Hal Blaine

dcrigger said:
OK - maybe I can shed some light on the financial realities of being a studio musician - at least in LA over the past 40-50 years... Studio players are generally (99.99999% of the time) hired guns... they are not profit participants. They are pay a flat fee... per hour, pre day, per song or per album... negotiated in front and that pay happens regardless of whether a recording is a hit, or a flop, or whether it is ever even released.
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I think you missed one little point. There is a fund the BMI/Ascap have that is distributed to players on sessions that relates to how many plays a song you played on gets. I can’t remember the name and I haven’t received any checks from them for decades
 
Son of Vistalite Black said:
Tammy Wynette described it best: D-I-V-O-R-C-E.

"When drum machines became more prominent in the studio, Blaine finally became obsolete. For a period, there was no real need for a drummer to guide the sound of a session anymore, not when a machine could be trained to create the same sounds. Blaine was forced to retire from performing. After a divorce in the late '80s, Blaine lost many of his possessions. He had to sell a home in the Hollywood Hills, as well as over 100 gold and platinum records. He worked as a security guard in Arizona for a time, before fading further into obscurity."

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That was Hal's version of his decline - but other drummers made it through the era.
Might be more to it than Hal let on.
 
dcrigger said:
OK - maybe I can shed some light on the financial realities of being a studio musician - at least in LA over the past 40-50 years... Studio players are generally (99.99999% of the time) hired guns... they are not profit participants. They are pay a flat fee... per hour, pre day, per song or per album... negotiated in front and that pay happens regardless of whether a recording is a hit, or a flop, or whether it is ever even released.

By contrast, a member of a band will likely be a profit-participant - a co-owner of the project. They aren't working for someone, they are working for themselves - and thus, to a great degree, make little or know money unless the project generates a profit.

So studio musician #1 could play on 10 tracks for say $500 each and they could all be flops and he would've still made $5000 total. On the other hand, studio musician #2 could play on a different 10 tracks for $500 per and they could each, everyone of them earn Gold Records and that player would still make.... $5000 total.

So with the money being the same fr a hit or a flop, what does playing on a hit gain for a player. Two things. First, artists want to hire players that have played on hits - primarily because they have proven that they are able to go beyond just playing the right notes, with a good feel and do something that is all of that plus a special little bit more. And the more people that want to hire you, the more sessions you get called for. And more sessions add up to more money. Second - the more a player is in demand the more than can charge for a session (song, day, hour, album, etc.). If the basic going rate - or non scale where applicable - is $500. Then an in demand player might be able to charge double that - double scale, The AAA top tier guys can even charge triple. Or again whether they can negotiate - whatever the market will bear.

Simple put - playing on hit paves the way for more work and the opportunity to charge more for that work.

But that hit itself only pays what was originally charged. Back in the 60's -70's, I would venture that Hal probably made in the neighborhood of $150 to play on Good Vibrations. $200-$250 to play on Close To You. Or in today's dollars, $1000 each. Maybe $2k.

The point is - back then, just like now - the reality is as a studio musician, you are only making money while you are working. And working requires being in demand - and nobody stays in demand forever. Probably in any field - but absolutely one as trendy and fad-ridden as music.

And so for any musician to come out at the end of their career requires financial discipline - and none more so than music, where there are no pensions to speak of, and every player to the greatest degree is not an employee, but a self-employed, independent contractor. Not only needing to plan for retirement - but also figure out the ups and downs that are par for the course along the way. I've had years where my income doubled from one year to the next - maybe a string of tours, or a number of album projects happen one after another. The pitfall during those high income periods is believing that they are for sure going to last - which might happen, but also might not. Players get in all kinds of trouble notching their lifestyle expenses up prematurely. Only to have the next year come up with no tours, no albums, just a sampling of wedding gigs.

