{"id":778,"date":"2023-12-18T19:14:31","date_gmt":"2023-12-19T01:14:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nassaubaymusiclessons.com\/?p=778"},"modified":"2023-12-18T19:14:31","modified_gmt":"2023-12-19T01:14:31","slug":"l-a-confidential-the-untold-stories-behind-some-of-the-greatest-songs-of-the-1970s-and-beyond","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nassaubaymusiclessons.com\/?p=778","title":{"rendered":"L.A. confidential: The untold stories behind some of the greatest songs of the 1970s and beyond"},"content":{"rendered":"

L.A. confidential: The untold stories behind some of the greatest songs of the 1970s and beyond<\/h1>\n
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Linda Ronstadt and Waddy Wachtel performing in 1977.<\/div>\n
(Tom Sweeney\/Star Tribune via Getty Images)<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n
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By<\/span> Erin Osmon<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

About 50 years ago, a quartet of L.A. session musicians became so synonymous with the era-defining soft-rock scene \u2014 headlined by James Taylor<\/a>, Carole King, Jackson Browne<\/a>, Linda Ronstadt<\/a>, Crosby, Stills & Nash and Fleetwood Mac among others \u2014 that they were dubbed the Mellow Mafia.<\/div>\n

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Danny Kortchmar (guitar), Russ Kunkel (drums), Leland Sklar (bass) and Waddy Wachtel (guitar) made their way to Los Angeles through various sliding doors. By the early \u201970s, they frequented the same studios, worked with the same engineers and played the same sessions. Championed by the English producer Peter Asher, the four became in-demand separately and in different configurations for their technical capabilities, inventiveness and gift for bringing live sound to the studio.<\/p>\n

In 1971, Kortchmar and Kunkel appeared on King\u2019s bestselling, Grammy-winning \u201cTapestry\u201d and were joined by Sklar on Taylor\u2019s \u201cMud Slide Slim and the Blue Horizon.\u201d Two years later, Wachtel played on Stevie Nicks<\/a> and Lindsey Buckingham<\/a>\u2019s debut, \u201cBuckingham Nicks,\u201d and Wachtel and Kunkel helped shape Nicks\u2019 1981 solo debut, \u201cBella Donna.\u201d All four have joined Ronstadt, Browne and Taylor on tour. And that\u2019s just the tip of the iceberg: Individually and together, they\u2019ve appeared on about 5,000 albums.<\/p>\n

A new documentary about the group, \u201cThe Immediate Family,\u201d will premiere Tuesday at Laemmle NoHo and debut in theaters and on streaming platforms Friday. Directed by Denny Tedesco (who made \u201cThe Wrecking Crew<\/a>!,\u201d about an earlier generation of renowned session musicians), the film chronicles the foursome\u2019s decades-long work with musical icons through original interviews and archival footage. It\u2019s named after the group\u2019s current band with fifth member Steve Postell, which is set to release a new album, \u201cSkin in the Game,\u201d in February.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve been around such amazing people for so long that we\u2019re sort of used to the attention, observing it and being a part of it,\u201d Sklar explains of the film. \u201cBut seeing the movie is sort of a strange reality. We realize, \u2018Oh my God, this is actually just about us. Wild.\u2019 \u201d<\/p>\n

On a Zoom call from their homes in Los Angeles and a hotel room in Phoenix (Wachtel is on tour with Nicks), the four musicians gathered to tell the stories of 13 of their classic tracks.<\/p>\n

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Danny Kortchmar, left, Leland Sklar, background, Waddy Wachtel, Steve Postell and Russ Kunkel star in \u201cThe Immediate Family\u201d documentary.<\/div>\n
(Magnolia Pictures)<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

1. James Taylor, \u201cCountry Road\u201d (1971)<\/b><\/p>\n

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\u201cI was one of the first people who heard it; he played it for me on acoustic guitar,\u201d Kortchmar says. The pair spent summers together on Martha\u2019s Vineyard as teenagers and Kortchmar \u2014 known as Kootch among musicians \u2014 says the Taylor classic echoes that time: walking country roads, and hitchhiking to beaches or parties. Kunkel adds that Taylor has a unique guitar style. \u201cHe kind of plays the bass part with his thumb. That song, the way he phrased it, made me\u2026 play the way his guitar was moving, so there was no conflict, no flaming.\u201d<\/p>\n

2. Carole King, \u201cI Feel the Earth Move\u201d (1971)<\/b><\/p>\n

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Carole King, James Taylor and Danny Kortchmar perform onstage.<\/div>\n
(Magnolia Pictures)<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

During the making of \u201cTapestry,\u201d King and Kortchmar were neighbors in Laurel Canyon, and they rehearsed the songs at her house. This preparation made the sessions move quickly. They used lead sheets instead of fully written-out arrangements, and played everything live. \u201cThe [guitar] solo on it was played off the floor,\u201d he says of the album\u2019s lead single. \u201cI didn\u2019t really have time to think about it. The idea of playing a solo didn\u2019t scare me at the time. It scares me a lot more now.\u201d<\/p>\n

