Early in my career, I founded a telecommunications consultancy to provide advice to hospitals and corporate America.
One of my customers in the early 1970s was Motown Records, in Los Angeles, California. One day during my consulting gig there, Berry Gordy’s brother George asked me if I would be interested in watching a recording session scheduled for later that day. Being a music fan I jumped at the chance.
Later that day he escorted me to what looked like a high school auditorium with seating for musicians below us. There were microphones all over the area. I then learned they would be laying down tracks for a new song and that the singing artists would add their voices in a sound studio later down the road.
There was some small talk and a few directions from the guy running things and then what happened next literally blew me away. This was the first take and what came out of their musical instruments seemed perfect to me. They were outstanding right from the start. I was so impressed I shared the experience with my wife that night.
When I watched “The Wrecking Crew” over the weekend it made me remember that afternoon from long ago and made me wonder if any of the people in this documentary were there that day, as I learned these people were usually hired by Motown.
In any event, if you like music you need to see “The Wrecking Crew” and I guarantee you will not only enjoy it but will learn how things were really done back then.