I didn't know Hal well enough to comment on his situation - just pointing out that playing on a bazillion hits in no ways insures lifelong wealth.
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Wow. I just assumed that his royalty payments must have been epic and everlasting.
 
dboomer said:
I think you missed one little point. There is a fund the BMI/Ascap have that is distributed to players on sessions that relates to how many plays a song you played on gets. I can’t remember the name and I haven’t received any checks from them for decades
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You're probably referring to the Sound Recording - Special Payments Fund. It was created in 1964 as part of Phonograph Record Labor Agreement (and carries over to today's Sound Recording Labor Agreement) between the American Federation of Musicians and the record companies collectively to create some form of profit sharing for musicians.

So you are right - there is this one form of profit sharing, But unlike regular royalties, where an artist shares in the success of _their_ work, the Special Payment Fund doesn't work like that. Basically the record companies pay in a percentage of their yearly profits into the fund - and the those monies are distributed to every musician that worked under that contract agreement. How it's divided is this.... the total number of session played by all players is added up to a big total, then the number of sessions each player played is calculated as a percentage of the total sessions... and that percentage number is used to calculate that players share of the total.

So unlike regular royalties, where a success will generate more monies than a failure, this just works on how many sessions we played. So for instance, if you only played one session in a year and that session resulted in a hugely successful multi-platinum hit - and I played 10 sessions for unknown artists, none of which sold a single copy - my Special Payments Fund check would be 10 times larger than yours.

This is in contrast to say, the similarly created Motion Picture Fund - or sometimes called the Secondary Markets Fund. The basic film contract just plays a onetime fee - and this covers the use of the music in theaters (or whatever the initial release is - streaming, DVD, cable). The fund was created to compensate for whatever profits a movie generates after its initial release. Here each movie is calculated separately. How much additional revenue is collected divided by how many sessions each player was contracted for.

Here the success of a film greatly affects the individual's royalty payment. For instance, playing on films like Grandview U.S.A, Dog Watch and Americathon (Huh? I know, right?) earned me pennies a year from them playing on cable, or selling 10's of DVD's. While The Spy Who Shagged Me and Revenge of the Nerds for a long time earned a few hundred dollars each a year - and are still earning double digits.

Which of course didn't ever add to much - but for the heavy hitters in film music - that played on dozens and dozens of top films a year. Yes, their checks could get up closer to six figures.

So yes for sure, these two forms of profit sharing exist - and for the cream of the crop players they do (particularly the film fund) add up. But these are only for union work - which tons of freelance session work simply isn't. I guess my point was to try to impress that session players trying to negotiate a piece of the backend is not even remotely the norm. We're generally payed as hired guns. Outside of union work, I charge my fee and do my work. And if my client makes a million bucks from that recording? Great! Hopefully he'll want to give me more work. But if he never makes a dime off his project, then I'm glad I got paid in full up front. Because 99.9% of projects barely break even - if that.
 
Yamaha Rider said:
Wow. I just assumed that his royalty payments must have been epic and everlasting.
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How session players make their success everlasting generally is by realizing their in demand status can be fleeting.... so when they are "on a roll", they don't jack up their lifestyle, but instead (if they're smart), plow those oversized earnings into investment, real estate, etc.

Like so many, Hal (bless his soul) seemed to burn the candle as bright as possible - figuring the gravy train will last forever. But music changes, new guys come on the scene.... things change.... even the business changes. Nobody is doing 3 sessions a day in LA anymore - there aren't that many sessions being done. They are spread around the world. Every project with drums on it doesn't necessarily need a drummer. And on and on.

The spend it as you make it scenario is incredibly common. And understandably, players so often spend so long wondering if they'll ever make a dime. When they finally do - it can be hard to manage. Not saying I have any answers to this.... because... well, sheesh...
 
A couple of points of clarification. But first, today (Feb 5th) would have been Hal's 96th birthday.

Hal didn't die broke. He didn't die wealthy either, but he wasn't broke. His financial struggles were the result of his many divorces.

