Mel Taylor & The Magics In Action – interesting background info
Mel Taylor & The Magics In Action – interesting background info
Posted on September 10, 2013 .
One of the many questions we are asked on a frequent basis is ‘who played on that album?’ When I was advised that Warner Japan would be re-releasing the Mel Taylor & The Magics album on CD, I asked my contact in Japan if he knew who ‘The Magics’ were but he said they had no record of that. Since then, I have done some investigation and was rewarded with more information that I could have ever hoped for! For those fans who love to know about such things, here are the facts:
The recordings were made in United Recorders in Hollywood on October 21 and 22, 1965.
‘The Magics’ were actually the best session players of the day, frequently referred to as ‘The Wrecking Crew’.
At each session, 3 songs were recorded and the list of players varies slightly from session to session.
The players included: Don Randi, Jim Horn, Carol Kaye (legendary bass player), Julius Wechter, Alvin Casey, Lyle Ritz, Jay Migliori, Larry Knechtel, William Pitman – on and on – and of course, Mel Taylor himself. Sadly, many of these players are no longer with us, so I have no way to find out more from them.
So, it’s no wonder that it’s a pretty darn good album – with some of the greatest studio musicians of the 1960’s, how could it not be?
One of the many questions we are asked on a frequent basis is ‘who played on that album?’ When I was advised that Warner Japan would be re-releasing the Mel Taylor & The Magics album on CD, I asked my contact in Japan if he knew who ‘The Magics’ were but he said they had no record of that. Since then, I have done some investigation and was rewarded with more information that I could have ever hoped for! For those fans who love to know about such things, here are the facts:
The recordings were made in United Recorders in Hollywood on October 21 and 22, 1965.
‘The Magics’ were actually the best session players of the day, frequently referred to as ‘The Wrecking Crew’.
At each session, 3 songs were recorded and the list of players varies slightly from session to session.
The players included: Don Randi, Jim Horn, Carol Kaye (legendary bass player), Julius Wechter, Alvin Casey, Lyle Ritz, Jay Migliori, Larry Knechtel, William Pitman – on and on – and of course, Mel Taylor himself. Sadly, many of these players are no longer with us, so I have no way to find out more from them.
So, it’s no wonder that it’s a pretty darn good album – with some of the greatest studio musicians of the 1960’s, how could it not be?