The Wrecking Crew: true stories to inspire young musicians

When I was a senior in high school my friend Andrew invited me to see John Mayer live in concert. At the time I was more into Jazz and all I knew of Mayer was his pop hits that I generally avoided, but I respected Andrew’s taste in music so I thought I’d give it a try. The evening of music would change my whole perspective on Mayer, and pop music for that matter. 

The man displayed a singular talent and a love of performance that led to an over 2-hour show for which Mayer opened for himself, playing dizzying intricacies from songs of his that I’d mostly never heard for they had never reached the air waves. When his solo set was up, he came back out and fronted for The John Mayer Trio for about an hour, then a brief break before bringing out the full John Mayer Band for another hour of jaw dropping performances. 

It was a personal show for Mayer, and he even brought his childhood friends on stage to sing backup. One of the things that stuck out from this concert the most, however, was a comment about how it all began. 

Mayer explained that when he was first learning guitar, at about 13, he pretty much took the instrument into his room and did little else but practice for about six years. The teenage Mayer did not have any inkling that he would one day be one of the greatest guitarists alive at that time. It was all for the love of music; it was all for the discernment of a musical vocation, to which he showed the utmost devotion. 

This, naturally, made me consider all those musicians on stage with Mayer, whose talents were on par, but whose names I cannot remember now, nearly two decades removed from the concert. It is likely that those musicians were just as devoted to their crafts and although they’ll never have a multi-platinum selling record, they were pivotal to Mayer's music. They were musician’s musicians. 

It was difficult not to think back on that concert while reading The Wrecking Crew, by Kent Hartman, as it revolves around these same musician’s musicians (although ones from a different era). Back in the mid 20th century, in the early days of rock and roll, many of the hits that came out of Los Angeles were performed on the recording by session musicians; incredibly talented players who are not actually part of the band and whose names never appear in the credits. 

The Mamas and The Papas, The Byrds, Sonny and Cher, and a host of other bands and record labels utilized the talents of these session musicians. Recording was – and still is – an extremely expensive enterprise and the studios wanted to make sure there were people in there who could cut a track in just one take. This is a specialty of session musicians, who can play any style, read any chart, and even improv if needed. 

At the upper echelons of the music industry there were a few dozen of the finest of these session musicians who would be called upon to fill some spots in this makeshift studio group. The lineup was never exactly the same, but whenever they got together to record for whichever artist was paying that week, they were part of The Wrecking Crew.

Hartman took thousands of hours of interviews from hundreds of influential musicians of the 50s, 60s, and 70s to finally capture the story of this uncredited “band” of studio musicians and he cobbled them together into a smooth novel-like narrative. The result is an interwoven string of true-life stories that reads like a major motion picture, following several of The Wrecking Crew’s members from their childhoods. 

They all came from different walks of life, but they all tend to share the same origins as John Mayer; alone in their rooms, practicing their instruments without any idea that they may one day influence the future of the music industry, but instead simply wishing to tighten up their chops on the instrument that had captured their passion. 

While “practice, practice, practice” is the way to get to Carnegie Hall, skills alone don’t land you with a LA record contract. Each one of the real-life characters in this book had a lot of help and luck to make it, confirming – for the most part – that who you know does play a part in establishing a high-quality musical act.

Still, many of these relationships were forged through hard work in no-name bands, consistently playing shows, and an openness to opportunities as they came. And the foundation of all these relationships was their love of music that spurred them to become the finest musicians they could. 

The pages practically turn themselves on this inspiring work that documents the little-known musicians who provided the tones that shaped an era of music. All fans of rock will love this book, but we particularly recommend The Wrecking Crew for young adults with a budding interest in music. Although, it would probably be best read with their preferred music streaming service close at hand, so they can listen to the classic early rock and roll songs the story references as they read. 

Editor's note: "The Wrecking Crew" is just one of many wonderful reads on Aleteia's 2024 Summer Book List. We invite you to check out the list, which includes links to informative articles about each of our chosen books.