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R.I.P. legendary drummer Hal Blaine


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Legendary drummer Hal Blaine, who played on many of the biggest hits in music history, has passed away according to an official Facebook post here.

 

Blaine's son-in-law Andy Johnson tells The Associated Press that Blaine died of natural causes Monday, March 11, 2019, at his home in Palm Desert, California. He was 90.

 

Neil Peart has cited Hal Blaine as a huge drumming influence in his books and from this recent interview with MusicRadar here, that has the following comment:

 

"It's funny, though: When I was growing up, I played along to the radio, so I played along to Simon & Garfunkel, The Beach Boys, The Association and The Byrds, and I was really playing along to Hal Blaine. He played on all of those records and so many more. There was another drummer who said that he was shattered to find out that his six favorite drummers were all Hal Blaine!"

 

There's a 2005 Modern Drummer interview with Hal Blaine here where he makes the following comment:

 

MD: You’ve influenced so many drummers growing up at that time, myself included, before we even knew it was you on all those recordings.

 

Hal: I got a very nice letter and an autographed copy of Neil Peart’s book, Ghost Rider. He’s a beautiful writer. In his letter he said the same thing you just said. He said he knew every one of those records and that he learned from the records that I played on.

Edited by RushFanForever
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Songs Hal Blaine played on...just an amazing list of drumming credits:

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_recordings_of_songs_Hal_Blaine_has_played_on

 

Funny, I just posted one of his songs today in a TRF thread...Indian Reservation by Paul Revere and the raiders ("Cherokee People...")

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He was interesting in the Wrecking Crew movie! I like to play the oldies station in the car and I'm sure I have heard him more than I know. Such great songs! RIP Hal Blaine. :rose:
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Recently Hal Blaine did a roundtable multi-part interview on Drum Channel here with legendary session drummer Jim Keltner and Charlie Watts of The Rolling Stones. Click the 'Episodes' tab to see the interview.

 

Hal Blaine also did a separate multi-part interview on Drum Channel here with Chad Smith of Red Hot Chili Peppers. Click the 'Episodes' tab to see the interview.

Edited by RushFanForever
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Just read about this in the paper this morning. I recently bought a Hal Blaine compilation disc - really cool. He apparently was one of those tireless performers. Unless I'm mixing him up with someone else, there's a story that his management had to trick him into taking a vacation. He thought he was going to another session gig, but when he got off the plane, he discovered there was no gig...
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I remember thinking WHY? when I finally heard in the early '70s that he played on Carpenter albums....I remember thinking that Karen was doing all the drumming. Thought it was cool that a girl was doing that. Anyway, the way I learned about him was that I ALWAYS read liner notes on all the albums I bought.....RIP Hal. You were a GREAT percussionist!

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He was interesting in the Wrecking Crew movie! I like to play the oldies station in the car and I'm sure I have heard him more than I know. Such great songs! RIP Hal Blaine. :rose:

 

An incredible drummer.

 

So sad.

 

"The Wrecking Crew" blu-ray should be owned by all.

 

We all get old and die.

 

Some leave their marks on the Earth forever.

Some just fade away like a shooting star.........

 

 

Get in the game.

 

Rock And Roll Forever! Hal!! RIP!

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Old-school studio pro. Doesn't even bother with a smoke break:

http://www.drummerworld.com/pics/drum/dpa9/Halblaine2.jpg

 

 

He always had such cool kits:

 

rs-233945-GettyImages-73906805_master.jpg

9 toms, 3 cymbals? :o

 

 

Sir Paul has a go on one of Hal's monstrosities:

http://donnbennett.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/Image.jpg

 

Rocking out on a funky looking kit:

blaine_hal_ludwigs.jpg?w=373&h=364

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Old-school studio pro. Doesn't even bother with a smoke break:

http://www.drummerworld.com/pics/drum/dpa9/Halblaine2.jpg

 

 

He always had such cool kits:

 

rs-233945-GettyImages-73906805_master.jpg

9 toms, 3 cymbals? :o

 

 

Sir Paul has a go on one of Hal's monstrosities:

http://donnbennett.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/Image.jpg

 

Rocking out on a funky looking kit:

blaine_hal_ludwigs.jpg?w=373&h=364

 

Great photos! Thanks! It's such a loss to have him gone.

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