Welcome to DU!
The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards.
Join the community:
Create a free account
Support DU (and get rid of ads!):
Become a Star Member
Latest Breaking News
Editorials & Other Articles
General Discussion
The DU Lounge
All Forums
Issue Forums
Culture Forums
Alliance Forums
Region Forums
Support Forums
Help & Search
On this day, November 10, 1997, Wrecking Crew guitarist Tommy Tedesco died.
Hat tip, This Day in Music
What Happened Today In Music
November 10th
1997 - Tommy Tedesco
American session guitarist Tommy Tedesco died of lung cancer aged 67. Described by "Guitar Player" magazine as the most recorded guitarist in history recording with The Beach Boys, Everly Brothers, Supremes, The Monkees, The Association, Barbra Streisand, Elvis Presley, Ella Fitzgerald, Frank Zappa, Sam Cooke, Cher and Nancy and Frank Sinatra. And played on many TV themes including Bonanza, The Twilight Zone, M*A*S*H and Batman.
November 10th
1997 - Tommy Tedesco
American session guitarist Tommy Tedesco died of lung cancer aged 67. Described by "Guitar Player" magazine as the most recorded guitarist in history recording with The Beach Boys, Everly Brothers, Supremes, The Monkees, The Association, Barbra Streisand, Elvis Presley, Ella Fitzgerald, Frank Zappa, Sam Cooke, Cher and Nancy and Frank Sinatra. And played on many TV themes including Bonanza, The Twilight Zone, M*A*S*H and Batman.
Tommy Tedesco
Tedesco in 1979
Background information
Birth name Thomas Joseph Tedesco
Born July 3, 1930
Niagara Falls, New York, U.S.
Origin Los Angeles
Died November 10, 1997 (aged 67)
Northridge, California, U.S.
Genres Jazz fusion, rock, pop, soundtrack
Occupation(s) Musician, composer, teacher
Instrument Guitar
Years active 1950s–1990s
Labels Discovery, Capri
Thomas Joseph Tedesco (July 3, 1930 – November 10, 1997) was an American guitarist and studio musician in Los Angeles and Hollywood. He was part of the loose collective of the area's leading session musicians later popularly known as The Wrecking Crew, who played on thousands of studio recordings in the 1960s and 1970s, including several hundred Top 40 hits.
Tedesco's playing credits include the theme from television's Bonanza, The Twilight Zone, Vic Mizzy's theme from Green Acres, M*A*S*H, Batman, and Elvis Presley's '68 Comeback Special. Tedesco was shown on-camera in a number of game and comedy shows, and played ex-con guitarist Tommy Marinucci, a member of Happy Kyne's Mirth-Makers, in the 1977–78 talk-show spoof Fernwood 2 Night and America 2 Night.
Career
Born in Niagara Falls, New York, Tedesco moved to the West Coast where he became one of the most-sought-after studio musicians between the 1960s and 1980s. Although he was primarily a guitar player, he also played mandolin, ukulele, sitar and over twenty other stringed instruments.
Tedesco was described by Guitar Player magazine as the most recorded guitarist in history, having played on thousands of recordings, many of which were top 20 hits. He recorded with most of the top musicians working in the Los Angeles area including the Beach Boys, the Mamas & the Papas, the Everly Brothers, the Association, Barbra Streisand, Jan and Dean, the 5th Dimension, Elvis Presley, Sam Cooke, Ella Fitzgerald, Frank Zappa, Ricky Nelson, Cher, and Nancy and Frank Sinatra as well as on Richard Harris's classic "MacArthur Park". His playing can be found on Jack Nitzsche's "The Lonely Surfer", on Wayne Newton's version of "Danke Schoen", B. Bumble and the Stingers's "Nut Rocker", the Rip Chords' "Hey Little Cobra", the Ronettes' "Be My Baby", the Sandpipers' "Guantanamera", the T-Bones' "No Matter What Shape'" and Nino Tempo & April Stevens' version of "Deep Purple". For Guitar Player, Tedesco wrote a regular column called "Studio Log" in which he would describe a day's work recording a movie, TV show or album, the special challenges each job posed and how he solved them, what instruments he used, and how much money he made on the job.
Tedesco also performed on film soundtracks such as The French Connection, The Godfather, Jaws, The Deer Hunter, Field of Dreams, Gloria plus several Elvis Presley films. He was also the guitarist for the Original Roxy cast of The Rocky Horror Show. Additionally, he performed the opening guitar solo for the Howard Hawks and John Wayne film Rio Lobo. He was one of the very few sidemen credited for work on animated cartoons for The Ant and the Aardvark cartoons (1968–1971).
As a solo artist, Tedesco recorded a number of jazz guitar albums, but his musical career ended in 1992 when he suffered a stroke that resulted in partial paralysis. The following year he published his autobiography, Confessions of a Guitar Player.
Tedesco died of lung cancer in 1997, at the age of 67, in Northridge, California. His son, Denny Tedesco (related to Damon Tedesco and Suzie Greene Tedesco,[5]) directed the 2008 documentary film The Wrecking Crew, which features interviews with Tommy and many of his fellow session musicians. The film finally saw theatrical release in 2015, after musical rights were cleared. Before that it had been screened only at film festivals, where clearance rights were not required.