The last 30 years of Hal's life were a celebration of his incredible career and legacy. He was honored by many institutions, including the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and received some much overdue acknowledgement for his contribution to music. You've all seen The Wrecking Crew film, for example... and many events in the music industry that probably not many of you are aware of, but they meant a lot to Hal.

As a session musician, you're not invited by a studio. You're hired by an artist or producer. The studio in many ways is irrelevant. Hal worked in many different studios in Los Angeles.

Hal and the Wrecking Crew were hired because it was money in the bank for the producer, and the artist. Period. They could go in the studio and knock out a hit song in a couple of hours. No wasted time or wasted money, with the emphasis on money.

I was honored to attend Hal's 90th birthday party at the Baked Potato, a couple of months before he passed. While we were chatting, someone handed him their phone saying "Brian Wilson was on the phone." Hal motioned me to hang on a minute while he chatted with Brian. A little while later Charlie Watts (who happened to be in town) and Jim Keltner showed up. My point is, Hal was beloved by everyone. And he felt that love. He was not bitter or miserable. He felt very fulfilled.
 
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John DeChristopher said:
A couple of points of clarification. But first, today (Feb 5th) would have been Hal's 96th birthday.

Hal didn't die broke. He didn't die wealthy either, but he wasn't broke. His financial struggles were the result of his many divorces.

The last 30 years of Hal's life were a celebration of his incredible career and legacy. He was honored by many institutions, including the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and received some much overdue acknowledgement for his contribution to music. You've all seen The Wrecking Crew film, for example... and many events in the music industry that probably not many of you are not aware of, but they meant a lot to Hal.

As a session musician, you're not invited by a studio. You're hired by an artist or producer. The studio in many ways is irrelevant. Hal worked in many different studios in Los Angeles.

Hal and the Wrecking Crew were hired because it was money in the bank for the producer, and the artist. Period. They could go in the studio and knock out a hit song in a couple of hours. No wasted time or wasted money, with the emphasis on money.

I was honored to attend Hal's 90th birthday party at the Baked Potato, a couple of months before he passed. While we were chatting, someone handed him their phone saying "Brian Wilson was on the phone." Hal motioned me to hang on a minute while he chatted with Brian. A little while later Charlie Watts (who happened to be in town) and Jim Keltner showed up. My point is, Hal was beloved by everyone. And he felt that love. He was not bitter or miserable. He felt very fulfilled.
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Very well said, John. I last spoke with Hal in 2006 after he'd retired. He did three sessions the year before, including a Mason Williams album, but what he said to me was, "I just don't have the interest anymore. So many of my friends have passed away. I had lunch today with Tony Orlando's manager and was asked if I'd consider working with Tony. I turned him down. People call me all the time to do live dates. I get calls from jazz groups, but the thought of doing live work doesn't appeal to me anymore. It's time for me to rest now and enjoy my retirement."
 
BobC said:
Very well said, John. I last spoke with Hal in 2006 after he'd retired. He did three sessions the year before, including a Mason Williams album, but what he said to me was, "I just don't have the interest anymore. So many of my friends have passed away. I had lunch today with Tony Orlando's manager and was asked if I'd consider working with Tony. I turned him down. People call me all the time to do live dates. I get calls from jazz groups, but the thought of doing live work doesn't appeal to me anymore. It's time for me to rest now and enjoy my retirement."
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Golly gee, can I relate! Used to do fly dates anywhere from 3-5 times a month, used to ride around in vans and RV’s for days on end, and it stopped in 2019 and I don’t miss it at all. I miss backstage catering and the bigger shows we did, but the rest of it blows.

However, I will still entertain any reasonable offers from those who need an experienced bassist who can read music and sing BV’s ;)
 
Bass guitar analysis of the Captain & Tennille's famous song "Love Will Keep Us Together" from the pdbass channel. The clip is only five minutes long, but rich and concise in bass and music analysis.

Hal Blaine's contribution to this song is also mentioned towards the end of the clip.

 
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