Interview with Hal Blaine

Interview with Hal Blaine, 'The Greatest Drummer In Rock History'

SE: You worked on some Elvis soundtracks?

HB: Elvis the Pelvis! I was traveling and working with Patti Page, who's just a sweetheart! Just an absolute darling. She was married to a guy who was a choreographer at Paramount Pictures. His name was Charles O'Curran. Real nice guy. One time, when we were off the road, he said to me, "I've got a special job coming up..." Meanwhile, I had been working in the studios, and with big time people. Charles knew this, and he knew my track record and that he could count on me to work with him on this next project. I agreed to work with him, as long as I would have enough notice. He gave me a couple of dates when I was supposed to report to Paramount Pictures to a certain conference room. I had already been working at Paramount Pictures as an actor, and these people knew me as an actor. When I walked in a musician, they said "We can't use you as a musician, we need musicians, not actors." It took some convincing (laughs) to prove that I was really a musician. Anyway, this whole secret project was Elvis Presley. Elvis walked in to this room and it was like a Sinatra thing, I guess you might say, everybody was on fire. Nobody knew what the hell was going on. This was a secret, hello-meeting, get together... It turned out that Elvis did not like strangers around him. When he was working with people he wanted people that he knew, or people that knew that person. And I guess that Buddy Harman and DJ Fontana had convinced the people at Paramount that I would be a good guy to work with Elvis. I think the movie was "Girls, Girls, Girls", and anyway, that's how I got the call, once again it was like who you knew. And Charles O'Curran got me in on that, and I did the music and they wanted Hawaiian stuff. The contractor at Paramount Pictures said "Bring everything that you own that looks Hawaiian." So I went to a drum shop and I rented every fuckin' drum, percussion thing that looked anything like... I don't care if it was from Turkey, or Taiwan it became Hawaiian! As a matter of fact I kind of became technical advisor for Hawaiian movies. (Laughs) Which is a whole other farce.

SE: (Laughs)

 

HB: But that's when I met Elvis, and Elvis knew about my work and he was extremely nice, he really was a gentleman. He had all of those guys with him that were countrified guys, but good guys. But of course... and I've told this story many times, that no matter what, if Elvis said "I'm a lil' bit thirsty" fifteen guys would bust their ass to get to him with the coca-cola. Fall over chairs, music stands, anything to hand him the coke. So the first couple of years working with Elvis I'd gotten to know these guys real well. Joe Esposito who later came with us with John Denver, Lance Legault was a guy that I accidentally hired, he passed himself off as a bass player and I had no idea, I brought the guy in, and he and Elvis were Karate experts and they just fell in love instantly you know, cause Elvis used to do that shit, he'd walk across the room and without anyone knowing it he would turn on one of the guy's, HI-YA! You know, throw a punch at em' or kick em' in the nuts, or knock them down or something. And these guys loved it! So naturally they were all studying Karate. Anyway, we always had a wonderful, wonderful time working with Elvis, good bread! Never worked so hard that it killed you. What used to killed me was that you would see a couple of new songwriters... now Ben Weissman wrote a lot of those songs, a helluva nice guy! But sometimes you'd see new songwriters and Elvis would be rehearsing their song, and you'd see these two people maybe a man and a woman, and they would just be smiling from ear to ear...their just so fuckin' happy. They're gonna make millions.(laughs) And then all of a sudden Elvis would say "Ah don't think ah like this song!" And that's the end of it!

SE: (laughs)

HB: And you'd see these two people melt down to the floor, you know?

SE: Yeah.

HB: I guess all those stories were true. I guess. Colonel Tom would... and that's another thing, see I go back with Colonel Tom because Colonel Tom was managing Tommy Sands. And I was with Tommy Sands and we would be having dinner all the time with Colonel Tom so I was a person that they knew they could depend upon, you know, to come in and work with Elvis. Anyway, worked with Elvis, did movies with Elvis, was on camera with him, and it was really fun. And he was a great guy. I never had any problem ever with him or any of the guys, but I did use some psychology on them. One time when I got a call from MGM where they were doing an Elvis movie... so this guy Micky at MGM says, "We need ya for the weekend of so and so..." I looked in my book, I said, "Well, I'll tell ya, I'll be free every day except that week", cause these calls were like two in the afternoon 'til midnight. I said, "I'm free every day except Friday. I've got a date Friday night and I have to do that date. It's been booked for some time." "Well, can't you get out of it?" "No I can't get out of it man, you know, I wouldn't do that to you. I wouldn't do that to Elvis. I wouldn't do it to anybody. Once I'm booked I'm booked!" So he said, "Well, we'll have to get someone else." I said okay because they always had lots of drummers.... Bennie Madison. They had a whole bunch of guys.