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3. Jackson Browne, \u201cDoctor, My Eyes\u201d (1972)<\/b><\/p>\n

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Kunkel and Sklar contributed to Browne\u2019s self-titled debut, and recall tracking this hit in a large open room at Crystal Sound, formerly in Hollywood. Sound leakage was the biggest concern as the trio, with Browne on piano, played live. \u201cI played a conga part because we were able to baffle [partition] that off,\u201d Kunkel says. \u201cThe drums were overdubbed\u2026 that\u2019s one of the reasons that song sounds the way it does, because the drums are really big and loud. There was nothing interfering with it.\u201d<\/p>\n

4. The Section, \u201cDoing the Meatball\u201d (1972)<\/b><\/p>\n

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Kortchmar, Kunkel and Sklar\u2019s first band together, a jazz fusion outfit called the Section, originated on tour with Taylor. After brief soundchecks with the singer, the trio, along with keyboardist Craig Doerge, stayed on stage and jammed. \u201cJames came up with the name the Section,\u201d Kunkel says. The group made two albums for Warner Bros., and one for Capitol, and toured with the Mahavishnu Orchestra in 1973. Despite some evident enthusiasm, they fizzled out by the late \u201970s. \u201cNobody bought them,\u201d Sklar said of their albums. \u201cWe had a real strong cult following\u2026 but it ran its course.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Danny Kortchmar and Leland Sklar perform with the Section in 1977.<\/div>\n
(Ed Perlstein\/Redferns via Getty Images)<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n
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5. Fleetwood Mac, \u201cSugar Daddy\u201d (1975)<\/b><\/p>\n

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Wachtel fell in with the members of Fleetwood Mac amid various sessions at the storied Van Nuys recording studio Sound City. He met Nicks and Buckingham during the making of their self-titled debut, when he was tracking a solo album, and then ran into the full band in the succeeding years. \u201cIt just turned out that we were all together a lot of the time during those early Fleetwood Mac sessions,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd finally Lindsey said, \u2018Waddy, you gotta play on this song.\u2019 I was delighted.\u201d<\/p>\n

6. Hall & Oates, \u201cRich Girl\u201d (1976)<\/b><\/p>\n

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Sklar played bass on three albums by the Philadelphia duo: \u201cDaryl Hall & John Oates,\u201d \u201cBeauty on a Backstreet\u201d and \u201cBigger Than the Both of Us,\u201d which produced this No. 1 single. \u201cIt was a really funny experience,\u201d he says. This was because of KISS. According to Sklar, the blood-spitting rockers were working on a song in the neighboring studio, and they\u2019d been there for about a week. \u201cWe spent the week there and cut the album, and when we left, KISS was still working on that same song,\u201d he says. \u201cLike, what the hell\u2019s going on?\u201d He adds that the recording process with Hall & Oates was always pleasant, natural and quick. \u201cIt\u2019s really weird seeing that they\u2019ve got some litigation going on; it always saddens me when I see something like that. It seemed so great when we were working together.\u201d<\/p>\n

7. Crosby, Stills & Nash, \u201cJust a Song Before I Go\u201d (1977)<\/b><\/p>\n

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\u201cThis is such a special song because it\u2019s the story of all of our lives,\u201d Kunkel says. \u201cWe\u2019re home for a little while and then you have to go back out on the road again.\u201d He adds that Stills had an almost psychic understanding of guitar sounds and \u201calways knew exactly what to do.\u201d The drummer and Sklar spent years playing with the trio in different configurations and Kunkel says that work changed his career. \u201cThey were really great mentors.\u201d<\/p>\n

8. Linda Ronstadt, \u201cBlue Bayou\u201d (1977)<\/b><\/p>\n

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Wachtel says Asher\u2019s approach with Ronstadt was for her to perform in the studio as if she was on stage. This decree also applied to the band. \u201cThat\u2019s why he wanted us to go on the road with her, to get used to playing the songs live,\u201d he says. \u201cHer vocal on that [\u2018Blue Bayou\u2019] is the live vocal we played to. I played acoustic guitar and the only overdubs on it were Don Henley and Kenny Edwards singing backgrounds.\u201d<\/p>\n

