Pick up any album from the 1970s through the 1980s and check the liner notes. It’s a good bet you’ll find the names Danny Kortchmar — guitar; Russ Kunkel — drums; Waddy Wachtel — guitar; or Leland Sklar — bass.
In those days, these four played on popular albums by Joni Mitchell, Jackson Browne, James Taylor and Linda Ronstadt, to name just a few.
Denny Tedesco has just released “Immediate Family,” a documentary film about those players’ careers. The film is a follow-up to his 2008 film, “The Wrecking Crew,” a documentary about a group of ’60s session players, including his father, guitar player Tommy Tedesco.
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WPR’s “BETA” thought it would be a good idea to reminisce with Tedesco about the music of that time and talk about his film.
“That film (‘The Wrecking Crew’) took 19 years to make, from ‘96 to about 2015.” Tedesco said. “So when something like the next opportunity came about, it was like, OK, yeah, let’s do it.”
“This next group of session musicians was my era, in a sense. I grew up in the ’70s, so I knew their names because, in the ’70s, we had album covers and liner notes,” he continued. “We could read these names, and they were odd names. So, I knew who they were. They were legends in my head.”
Including liner notes on album covers that mentioned the musicians and producers on a famous artist’s record significantly impacted the careers of the members of “Immediate Family.” For the first time, backing band members could be identified on the records they played on, which allowed record buyers to pick albums they wanted to hear based on the famous artists they liked and the people who played on the record.
Tedesco thinks that acknowledgment made all the difference.
“Look at the first albums Russ Kunkel played drums on. Carole King’s ‘Tapestry,’ James Taylor’s ‘Sweet Baby James’ and Joni Mitchell’s ‘Blue,’” Tedesco said. “Imagine having that on your credit. You could quit that day.”
“Immediate Family” shows the development of each band member’s career as a session player and how they all became acquainted and found themselves working together occasionally.
Eventually, they also performed together, and became great friends. Several scenes in the movie show them sitting around a table, laughing and sharing stories.
“I only knew musicians hanging out,” Tedesco said. “I only knew them sitting by a card table, gambling or at dinner or parties. They had a rhythm of teasing each other and laughing and joking.”
“Do you remember the Woody Allen film, ‘Broadway Danny Rose?’ There’s a scene where all the managers are sitting around talking about Broadway Danny Rose and razzing about this guy,” he continued. “He’s not even there, but they’re all talking about him. That’s exactly how I grew up. So, I put ‘Immediate Family’ in a roundtable to hear them speak. That’s what I like.”
“Immediate Family” is a story about people who have learned to collaborate. Tedesco thought he would find this when he started working on the film.
He shared: “What hooked me about the film was that they got this band called The Immediate Family. Why do they call that? I wanted to find out.”
According to Tedesco, Danny Korchmar best explains the band’s name: “Because they are my friends. That’s what we are; we’re brothers.”
