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Drummer Hal Blaine, played on hits of Sinatra, Elvis, dies

FILE - In this June 25, 2008, file photo, Hal Blaine holds up his hands covered in cement after placing them in wet cement with Don Randi and Glen Campbell, representing The Wrecking Crew following an induction ceremony for Hollywood's RockWalk in Los Angeles. Drummer Blaine, who played on many of the biggest hits in music history, has died. Blaine's son-in-law Andy Johnson tells The Associated Press that Blaine died of natural causes Monday, March 11, 2019, at his home in Palm Desert, California. He was 90. (AP Photo/Kevork Djansezian, File)
FILE - In this June 25, 2008, file photo, Hal Blaine holds up his hands covered in cement after placing them in wet cement with Don Randi and Glen Campbell, representing The Wrecking Crew following an induction ceremony for Hollywood's RockWalk in Los Angeles. Drummer Blaine, who played on many of the biggest hits in music history, has died. Blaine's son-in-law Andy Johnson tells The Associated Press that Blaine died of natural causes Monday, March 11, 2019, at his home in Palm Desert, California. He was 90. (AP Photo/Kevork Djansezian, File) FILE - In this June 25, 2008, file photo, Hal Blaine holds up his hands covered in cement after placing them in wet cement with Don Randi and Glen Campbell, representing The Wrecking Crew following an induction ceremony for Hollywood's RockWalk in Los Angeles. Drummer Blaine, who played on many of the biggest hits in music history, has died. Blaine's son-in-law Andy Johnson tells The Associated Press that Blaine died of natural causes Monday, March 11, 2019, at his home in Palm Desert, California. He was 90. (AP Photo/Kevork Djansezian, File)

By Associated Press 6 min read

LOS ANGELES (AP) – Hal Blaine, the Hall of Fame session drummer and virtual one-man soundtrack of the 1960s and ’70s who played on the songs of Frank Sinatra, Elvis Presley and the Beach Boys and laid down one of music’s most memorable opening riffs on the Ronettes’ “Be My Baby,” died Monday.

Blaine died of natural causes at his home in Palm Desert, California, his son-in-law, Andy Johnson, told The Associated Press. He was 90.

On hearing of his death, the Beach Boys’ Brian Wilson called him “the greatest drummer ever.”

The winner of a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award last year, Blaine’s name was known by few outside the music industry, even in his prime. But just about anyone with a turntable, radio or TV heard his drumming on songs that included Presley’s “Return to Sender,” the Byrds’ “Mr. Tambourine Man,” Barbra Streisand’s “The Way We Were,” the Beach Boys’ “Good Vibrations,” dozens of hits produced by Phil Spector and the theme songs to “Batman,” ”The Partridge Family” and other shows.

“Hal Blaine was such a great musician and friend that I can’t put it into words,” Wilson said in a tweet that included an old photo of him and Blaine sitting at the piano. “Hal taught me a lot, and he had so much to do with our success – he was the greatest drummer ever.”