As the film's end credits rolled, drummer Hal Blaine appeared on screen playing an impressive drum solo as part of a 1970 performance with Nancy Sinatra in Las Vegas. As the clip ended, a voice shouted from the audience, "What an incredible drummer!"

The voice was Hal Blaine's.

Last night I attended a screening of The Wrecking Crew at the Grammy Museum in Los Angeles. I've seen the film before, but last night's event was particularly special because the screening was followed by a Q&A session with Blaine, pianist Don Randi, music producer Bones Howe, and the film's director Denny Tedesco (son of famed session guitarist Tommy Tedesco).

"The Wrecking Crew" is the nickname given to a loose group of 1960s session musicians in Los Angeles who played on seemingly every hit pop song recorded in the city during that decade. Phil Spector used them on all his sessions. Eventually, so did Brian Wilson, replacing the Beach Boys in the studio with the likes of Blaine, Randi, Tedesco, bassist Carol Kaye, guitarists Al Casey and Glen Campbell (yes, that Glen Campbell), saxophonist Plas Johnson, to name just a few. The never-ending list of acts they backed is a who's who of 60s stars: The Byrds, Jan and Dean, Simon & Garfunkel, The Association, The Mamas & Papas, The Monkees, Sonny & Cher, Herb Alpert, even Elvis Presley and Frank Sinatra. (To call this an abbreviated list is an understatement.)

Blaine, now 80, is often credited as the leader of this group, and his credits are the most impressive of all. He played on 7 consecutive Grammy winners for record of the year and at least 39 different #1 hit songs. He is widely considered to be the most recorded drummer in history.

The centerpiece of Denny Tedesco's documentary is a 1996 roundtable discussion featuring his father, Blaine, Kaye and Johnson, but plenty of others are interviewed in the film, including Randi, Casey, Campbell, drummer Earl Palmer, percussionist Julius Wechter, and bassist Joe Osborn, as well as musical luminaries like Howe, Brian Wilson, Cher, Nancy Sinatra, Herb Alpert, Lou Adler, and Dick Clark.

The amount of music compiled for the film is astounding, and not surprisingly obtaining the rights to the songs is a big reason it took Denny Tedesco 13 years to put the movie together. During the Q&A, Tedesco noted that an early backer suggested using "sound-alike" versions of the songs, a revelation that drew laughter and groans from both the audience and the panelists.

One of the more interesting moments in the Q&A came when an audience member asked Blaine about his work on a particular Steely Dan song. Blaine had no idea what song by the band he had played on, and even expressed disbelief when told the song's title. "Dr. Wu????" Randi then noted that the sheet music given to session musicians rarely included a song title, and often consisted of little more than a chord chart of numbers, with each number representing a chord (thus allowing the musicians to easily switch between keys).

The Wrecking Crew is still looking for distribution, so for now it will continue to play limited screenings and film festivals. If a screening pops up near you, check it out. It really is one of the best hidden stories in popular music history. For more information about the movie, visit the film's official website.