Talk:Hal Blaine

Most recorded
This page says he "has played on more recordings than any other musician." Steve Gadd's page says he "is arguably the most recorded drummer in history." I don't know which one to believe. Joe 14:59, 12 August 2006 (UTC)
 * I would not trust either of them. My quess is that there is some Bollywood drummer who has recorded everyday of his life since 1947 and has twice as much as either Blaine or Gadd.  I watch the Blaine page and am comfortable removing that line. Carptrash 15:20, 12 August 2006 (UTC)
 * Not to start an argument with anybody about Hal, but in 1958, I started doing sessions with Ray Pohlman, Mel Pollen, and drummer Earl Palmer and that was the initial beginning of what would be called "The Wrecking Crew." I do know that the official tally of the sessions Hal worked on during his career is well over 35,000 in total. May not prove to be a world record but is an impressive lifetime achievement. AND he is a great musician...
 * Zane Ashton, Old as dirt and retired. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Waken817 (talk • contribs) 15:10, 16 January 2010 (UTC)
 * I hope to see more of your insights about the early years popping up in different articles. Blaine was (is) one of the great ones, I just get nervous when I see words such as "most."  Life is good Einar aka Carptrash (talk) 16:35, 16 January 2010 (UTC)

The great Bernard "Pretty" Purdie has also claimed to be the most recorded drummer - guess we'll never know. Just about the only thing we get out of these snippets is the awful truth that many famous names — in pop music at least — were rarely able to play their own instruments other than just making a noise. Spread the word. 83.180.128.192 23:11, 11 November 2006 (UTC)
 * As I recall, that "most recorded drummer" claim has been out of the article for a while. I suspect that the most recorded drummer is some fellow who's been doing Bollywood sound tracks for the past 47 years - but that's just another opinion.  Pretty Purdie also claimed to have played on some Beatle recordings, so he does not, in my book at least, have a lot of credibility.  Carptrash 23:22, 11 November 2006 (UTC)
 * Purdie was called to "replace" Ringo on "Love Me Do" as Ringo had just joined the group and George Martin was not confident in Starr's ability. Starr plays on the album version. Purdie on the single version. I remember hearing/reading this from both Starr and Martin - I believe it was in Martin's book All You Need is Ears.THX1136 (talk) 21:07, 19 February 2016 (UTC)
 * Carptrash made this comment twice in a row about the Bollywood drummer. The comment sounds so specific that I would believe it refers to a certain person, or perhaps I'm reading into it too much and he was just being a smartass.  Anyway, Sly Dunbar has variously claimed to have drummed on over 100,000 or over 200,000 tracks.  I'm surprised that with all the names thrown about, no one has brought that up. RadioKAOS / Talk to me, Billy / Transmissions  09:20, 1 July 2016 (UTC)

Rock and Roll Hall of Fame citation
Is it a problem if the text of the introduction is word for word exactly the same as his Rock and Roll Hall of Fame citation? Boogie Down 08:09, 10 March 2007 (UTC)

Dennis Wilson
While it's true that Hal Blaine played on many, many Beach Boys records, including some of the best known ones, to say that Dennis Wilson "rarely" played drums in the studio is wrong. Recent research has established that DW played on as many as half of the band's '60s recordings, including some of their A-sides. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 64.163.235.146 (talk) 23:22, 22 October 2007 (UTC)
 * he is right, so change this.
 * Dennis Wilson didn't "let" Hal Blaine play the drums on Beach Boys records – generally that decision was made by Brian Wilson. Also, there is no citation for the quote.  So I am removing the whole paragraph.  This doesn't mean I don't have a whole lot of respect and appreciation for both Dennis and Hal!  hulmem (talk) 03:18, 25 April 2009 (UTC)
 * I've removed "I Get Around" from the #1 hits list, as I can find no proof that Hal played on it other than his own claim to have done so. Badman's Definitive Diary states that Dennis Wilson played drums. Andrew G. Doe (talk) 13:55, 15 December 2011 (UTC)

Merger

 * Support merging Hal Blaine Strikes Again and this article. Hard to imagine why that other article even exists? Though a discussion about the meaning of existence might prove to be fruitful here. Einar aka Carptrash (talk) 04:56, 9 February 2010 (UTC)
 * Support merging Hal Blaine Strikes Again into this article. The entire content of Hal Blaine Strikes Again is an appropriate section of the Hal Blaine article.  --hulmem (talk) 04:36, 10 February 2010 (UTC)
 * Except for the fact that the rest of the article is a wikilink farm or otherwise a pretty blatant WP:INDISCRIMINATE exercise and not exactly anything I'd call a biographical article. That this section is coherent while the remainder of the article isn't makes the section an obvious WP:UNDUE poster child. RadioKAOS / Talk to me, Billy / Transmissions  09:20, 1 July 2016 (UTC)

