that hasn't really happened yet... a lot of the players are long gone.
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Frank Freniere · From: The First Coast

Donny Hinson · From: Glen Burnie, Md. U.S.A.

IMHO, mastering one style can be fairly easy and straightforward. But it takes a very special player to be able to adapt to and play many styles. That's because doing so means you have to sublimate some of your essence, your ego, your musical personality...to do what's required, rather than what you'd like to do.

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