Hal Blaine

I'm sure other people's blogs will mark the death of drummer Hal Blaine at the age of 90 as well as this one. Hal Blaine was one of the most recorded drummers in history, a man who played on over 6000 singles and 40 number one singles including those by The Byrds, Simon and Garfunkel, The Carpenters, The Beach Boys, Frank Sinatra, The Mamas And The Papas and The Supremes. He covered for Dennis Wilson on Pet Sounds. But the bottom line is he's the man who did the intro on this...

Be My Baby

The result of a dropped drumstick apparently, a mistake that became one of rock 'n' roll's most instantly identifiable sounds, amplified by Phil Spector's production. The boom-ba-boom-crash sound was borrowed by, to name but two, The Jesus And Mary Chain...

Just Like Honey

And Johnny Boy...

You Are The Generation Who Bought More Shoes And You Get What You Deserve

Coincidentally some of us were discussing the Johnny boy song on Twitter on Sunday night and I discovered that there's a Don Letts directed video for the song I'd never seen before. It's here.

Hal Blaine R.I.P.