My final day at NAMM was a short one since I had a plane to catch, but I did have time to check out some stuff. First thing in the morning, I headed up to the H.O.T. Zone to catch a rare screening of The Wrecking Crew. This fantastic documentary tells the story of the elite group of top LA studio musicians in the 1960s - dubbed "The Wrecking Crew" - who played on practically everything in those days. This core group of players - which included the likes of Tommy Tedesco, Hal Blaine, Carol Kaye, and Don Randi - played on albums by The Beach Boys, Nancy Sinatra, The Monkees, and countless others. The film was made by Denny Tedesco (Tommy's son) over the course of many years, though it has not yet been officially released. Denny is in the process of raising funds to cover the significant music licensing costs associated with the film. Seeing this special documentary was definitely one of the highlights of my trip this year. Check out the official Wrecking Crew website for more info.
Before calling it a day trip, I took a few more pics in the main hall then hit the Marriott next door to see the Yamaha ballroom. The massive space held all-things-Yamaha (pianos, basses, drums, etc), but I took particular interest in their SBG line of guitars. The necks on these models are big, but the guitars are surprisingly easy to play. And they're built like Mack trucks - rock solid. I want one. But I want one of those Epiphones too, and that Tele, and a T-Rex Tonebug pedal... oh well, NAMM will do that to you.
This year's NAMM was chock-full of great gear and gigs, but it wore me out too - maybe I'm getting too old for all this 'walking around' stuff. Anyway, I have a few videos to post yet, as well as a full gallery of pics. And I'm hoping to have my Prashant Aswani interview up by week's end. Stay tuned...
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