9. Warren Zevon, \u201cWerewolves of London\u201d (1978)<\/b><\/p>\n

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Wachtel and Zevon met while playing with the Everly Brothers in the early \u201970s, and it was Phil Everly who inspired the song. Wachtel says he was visiting a friend, LeRoy Marinell, in London, when he received a call. \u201cWarren said, \u2018I can\u2019t believe you\u2019re there. I got a call from Phil and we have to write this song called \u2018Werewolves of London,\u2019 \u2019\u2019 Wachtel recalls, adding that Everly had recently watched the English horror film of the same name. Lee Ho Fook in Chinatown was where Wachtel had eaten dinner, and he wrote the song\u2019s first verse on the spot. \u201cLeRoy had this guitar lick he\u2019d been sitting on for about two years, the main lick you hear,\u201d he says. \u201cWe tried it in a million songs and it had never worked before.\u201d Wachtel says he also suggested the song\u2019s memorable howl. Tracking it, however, wasn\u2019t so easy. Wachtel and Browne, who co-produced the album \u201cExcitable Boy,\u201d tried more than 10 different studio drummers and bassists before deciding on Mick Fleetwood and John McVie, and they recorded around 60 takes. \u201cIt was like a movie,\u201d Wachtel says, \u201cmaking that simple song become the record it was.\u201d<\/p>\n

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10. Stevie Nicks, \u201cEdge of Seventeen\u201d (1982)<\/b><\/p>\n

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Wachtel says Nicks made a demo with Kunkel\u2019s drum part, but the guitar part \u2014 with its rapid-fire chugging \u2014 was being done with an echo. \u201cI told [producer] Jimmy Iovine I\u2019m not going to do that,\u201d he explains. It turned into one of the most incredible moments of his career. \u201cStevie was on fire and she sang live through it. She may have redone some of the vocal, but what she sang was so inspiring,\u201d he says. \u201cRuss\u2019s drums were magnificent, and I just kept chugging away.\u201d Kunkel remembers Iovine\u2019s thoughtfulness in the studio. \u201cPeople think of Jimmy as this mogul, but what gets lost is he\u2019s a great producer,\u201d he says, adding that Iovine always stood on the floor in headphones to make sure the band was hearing the best mix. \u201cHe\u2019d have the same physical feelings as we\u2019d have as we\u2019re playing a track. So he knew when it was good.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Russ Kunkel and Carly Simon in 1985.<\/div>\n
(Ron Galella\/Ron Galella Collection via Getty)<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

11. Jackson Browne, \u201cSomebody\u2019s Baby\u201d (1982)<\/b><\/p>\n

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Kortchmar says the highest-charting single of Browne\u2019s career made him a bit uneasy at first. \u201cHe didn\u2019t put it on his album [\u2018Lawyers in Love\u2019] because he was afraid it was too pop and not Jackson Browne enough,\u201d he explains. The song, which appeared in Cameron Crowe\u2019s film \u201cFast Times at Ridgemont High,\u201d was co-written by the pair. Kortchmar says he already had the lyrical hook, \u201cmust be somebody\u2019s baby,\u201d plus the changes and guitar hooks, when the director came knocking. \u201cJackson later realized it\u2019s a terrific song,\u201d the guitarist adds, \u201cand now he plays it all the time at his shows.\u201d<\/p>\n

12. Don Henley, \u201cAll She Wants to Do Is Dance\u201d (1984)<\/b><\/p>\n

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When Kortchmar was working with Henley in the \u201980s, he says the Eagles\u2019 drummer was hot for the newest gear. \u201cWe had one of the first Yamaha DX7s in the country,\u201d he recalls. When writing the second single from the singer\u2019s \u201cBuilding the Perfect Beast,\u201d Kortchmar used a sample from the synthesizer and ran it through distortion. \u201cThat\u2019s the cement mixture sound you hear,\u201d he explains. \u201cThe next morning, I woke up and wrote the lyrics in about 10 minutes.\u201d<\/p>\n

13. John Mayer, \u201cHalf of My Heart\u201d (2009)<\/b><\/p>\n

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Mayer may be holding an acoustic guitar in the video for his Grammy-nominated single, whose original version features Taylor Swift, but he wasn\u2019t the one who played it on the recording. \u201cThe producer Steve Jordan called me and said, \u2018You\u2019ve got to come play the acoustic part on this because it\u2019s not settling in,\u2019 \u201d Wachtel recalls, adding that he and the drummer Steve Jordan developed a \u201creal lock between his high hat and my right hand strumming the acoustic guitar.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

L.A. confidential: The untold stories behind some of the greatest songs of the 1970s and beyond Linda Ronstadt and Waddy Wachtel performing in 1977. (Tom Sweeney\/Star Tribune via Getty Images) By Erin Osmon About 50 years ago, a quartet of L.A. session musicians became so synonymous with the era-defining soft-rock scene \u2014 headlined by James … <\/p>\n

Continue reading “L.A. confidential: The untold stories behind some of the greatest songs of the 1970s and beyond”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[16,11],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-778","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-history","category-musicians"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pafaYH-cy","jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nassaubaymusiclessons.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/778","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nassaubaymusiclessons.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nassaubaymusiclessons.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nassaubaymusiclessons.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nassaubaymusiclessons.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=778"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/nassaubaymusiclessons.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/778\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":779,"href":"https:\/\/nassaubaymusiclessons.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/778\/revisions\/779"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nassaubaymusiclessons.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=778"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nassaubaymusiclessons.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=778"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nassaubaymusiclessons.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=778"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}