Hal Blaine Strikes Again rubber stamp - the image used here is something somebody has made up and does not represent the actual stamp he used. I have a recent copy of his biography (Hal Blaine & The Wrecking Crew) both autographed by HB and with an impression made with his own stamp so I can speak with authority. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 90.242.238.143 (talk) 19:44, 13 March 2019 (UTC)

Photo
I found and uploaded the photo in the infobox from a photographer on Flickr, who shared a few more, via Creative Commons. However, if the man was born in 1929, it seems fishy. I did find this portrait of him on a book here on Amazon.com: . Meanwhile, I'm emailing the photographer again for some clarity on this. --Leahtwosaints (talk) 16:48, 2 August 2011 (UTC)
 * Good work! Aged 66 is much more plausible than aged 79 - I guess still having all his hair makes a big difference. (By that age I'll be completely bald ... ) Thanks, OpinionFreeZone (talk) 20:39, 3 August 2011 (UTC)
 * Thanks! I know I upload a zillion photos but I do try to be careful. Of over 1,500 photos I think I had maybe 4 upload mistakes.. so.. ! :)  --Leahtwosaints (talk) 21:37, 3 August 2011 (UTC)
 * I'm not here to be a mutual admiration society, but really, getting the date wrong can hardly be classified as "the end of the universe"! 1496 out of 1500 sounds a pretty good hit rate to me! OpinionFreeZone (talk) 13:00, 5 August 2011 (UTC)
 * I came to look at this article due to the recent death of Rob Wasserman and the fact that both played together with David Grisman in the 1980s. The publicity photo I saw of that lineup showed someone who looked to be a lot younger than someone in their mid-late 50s, so I would question that DOB.  I didn't see it mentioned in the sources, either. RadioKAOS / Talk to me, Billy / Transmissions  09:20, 1 July 2016 (UTC)

The name of The Carpenters...
...is "The Carpenters". A link to Carpenters takes us to some ether place. Please check this out for yourself. Carptrash (talk) 15:45, 13 June 2016 (UTC)
 * Yeah, that's what our article is titled. Richard Carpenter has given numerous interviews in which he insists that the band name was simply "Carpenters".  Resolving that may prove to be as controversial as "Eagles" and "The Eagles" (see this). RadioKAOS / Talk to me, Billy / Transmissions  09:20, 1 July 2016 (UTC)

#1 hits
The cited dates need to be standardized. Some are a year off. Others match only the Hot 100 debut date. Still others match only the Hot 100 top 40 debut date. And still others match only the #1 ascent date.107.185.97.165 (talk) 04:01, 19 August 2017 (UTC)
 * The article doesn't have dates in this section anymore. Ritchie333 (talk) (cont)  12:31, 12 March 2019 (UTC)
 * So what would an appropriate date to use be? Since these are all #1 hits and I have the Billboard Book of #1 Hits, I am inclined to use the date that it first hits #1. Carptrash (talk) 16:23, 12 March 2019 (UTC)
 * I haven't a clue, I don't think I've ever seen that information (at least properly sourced) in another article. Ritchie333 (talk) (cont)  17:48, 13 March 2019 (UTC)

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The article still does not reflect a standardized date for each #1 hit. See my longstanding comment from nearly three years ago, above.107.185.97.165 (talk) 23:52, 11 March 2019 (UTC)

Circus fire?
The article states that Blaine moved to California in 1943, but then that he survived the Hartford circus fire the next year. What was he doing back in New England? It seems odd that a 16-year-old would travel all the way across the country during WWII and go to the circus the year after moving west. One has to wonder if this is a myth. --Piledhigheranddeeper (talk) 12:23, 12 March 2019 (UTC)
 * This was in the article before we all started improving it yesterday. It's not reliably sourced and I can't find any reliable and independent source confirming it, so I declare it's complete bollocks and out it goes. Ritchie333 (talk) (cont)  12:30, 12 March 2019 (UTC)
 * The claim just resurfaced and I removed it. I have Blaine's autobiography around here, if the story were true it would be there for sure. Einar aka Carptrash (talk) 16:01, 26 June 2019 (UTC)
 * Blaine makes no mention of the Fire in his autobiography, however he states that the family moved to California in the "fall of 1944". We have 1943 all throughout the article.  However he also says everal times that he was 14 years old and that (please check my math) would have been in 1943.  So the dates perhaps could be improved but the Fire is out for now. Carptrash (talk) 16:14, 26 June 2019 (UTC)

Just passing through (in case anyone above is still watching this page), and wanted to say that, for the record, it is 100% true that Blaine survived the circus fire. It's discussed fairly early on in The Wrecking Crew (you can probably see it on Google Books if you search ""A fifteen-year-old boy named Harold Belsky noticed..."). He also talks about it here. I would add it myself to the page, but it conflicts with the 1943 detail, so I don't feel like opening a can of worms. Nohomersryan (talk) 23:17, 4 June 2020 (UTC)

"...dates given are the ones at which the song reached number one."
Is this really necessary? (WP:LAUNDRYLIST) Ilovetopaint (talk) 13:50, 14 March 2019 (UTC)