Massachusetts Rock and Roll Drummer ‘Most Recorded in History’

Drummer Hal Blaine was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2000, the Musicians Hall of Fame and Museum in 2007, and was awarded a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 2018 – and chances are you've never heard of him.

When he died in 2019, the Washington Post reported Blaine was the "most recorded drummer in history."

Born Harold Simon Belsky on February 5, 1929, in Holyoke, Massachusetts to Russian Jewish immigrant parents Meyer and Rose Belsky, Blaine became one of the most noted studio musicians ever, with over 35,000 studio sessions, reports the Virgin Encyclopedia of Popular Music.

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Blaine's drumming is featured on 150 U.S. Top 10 hits, 40 of which reached No. 1 on the charts. He performed and recorded for dozens of the top acts of his day.

Blaine's family moved to Hartford, Connecticut, when he was seven. That was when Blaine became interested in drumming. In 1943, the family moved to California.

Percussive Arts Society says, "Even though the bulk of his studio work was done in the 1960s and '70s, many of those recordings have become timeless classics, starting with the six consecutive Grammy Record of the Year songs he played on."

Those songs included "A Taste of Honey" by Herb Albert and the Tijuana Brass (1966), "Strangers in the Night" by Frank Sinatra (1967), "Up, Up and Away" by the 5th Dimension (1968), "Mrs. Robinson" by Simon and Garfunkel (1969), "Aquarius/Let the Sunshine In" by the 5th Dimension (1970), and "Bridge Over Troubled Water" by Simon and Garfunkel (1971).

Also known for his work with a legendary band of studio musicians known as The Wrecking Crew, Blaine was the first studio musician inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

PAS quotes Blaine, "When I started out, I was a jazz drummer. But I always say that when I came to California, I fell into a vat of chocolate because so many guys refused to play that dirty word: 'rock and roll.'"

Blaine died in Palm Desert, California, on March 11, 2019. He was 90.