{snip}
Tedesco in 1979
Background information
Birth name Thomas Joseph Tedesco
Born July 3, 1930
Niagara Falls, New York, U.S.
Origin Los Angeles
Died November 10, 1997 (aged 67)
Northridge, California, U.S.
Genres Jazz fusion, rock, pop, soundtrack
Occupation(s) Musician, composer, teacher
Instrument Guitar
Years active 1950s–1990s
Labels Discovery, Capri
Thomas Joseph Tedesco (July 3, 1930 – November 10, 1997) was an American guitarist and studio musician in Los Angeles and Hollywood. He was part of the loose collective of the area's leading session musicians later popularly known as The Wrecking Crew, who played on thousands of studio recordings in the 1960s and 1970s, including several hundred Top 40 hits.
Tedesco's playing credits include the theme from television's Bonanza, The Twilight Zone, Vic Mizzy's theme from Green Acres, M*A*S*H, Batman, and Elvis Presley's '68 Comeback Special. Tedesco was shown on-camera in a number of game and comedy shows, and played ex-con guitarist Tommy Marinucci, a member of Happy Kyne's Mirth-Makers, in the 1977–78 talk-show spoof Fernwood 2 Night and America 2 Night.
Career
Born in Niagara Falls, New York, Tedesco moved to the West Coast where he became one of the most-sought-after studio musicians between the 1960s and 1980s. Although he was primarily a guitar player, he also played mandolin, ukulele, sitar and over twenty other stringed instruments.
Tedesco was described by Guitar Player magazine as the most recorded guitarist in history, having played on thousands of recordings, many of which were top 20 hits. He recorded with most of the top musicians working in the Los Angeles area including the Beach Boys, the Mamas & the Papas, the Everly Brothers, the Association, Barbra Streisand, Jan and Dean, the 5th Dimension, Elvis Presley, Sam Cooke, Ella Fitzgerald, Frank Zappa, Ricky Nelson, Cher, and Nancy and Frank Sinatra as well as on Richard Harris's classic "MacArthur Park". His playing can be found on Jack Nitzsche's "The Lonely Surfer", on Wayne Newton's version of "Danke Schoen", B. Bumble and the Stingers's "Nut Rocker", the Rip Chords' "Hey Little Cobra", the Ronettes' "Be My Baby", the Sandpipers' "Guantanamera", the T-Bones' "No Matter What Shape'" and Nino Tempo & April Stevens' version of "Deep Purple". For Guitar Player, Tedesco wrote a regular column called "Studio Log" in which he would describe a day's work recording a movie, TV show or album, the special challenges each job posed and how he solved them, what instruments he used, and how much money he made on the job.
Tedesco also performed on film soundtracks such as The French Connection, The Godfather, Jaws, The Deer Hunter, Field of Dreams, Gloria plus several Elvis Presley films. He was also the guitarist for the Original Roxy cast of The Rocky Horror Show. Additionally, he performed the opening guitar solo for the Howard Hawks and John Wayne film Rio Lobo. He was one of the very few sidemen credited for work on animated cartoons for The Ant and the Aardvark cartoons (1968–1971).
As a solo artist, Tedesco recorded a number of jazz guitar albums, but his musical career ended in 1992 when he suffered a stroke that resulted in partial paralysis. The following year he published his autobiography, Confessions of a Guitar Player.
Tedesco died of lung cancer in 1997, at the age of 67, in Northridge, California. His son, Denny Tedesco (related to Damon Tedesco and Suzie Greene Tedesco,[5]) directed the 2008 documentary film The Wrecking Crew, which features interviews with Tommy and many of his fellow session musicians. The film finally saw theatrical release in 2015, after musical rights were cleared. Before that it had been screened only at film festivals, where clearance rights were not required.
{snip}
Tommy Tedesco Live 1981 at LMU
Wrecking Crew
16.1K subscribers
26,590 views Apr 25, 2018
I recently found this recording from Loyola Marymount's famous or infamous (depends on your memory) Birds Nest. This was our local music club that booked local groups. One of those groups happened to be the Tommy Tedesco Quartet with John Kurnick on guitar, Paul Caprito on Bass, and Ed Roscetti on Drums. This is from 1981.
For the video geeks out there, I had to bake them to pull off the content. They were on 3/4" Umatic Tapes. I'm glad it survived. This is a song called 'Oriental Flower". Enjoy. 30 days before Wrecking Crew CD set is released. But need pre-sales my friends. Help! Mothers and Fathers day Gifts.
Go to www.pledgemusic.com/projects/wreckingcrew.
Wrecking Crew
16.1K subscribers
26,590 views Apr 25, 2018
I recently found this recording from Loyola Marymount's famous or infamous (depends on your memory) Birds Nest. This was our local music club that booked local groups. One of those groups happened to be the Tommy Tedesco Quartet with John Kurnick on guitar, Paul Caprito on Bass, and Ed Roscetti on Drums. This is from 1981.
For the video geeks out there, I had to bake them to pull off the content. They were on 3/4" Umatic Tapes. I'm glad it survived. This is a song called 'Oriental Flower". Enjoy. 30 days before Wrecking Crew CD set is released. But need pre-sales my friends. Help! Mothers and Fathers day Gifts.
Go to www.pledgemusic.com/projects/wreckingcrew.
1 replies
= new reply since forum marked as read
= new reply since forum marked as read
