Free Uncle John’s Fast-Acting Long-Lasting Bathroom Reader by Michael Brunsfeld Page B

who hated rock, complained that they were “wrecking the business.” The band, which included Hal Blaine (drums), Joe Osborne (bass), Larry Knechtel (keyboards), Glen Campbell (guitar), and Leon Russell (piano), were producer Phil Spector’s “go-to” guys.
    ♪ The Wrecking Crew played on six consecutive Record of the Year Grammy winners: “A Taste of Honey” by Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass (1966), “Strangers in the Night” by Frank Sinatra (1967), “Up, Up and Away” by the Fifth Dimension (1968), “Mrs. Robinson” by Simon and Garfunkel (1969), “Aquarius/Let the Sunshine In” by the Fifth Dimension (1970), and “Bridge Over Troubled Water” by Simon and Garfunkel (1971).
    Selected Hits: “Be My Baby” by the Ronettes • “Surf City” by Jan and Dean • “You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feeling” by the Righteous Brothers • “I Got You, Babe” by Sonny and Cher • “Mr. Tambourine Man” by the Byrds •“California Dreamin’” by the Mamas and the Papas • “This Diamond Ring” by Gary Lewis and the Playboys • “Good Vibrations” by the Beach Boys • “I’m a Believer” by the Monkees • “River Deep, Mountain High” by Ike and Tina Turner
    MUSCLE SHOALS RHYTHM SECTION
    Jimmy Johnson (guitar), Roger Hawkins (drums), David Hood (bass), Barry Beckett (keyboards), and Donny Short (lead guitar) are known as the “Swampers” by the music legends who’ve come down to Muscle Shoals, Alabama, to record with them since 1967.
    ♪ The musicians were given the nickname “Swampers” during a recording session with Mick Jagger because of the swampy land in Muscle Shoals. They were referenced by name in Lynyrd Skynyrd’s “Sweet Home Alabama.”
Dust from the Sahara desert has been carried by the wind as far as Chicago.
    ♪ The Muscle Shoals Sound Studios were founded in 1969 in an old casket warehouse. Their first client was Cher.
    Selected Hits: “Mustang Sally” by Wilson Pickett • “Old Time Rock ’n’ Roll” by Bob Seger • “Respect” by Aretha Franklin • “High Time We Went” by Joe Cocker • “Tonight’s the Night” by Rod Stewart • “Kodachrome” by Paul Simon • “When a Man Loves a Woman” by Percy Sledge • “Sweet Soul Music” by Arthur Conley • “The Harder They Come” by Jimmy Cliff • “Chain of Fools” by Aretha Franklin • “Wild Horses” by the Rolling Stones • “Land of a Thousand Dances” by Wilson Pickett • “Lay Down Sally” by Eric Clapton
    THE A TEAM
    Immortalized by John Sebastian in his song “Nashville Cats,” these superpickers—including Bob Moore (bass), Buddy Harman (drums), Grady Martin, Hank Garland, Chet Atkins, Harold Bradley (guitar), Hargus “Pig” Robbins, Floyd Kramer (piano), Pete Drake (steel guitar), and Charlie McCoy (harmonica)—have played on hundreds of country hits of the past half century.
    Selected Hits: “Oh, Pretty Woman” by Roy Orbison • “Stand By Your Man” by Tammy Wynette • “Just Like a Woman” by Bob Dylan • “Crazy” by Patsy Cline • “Battle of New Orleans” by Johnny Horton • “King of the Road” by Roger Miller • “El Paso” by Marty Robbins • “Big Bad John” by Jimmy Dean • “Jingle Bell Rock” by Bobby Helms • “I’m Sorry” by Brenda Lee
    THE MEMPHIS SOUND
    In 1958 the Royal Spades were a band of white kids from Memphis who loved black music. When sax player Packy Axton’s mother opened a studio called Satellite Records (later Stax-Volt) to record local talent, they changed their name to the Mar-Keys and became the house band. Local black musicians soon joined, led by keyboard player Booker T. Jones, drummer Al Jackson Jr., and sax man Andrew Love. In 1962 guitarist Steve Cropper and bassist Donald “Duck” Dunn split off from the Mar-Keys to join Jones and Jackson as Booker T. and the MGs (“Memphis Group”), and Love and trumpeter Wayne Jackson still play as the Memphis Horns. But together this assembly of black and