Release Date: March 13, 2015 (Limited and VOD)
Director: Denny Tedesco
MPAA Rating: PG
Within the first 10 minutes of Denny Tedesco’s music doc, The Wrecking Crew, it seemed like I was watching one of those Life Magazine infomercials for a music collection. I was being bombarded by bite-sized chunks of hits songs from the ’50s and ’60s, accompanied by low-res footage and ancient-looking interviews. After looking into the creation of the film, I learned that this was actually completed in 2008 and is just now being released in theaters and on VOD, due to licensing issues with the ridiculous number of pop songs featured in the film.
The Wrecking Crew puts the spotlight on one of the hardest-working session bands in history, highlighting some of their many achievements, and giving credit where credit is due in creating some of the most iconic songs in pop music.
Many people don’t realize that oftentimes the music they hear on a record was not actually created or recorded by the band on the cover, but a highly skilled group of session musicians who remain in the shadows. From The Beach Boys and Frank Sinatra to Sonny and Cher, The Wrecking Crew had a hand in launching many of these musicians’ careers into the stratosphere.
The film combines archival footage with interviews of various members of the band, as well as some of the famous musicians they worked with. It also features narration from the film’s director, Denny Tedesco, who happens to be the son of Tommy Tedesco, lead guitarist of The Wrecking Crew. Interspersed within the telling of the history of the band, we hear anecdotes from the group, who have gathered for a reunion of sorts, reminiscing about their days creating music for Sinatra and how they came up with such innovative sounds.
Technically speaking, this is a poorly made documentary. Because it was originally put together in 2008, the visuals get a bit of a pass, but many of the interviews look extremely dated and low quality even for seven years ago. The editing is rough around the edges, and the overall look and feel resembles that of an early episode of VH1’s Behind the Music, rather than a fleshed out feature-length documentary. Still, the content is interesting and provides a fascinating look behind the curtain of music production.
This impressive group is comprised of some very talented people, and it’s a shame that they never received proper credit for all that they have contributed to the industry. But while it is entertaining, The Wrecking Crew documentary just didn’t hold my attention like many other music docs that have been coming out in droves within the last few years.