So then the phone rings a couple of hours later. "Well, Elvis really wants you and we're gonna work it out. What's the deal?" I said, "Well, I've gotta leave Friday from Culver City by 4:30 in the afternoon... because there will be heavy traffic... to get me up to Hollywood for this date. It's an 8pm date, but I need time to take a pee and eat something." So they say, "Okay. No problem. You'll get out of here!" Well we worked a week. On Friday night we're approaching 4pm and I see we've still got a little pile of music to do. At that point I knew I was in trouble and if I walk out of here the shit's gonna hit the fan because the other guys didn't read a whole lot of music when it came to arrangements. Anyway, so I put the old psychology to work. I went to Red West who was one of the big guys with Elvis and the whole gang and I said, "I know that Elvis Presley is the star of this whole thing, but I know that you run this fucking outfit. "You're goddamn right I run it!"

SE: (laughs)

HB: When I got hired for this week, they told me that I could leave here at 4:30. No later than 4:30. I said, "I'm scared. There's still a little music." "Well goddamnit, when you're supposed to leave, you leave! You leave it to me and don't worry about it!" (laughs) And then I went to Joe Esposito. Same thing, "You're goddamned right Hal, I run this fuckin outfit!" Then I went to Lance, every one of em. About five I went to... and I said, "I realize that Elvis is the star of this, but I know you run this son of a bitch!!" "You're damn right!" So I left and about a week later I get a call from Jimmy Bowen who I worked for all the time. And Jimmy said, "What's this about you walking out on an Elvis Presley date?" I said, (laughs) "Where did you hear that?" He said, "Well, I had dinner with Colonel Tom the other night and he told me that you walked out on a fuckin' session because you refused to cancel a session you had with me." And I said, "That's right! I don't cancel people out. I don't do that to people." He said, "Goddamnit. Don't ever do that to Elvis again!" I said, "Look Jimmy, I don't give a shit if it's Elvis or Frank Sinatra. If I'm booked, I'm booked! What am I gonna do?" So he said, "From now on any time you work for me you're gettin' double scale, that's it! Just mark double scale!" And I did. I made a lot of money off Jimmy Bowen... out of the goodness of his heart. He didn't have to do that.

Then we do the '68 comeback special with Elvis. Big fuckin NBC special! And I gotta tell ya man, I listen to that every once in a while, and I played my ass off on that thing! You don't see me... a couple of time you almost see me, but boy, you hear me on that special. At the time we finished it I was working Vegas with Nancy where I was flying in the morning back to Hollywood doin' the Andy Williams, or whoever the fuck it was. I was working half the day and then I'd be back on the airplane by five o'clock and get back to Caesars' by 6:30, take a fast shower and a shit, got the tuxedo with the bow tie and the blue jacket, and be back on stage with Nancy for the seven o'clock dinner show. And then we'd do a late show at eleven. It was a tough, tough grind. I was making a fortune. She was paying an absolute fortune! I mean a king's ransom! Well then, I came off stage one night and you know, you're coming off these bright lights and you walk into black and somebody grabs me from behind and picks me up... and it was Elvis. And it was really nice you know. Happy to see him. But he said, "I'm openin up at the Hilton an'you gon' be with me!" I said, "Elvis, I can't be with you man. It's impossible." Anyway, from there it went on and on where Colonel Tom was calling me saying, "Well, goddamnit Elvis loves you and he wants you to be in his band." And I tried to tell Colonel Tom, I said, "Colonel Tom, it's not a matter of money or love or anything else, but I'm working. I 'm booked all the time. I cannot commute! And I know when Elvis calls a rehearsal at 3 in the morning you're liable to rehearse for three hours." So he says, "So what is Nancy paying you?" Now remember this was 1968. I said, "I'm getting $2500 a week, 10,000 for the month, there's a car at my disposal. My wife had just died so I had a nanny for the kids at the hotel and there's a driver. I said I'm commuting practically every day. He said, "You're getting $2500 a week?" I said, "Colonel Tom what the hell are ya talking about?" He said, "There ain't a goddamn drummer in the world that's worth over $100 a day!" I said, "If you're telling me to go fuck myself, okay. I've known you too long and I understand. But," I said, "There's no way." And it would've been great to work for Elvis, The guys that did go with him, they had a great time. But it was a tough gig for them man... They worked hard and they were always rehearsing. Elvis was getting bigger and heavier and doin' what he was doin' .. He was being Elvis. In fact, after he died, I was then with John Denver who was paying me five grand a week. I mean, here's a guy who was paying me twenty thousand a month! And one of the sweetest people in the world, one of the nicest people anyway, as fate would have it. We hired Joe Esposito who was kind of road managing because John needed a road manager. Then we hired Burton and a couple of guys off the band. And that was the last four years I was with Denver.